# Dealing with INRENA/exporting non-orchid plants from Peru



## Matt (Apr 30, 2008)

Hi friendly slipper orchid folks,

I was hoping someone in your community might have some advice - a friend of mine is about to leave on a trip to Peru from the US to look for, and hopefully return with unusual plants, mostly cacti and medicinal/ethnobotanical species.

He has his CITES and USDA paperwork in order but is unsure what to expect from INRENA as far as leaving the country with native plants. Do you have any advice for him that might make his trip easier or more successful?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!


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## Ron-NY (Apr 30, 2008)

I would speak with INRENA in advance regarding this. They can be reached at

for questions regarding INRENA permits, write to Karina Ramírez at:

[email protected] or [email protected]


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## Matt (Apr 30, 2008)

Wow, that was quick. Thanks!

Do you know if Karina speaks English? Wouldn't want to assume, or stumble in a second tongue if I didn't have to...


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## gonewild (Apr 30, 2008)

It will be almost impossible to export the plants legally. Only plants grown by a licensed nursery can be exported and then only the species they are registered to grow and I doubt any nursery will have the medicinal/ethnobotanical species your friend is interested in . Peru regards it's medicinal plants as biological property and probably will not authorize the export of live material that could compete with their "industry" in the future.

Most of the nurseries around Lima have great Cacti but they do not have the permits to export. 

Asking INRENA will be a misleading dead end. What ever he is told will not be what he is told when he tries to get a phytosanitary permit. In addition to INRENA a phytosanitary permit is required and that is issued by SENASA. The process is very complicated. If your friend seriously wants to take live plants out of Peru he should speak directly with a nursery that has export knowledge.

And of course the plants can not be wild collected.


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## Leo Schordje (Apr 30, 2008)

Damn - I was looking forward to an Ayahuasca Party...... 

Banisteriopsis caapii = the Vine of Souls (yes, with it you can talk with the Dead) plus various plants that serve as DMT donors, such as Psychotria viridis aka ornamental coffee, all brewed together to make the drink known as Ayahuasca, a potent entheogen, used in Shamanic Religious rituals. Really should not be treated lightly. 

But I have drifted off topic. Contact Alfredo Manrique or Manolo Arias for their contacts if you can't find a nursery that already stocks the plants you are looking for.


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## Ron-NY (Apr 30, 2008)

If a person is connected with a research facility (college, ect) I know there are collecting permits. I do know that orchid vendors have export permits in Peru for species that were grown by them but not wild collected.

Edit: Lance has lived in Peru and would know the best on this subject.


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## NYEric (Apr 30, 2008)

That's what pockets are for! :evil:


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## Candace (Apr 30, 2008)

> That's what pockets are for!



Sure, and that will get you a nice cavity search. And you love the airport security enough as it is.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Apr 30, 2008)

There used to be a company in , I think, Fla., that sold ethnobotanicals....it had cuttings of Banisteriopsis caapi, Trichocereus pachanoi (San Pedro cactus) and probably Salvia divinorum....funny how the term "ethnobotanical" never seems to lead people to think of a local remedy for bunions or headaches.........Eric


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## Roth (Apr 30, 2008)

Candace said:


> Sure, and that will get you a nice cavity search. And you love the airport security enough as it is.



I heard some people pay for it, so if he gets a natural cavity search for free, maybe he will not complain :evil:


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## gonewild (Apr 30, 2008)

Ron-NY said:


> If a person is connected with a research facility (college, ect) I know there are collecting permits. I do know that orchid vendors have export permits in Peru for species that were grown by them but not wild collected.
> 
> Edit: Lance has lived in Peru and would know the best on this subject.



Collecting permits are not the problem. The issue would be to be able to legally take out living plants. Most if not all research collected botanical specimens are preserved. I spent a full year trying to get a permit to collect and propagate medicinal plants. The paperwork was never ending.

