The US Department of Agriculture says at this point in its investigation, no unsolicited seeds from China or other countries sent to US consumers are a concern.
But, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach says they’re still working with states and distributors to identify the seeds.
“Yes, we have already reached out to one of the major distributors in the nation that is associated with these packets of weed seeds and we had a great conversation with them and we have agreed to work together to try to stop what’s going on right now and also to put protocols in place to try to block this kind of activity in the future.”
USDA is asking state agriculture departments to gather the unsolicited seeds from consumers.
“And then we work with those states either to have their laboratories identify and test the seeds for diseases, as well as we want to identify them to see if they might be an invasive species that could cause problems in crops in the United States. And as of this time, we have not identified any pathogens. While there are some weed seeds included in these seeds, we haven’t identified any that would be invasive or cause a threat.”
Ibach says USDA believes the seeds are part of a brushing scam, where cheap products are sent to consumers so the seller can post fake positive reviews of the products.
“Either it got popularized and people’s attention got called to it on social media, so what was happening has grown in interest. Or it could be that there was a surge in the amount of seeds that was distributed here recently to boost their reviews on these e-commerce websites.”
Ibach says the main concern is these seeds do not go through proper import protocols.
“Any time that we have seeds or meat products or agricultural commodities coming in that haven’t gone through our import protocols, that’s a concern. Those import protocols and border inspections are in place for a reason because we want to keep pests and diseases out of the United States.”
People who receive the seeds are asked to call their state department of agriculture.
“And they can work with that department of agriculture to have the seeds collected from the consumer. And then we will work with the state department of agriculture to get the testing and identification done so we can assess whether or not there is any reason for us to be concerned.”
Anyone in South Dakota receiving unsolicited seeds in the mail should:
• Not plant the seeds
• Save the seeds and packaging, including the mailing label
• Contact the SDDA at 605.773.5425 or email agmail@state.sd.us with the following information:
• Name
• Phone number
• Date received
• Number of packages
More information and resources are available at USDA.gov.
Comments