TOPIC: Enquiry about Ginseng permit/CITES jurisdication

I've decided to start a new thread instead of continuing to hijack the earlier thread. My apologies.

I'm a little confused about the licensing requirements for dealing with wild american ginseng and would appreciate if someone could help clarify.

1) Harvesters require permits to harvest wild ginseng for private consumption or resale within harvest period.
2) Harvesters require dealers permit to export across states or country. Dealers must be local residents of the state where they have the license?
3) Interstate/International Purchaser require CITES permit so can only purchase from dealers?
4) Exceptions is Purchase buy only small

1) harvesters are required to get permits for harvesting on public lands i.e. National Forests, if allowed in the state. No permit is need to harvest for personal consumption, or to sell to a dealer.
2)If you harvest and want to sell across state lines, you would need a dealer license, or you can sell to an out of state buyer who is also licensed to buy in your state. So to be licensed in a state you do not have to be a resident of that state. But you would need to have the roots certified in the state they were harvested before transporting across state lines. It is unclear wether the roots would need to be certified once they reached the destination state as well.
3) To export out of the country you need an exporters license as well as a dealers license I believe. I think exporters licenses are regulated by the USDA?? which is complient to CITES regulations. CITES is not an agency, it is a treaty ratified by 130 + countries, filled with management protocols that the U.S. has to comply with.

That is the best explanation I can give. #3 is the trickiest. It is very confusing and roundabout. Many dealers have a hard time navigating all the red tape.

I know in my state(maine), which does not allow Wild Ginseng to be harvested but allows ginseng to be cultivated(grown) under a Cultavated Ginseng license. In order to sell out of state the roots need to be weighed and \"certified\" by the state of Maine. And must be sold to a licensed dealer which does not have to be licensed in my state.

I am not rquired to have a Dealers License to sell my roots over state lines.

It truely is complicated and hard to understand when other states do not have the same laws as mine.

Maine also requires that I keep records such as receipts for seeds, rootlets perchased and planted for a period of five years. My roots will be atleast 8 years old when I harvest and have them certified. That's when I'm supposed to submit my records of receipts that they say I am to keep for five years. I wish they knew what they are talking about when they write laws and regulations.

Sorry for going down that Rabbit Trail.

classicfur

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deleted for double post

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All rules, regulations and statutes vary by state. You really need to check with the program coordinator for the state you are looking to purchase, and the state you are looking to come in for the proper answers.

APHA has a good brochure that covers all of these topics on a state by state basis, and also the export regulations.

www.ahpa.org/Default.aspx?tabid=154

Thanks guys for trying to clarify. Initially I was thinking that it might be possible to just buy small quantity eg quarter/half pound directly from the harvester/hunter via ebay etc.

But it seems like there's quite a bit of legal hoops to jump thru for anyone out of state to buy a couple pounds of wild american ginseng. That probably explains why there's hardly harvester sells worldwide directly.

You have the situation where small harvester cannot sell out of state and dealers I've emailed to don't do small quantity...probably because of all the paperwork hassle, they rather just sell in bulk.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like the current framework favours the dealers, not the harvester or end buyers...

I don't know about all of the other states, but here in Ohio the current laws definately favor the dealers. I have to sell to an Ohio lisenced dealer and by March 31st unless I get my seng weighed and certified by the state. If I get it certified I can hold it over until the following year to sell. My understanding is that it still must be sold to an Ohio dealer.

To me it would make more sense to have it certified and then be able to sell to anyone. I haven't Checked into it thouroughly, but from what I know it isn't too hard to get a dealers liscence, so I may do this in the near future.

I suppose if you are a dealer...the window to legally sell the dry roots is equally small... there's little time to deal with small quantity to make all the effort worthwhile.