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Mystery seeds: Amazon bans foreign plant sales in US
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoBeen discussed before. But, again I'll mention that America is largely planted with imported seeds. Collected by Botanists in the 1800s circling the globe and bring everything back indiscriminately. Our food crops, our animal feeds, our garden flowers, our vegetables. This ban is a silly act, political in nature and irrelevant to everybody except the legitimate Asian seed sellers who's business gets hurt.
- sudosysgen 6y agoSeems interesting, do you have a source.
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoAny history of the 1800s will do. Any visit to a conservatory.
- aik 6y agoPeople also put leeches on themselves to cure ailments in the 1800s. I don’t know if the ban is political or not, but stopping seeds from entering a country is nothing new. Customs paperwork has asked about it as long as I’ve been alive. Australia has been wrecked by foreign flora and fauna. New Zealand airport biosecurity staff literally vacuumed my entire suitcase and tent in the when I arrived there once.
- TheButlerian 6y agoPeople still use leeches for curing themselves.
- detritus 6y agoWhy was TheButlerian's response below killed? Leeches ARE used contemporarily, eg - https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/patient-information/surgery/Plastic-surgery/leech-therapy.pdf https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/patient-informa... "In medicine, particularly plastic and reconstructive surgery, leeches may be used to help improve blood flow in an area of tissue or skin flap that has poor blood circulation. Leeches do this by removing clotted blood (congested blood) from delicate areas, such as underneath a flap of skin. By removing this clotted blood, leeches can restart blood flow in the small blood vessels of the flap. This helps to prevent the tissues from dying."
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoThat was entirely my point. Locking the barn door, after the cows are gone.
- analog31 6y agoCorn? Tomatoes? Potatoes? America was also largely industrialized with chemicals that were developed and used indiscriminately.
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoWheat? Oat? Barley? Philodendron? Rhododendron? Melon, peach, orange? Eucalyptus? Palm? Walnut? Ginko? The list is endless, and includes nearly every flowering garden plant.
- aik 6y agoI think the concern is the introduction of invasive species that are not here, whether they have never been here, have been eliminated, or are currently being combated.
- pkphilip 6y agoThe difference is that people who have NOT ordered these seeds are receiving them. That raises all sorts of troubling questions as to the motive of the sender especially since it appears to be coming from China. 27 States had to issue advisories against planting these seeds. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/us/seeds-from-china-mail.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/us/seeds-from-china-mail....
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoRose? Lavender? Clearly a communist plot.
- CrazyStat 6y agoIt's clearly some kind of plot. Probably not communist though.
- derefr 6y agoIt’s a garden plot. :)
- 082349872349872 6y agoOne hopes not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Garden_Plot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Garden_Plot
- CamperBob2 6y agoInvasive plants are no joking matter in certain regions of the US (and elsewhere.)
- 082349872349872 6y agoAnimal rather than vegetable, but this invasive was a big deal here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_French_Wine_Blight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_French_Wine_Blight
- nimbius 6y agoDisclosure: i grew up on a farm, so i remember ripping/planting and harvesting. the risks of invasive species or diseased species are very real, and i suspect the concern here is that a seed recipient in proximity to a farmland could potentially introduce a pathogen or aberrant crop into the field. The introduction of castor beans into a corn crop for example can contaminate hundreds of tons of grain. The united states is massively dependent on a monoculture of corn, soy, and wheat. Its a dangerous gamble, but the profits and savings from doing this are enormous. These crops are groomed to be disease and drought resistant, however they are not invincible. Paranoia that random seeds from export controlled countries could somehow destroy a harvest is i think at least somewhat warranted.
- pbhjpbhj 6y agoWe suffer some in UK from introduced species from USA. "American Flag"/Signal Crayfish being one that's out-competed native species. Others include grey squirrels, bullfrogs, and apparently mink. https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/facts-about-uk-invasive-species/ https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/facts-about-uk...
- gdubs 6y agoNot all “foreign” plants are invasive, but the ones that are... they’re a real problem. They displace native species, disrupting the balance of ecosystems. Himalayan Blackberry in the Pacific Northwest being a good example. It will choke an entire landscape, suppressing or murdering native species that didn’t evolve to fight that particular competition.
- IAmGraydon 6y agoI’m confused about how this brushing scheme works. Why would anyone review some random seeds they got in the mail? How would they even know where to go to review them? If they didn’t even make the order, it isn’t associated with their account, so they couldn’t even make a review. And finally, even if they did get lots of positive reviews, it would help them sell more...seeds?
- tantalor 6y agoThe reviewer is the sender not recipient.
- millisecond 6y agoIt’s likely a totally different product, the seeds just give a verified shipping history. They review the other product on their own account that “ordered” the seeds. The seeds are cheap and make it untraceable back to the original product.
- Wowfunhappy 6y agoSo then how does banning the sale of seeds help? They’ll just switch to plastic doodads or some such.
- aik 6y agoThe purpose of a ban isn’t to prevent fraud on Amazon, it’s to prevent unwanted seed from entering the country.
- Chaulkalat 6y agoGaming the rep system is a fault on Amazon's structure. If people in China are doing this without repercussions then what is stopping other people across the world from doing the same?
- srtjstjsj 6y ago
- Gys 6y agoIs this really true? Banning the sales of seeds will not change anything because seeds were not ordered anyway. Seeds are send instead of the originally ordered item (the item to be reviewed). Seeds are light and cheap and will continue to be used.
- liability 6y agoPerhaps this is a measure intended to create the impression that Amazon is addressing the problem, rather than actually addressing the problem (I assume that's harder to do.)
- ocdtrekkie 6y agoThis seems to be the standard platform playbook. If your platform is being used for bad behavior, create a policy stating people shouldn't use it for that, and when Congresspeople ask about the problem, just state you have a policy and hide behind your Section 230 immunity like your life depends on it.