I never could get a ruling on whether a tourist can purchase a plant from a nursery and legally take it out of the country. It does require a phytosanitary cert. and SENASA claims that only nurseries licensed for export can get the cert.

To export the live plants would require convincing INRENA there was some benefit to the country of Peru to allow the plants to be exported. They keep remembering when the Brittish stold the rubber industry from South America. Can't really blame them I guess, look at what Yale is doing with the artifacts taken from Machu Pichu.

If you want to know what the law reads you should contact INRENA. But contacting INRENA won't really answer that question anyway.


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## gonewild (Apr 30, 2008)

Leo Schordje said:


> Damn - I was looking forward to an Ayahuasca Party......
> 
> Banisteriopsis caapii = the Vine of Souls (yes, with it you can talk with the Dead) plus various plants that serve as DMT donors, such as Psychotria viridis aka ornamental coffee, all brewed together to make the drink known as Ayahuasca, a potent entheogen, used in Shamanic Religious rituals. Really should not be treated lightly.
> 
> But I have drifted off topic. Contact Alfredo Manrique or Manolo Arias for their contacts if you can't find a nursery that already stocks the plants you are looking for.



It would be a little tough to grow the Ayahuasca vine here. The vine grows clear up into the canopy more than 100 feet. Of course you could always keep it trimmed! The Chacruna (Psychotria) is a very beautiful ornamental looking plant. When the stems of the Ayahuasca vine are prepared a handfull of the Chacruna leaves is what turns on the effect of the drink. Shamen will add various other plant species also for different effects and reasons. They will actually add an unknown species to explore the spirit of that plant. That is how they learned about all of the traditional medininal plants that they use to cure health problems. And it is why the Ayahuasca is considered a Master or Doctor plant, it is the "Mother of Healing". 

You can talk to anyone and anything not just the dead! The most profound thing is that a well guided user can talk to their innner sub-conscious self. That is how a person can figure out all the things that bother them that they were not aware of, including illness.


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## gonewild (Apr 30, 2008)

Candace said:


> Sure, and that will get you a nice cavity search. And you love the airport security enough as it is.




They don't do cavity searches in Peru, they use electric cables attached to your tounge. That tends to empty pockets.


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## Candace (May 1, 2008)

Eric might like a little AC/DC.


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## Roth (May 1, 2008)

gonewild said:


> They don't do cavity searches in Peru, they use electric cables attached to your tounge. That tends to empty pockets.



I have heard bout hands-free cavity searches as well, at least I know they did it in Europe once or twice...


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## Ron-NY (May 1, 2008)

they had a weird system in Lima for searching. As you walk through security you press a button and a red or green light comes on. Green=no search red=search. Of course I got the red and my traveling companion got green and my luggage was searched. I was also bringing home a Sapo table that I had custom boxed...that was x-rayed at the ticketing counter. (I overheard the agents say Sapo, :rollhappy: )

Back in the US...they had a dog sniffing bags...the dog ID'ed my day pack and I was stopped questioned and searched. I didn't realize that there was an orange in there left over from my last hike. It wasn't found during the search and I didn't find it until I was unpacking at home.


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## Hien (May 1, 2008)

Sanderianum said:


> I heard some people pay for it, so if he gets a natural cavity search for free, maybe he will not complain :evil:


 :rollhappy::rollhappy::rollhappy:
It is a thrill to get manually searched & manhanddled by a good looking authority in uniform is it not :evil:
I feel so bad for Senator Larry Craig. He does not even get the promised thrill & still have to pay for it.:sob:
While on the subject, psychiatrists think that the peoples who are most vocal against gays are usually the ones who are afraid of their own shadows.

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cach...gressman+sex+scandal&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us


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## Matt (May 1, 2008)

Thanks to everyone who posted information. I'll forward this on to my friend, I'm sure it will prove useful.

All the Best,
Matt


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## NYEric (May 1, 2008)

Candace said:


> Eric might like a little AC/DC.



Their music is OK but I like Hip Hop more.


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