- jon-wood 6y agoMy understanding is that these seeds were originally shipped as seeds, but then the listing was reused for some other item, which miraculously has a ton of reviews on day one. By banning seeds Amazon are, in the strictest sense of the phrase, closing the loop hole of being able to send seeds for cheap reviews. Unfortunately they leave the loophole of completely changing a product listing wide open.
- pkaye 6y agoMaybe they should stop allowing listings to be reused for other items.
- cptskippy 6y agoThey're banning FOREIGN plant sales. There are import and customs controls in place that Amazon does not follow or require sellers to adhere to. These mystery seeds are bringing increased scrutiny to imports, and Amazon is taking this move to reduce it's liability. I'm sure they weighted the alternatives (e.g. wait for legal action, implement change) and determined the least expensive route was to just stop the business.
- Ensorceled 6y agoEchos of Purple Loosestrife seeds being sold by a Canadian Seed company while our conservation organizations and agencies were all trying to kill it every where. At least the USDA has determined the seeds are not necessarily problematic.
- fmajid 6y agoSo Amazon in its infinite grace and benevolence has consented to follow the law?
- srtjstjsj 6y agoThe comment is snarky but based in fact. Importing plants requires a customs license; 99+% of foreign plant listings on Amazon are illegal.
- elmo2you 6y agoI am glad you mentioned this. I don't know the legal situation in the USA, but I know that many countries have restrictions on importing any biological/organic matter. Seed, dairy products, meat, etc. Usually explained as needed to control the spread of biological pathogens and preserve local ecosystems, but regularly used to protect local industries against international competition. Anyways, I have always been surprised that this apparently never has been enforced by border-crossing online sales platforms, like e.g. Amazon. Could it be like this because Amazon is an American company? I know that the USA is generally rather bad at enforcing its laws, when it comes to the country's larger corporations. I find it always ironic when the country talks about corruption and nepotism in other countries (no doubt bad things), but then appears to ignore its own track record. It might also just be that in the end, the actual responsibility is on buyers (i.e. importer). Those might be too small and numerous to prosecute individually. However, it always felt weird that large online platforms never appear to do any preemptive filtering. Aside from obvious things like guns and explosives maybe. I do know of a few countries where packages with restricted/controlled contents will regularly just "disappear" at customs. When that happens, you better not be foolish enough to demand an explanation.
- srtjstjsj 6y agoThe comment is snarky but based in fact. Importing plants requires a customs license; 99% of foreign plant listings on Amazon are illegal.
- Scoundreller 6y ago
- skocznymroczny 6y agoMight be an urban legends. In Poland there's been warnings about "seeds coming in envelopes from China", but no one really knows anyone who got such seeds.
- aidos 6y agoMy wife did. It’s a thing. I had no idea where they came from but I assumed it was either a scam or a practical joke by a friend. When I wasn’t the latter I decided it had to be a scam.
- onetimemanytime 6y ago>>but no one really knows anyone who got such seeds. You asked everyone in Poland :) ? If they sent them to USA, maybe they sent them everywhere. IIRC, mailing from China is dirt cheap as well.
- skocznymroczny 6y agoI haven't, but if it was a thing, Polish social media would be all over it.
- 5440 6y agoI received one of these packages from singapore yesterday. There is no website on the packaging or inside of the envelope. Therefore, I don't understand the amazon review thing. Its just a package of seeds in a manila envelope.
- VonGuard 6y agoYes but there's a shipping number associated with it in China, and there is a confirmation that a thing was shipped to the US address. That's what they are after here, and nothing more.
- shiftpgdn 6y agoDid you plant the seeds? I'm curious what would grow.
- shajznnckfke 6y agoIt may not be a great idea to pant mystery seeds from overseas. You could end up with something invasive that’s hard to get rid of. I bought a plant like that on Amazon (cat’s claw creeper) and luckily did more research before planting it. It’s a problem in the southern US, and I don’t want to be responsible for introducing it to California.
- HenryBemis 6y agoI am not an SME; looking at the photo on BBC these look like lemon stones (seeds). Could you identify them? Did you ask anyone/did anyone gave you a hint on what could they be for/from?
- rhacker 6y agoWe order seeds from around the world all the time. Luckily most of our orders go through private websites, not Amazon.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- throwaway4good 6y agoI don't understand who (which company) sends the seeds? Is it some kind of drop shipping and seeds are simply the cheapest thing? Why is it always seeds and not just eg. an empty envelope?
- throwaway4good 6y agoAlso it should be possible to trace back to the review and thus the company from a reported unsolicited seed package.
- pvaldes 6y agoSeeds of Eichornia caused permanent damages in a Spanish river. The economical loses are over 25 million euro by now and increasing. This money was not spent to erradicate it, just to control its propagation and trying to made the river navigable again. In USA, Kudzu causes economical damages estimated between 100 to >500 million dollars (each year).
- nostromo 6y agoSeeds on Amazon are an absolute joke and have been forever. There are so many fake seeds to completely nonexistent plants, and obvious photoshops, for sale. Some hilarious examples: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y16C9FN/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y16C9FN/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GQTK5PB/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GQTK5PB/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D80OV4E/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D80OV4E/
- Hokusai 6y ago> fake seeds to completely nonexistent plants Amazon is the embodiment of "caveat emptor" because "seeds on Amazon" just means "seeds that show up in Amazon search engine, and Amazon get a cut". Of course, to make matters more confusing, that is no true for all articles. As a small, but very profitable, subset of articles are Amazon branded or served by Amazon owned companies (That are shown higher in their product search engine). It makes for fun listings, unless you really want to buy something.