RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday, September 29th, the Ministry of Agriculture reported that it had received 36 complaints about the receipt of unsolicited seed packages. According to the government, eight states have reported the issue.
These mystery seeds typically come together with products purchased over the Internet, on international websites or Apps. According to the Ministry, the packages originate from Asian countries such as China and Malaysia.
Residents of the states of Santa Catarina, Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás, Rondônia, Pernambuco and Bahia claim to have already received the product.
All the suspicious packages will be analyzed by the Goiania Federal Laboratory of Agricultural Protection, known for this specialty.
The Ministry of Agriculture stresses that the population should be careful and not open orders received by mail of unsolicited seed packages, regardless of the country of origin.
If citizens receive seeds from abroad at home, the government advises them to deliver the material to one of the Ministry’s offices in their state or to the state agricultural protection body.
The package should not be discarded in the trash either, in order to prevent the seeds from coming into contact with the soil, which could cause damage to the environment and to agricultural areas.
It should be noted that when delivering seeds purchased or received from unknown senders, citizens will not be liable to penalties. The same applies to citizens who may have planted them.
Thought it was a gift
Natália Nascimento, a candy maker from Bahia, was one of the recipients of the package. She even planted the seed, but an officer from the Agricultural Protection collected the plant.
“I thought it was a gift, that’s why we planted it, but taking care to plant it separately and see what it was,” she says.
“This seed may come infected with bacteria, some fungus that may lead to a pest in our agriculture, and if it is planted and blooms, its leaves may be toxic to humans and animals,” explains Mauricio Bacelar, director of the Agricultural Protection Agency of Bahia (ADAB).
Similar problems in the US and Canada
The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has opened an investigation to ascertain the arrival of several packages of mystery seeds, mostly from China.
The USDA said it has identified more than a dozen plant species. What intrigues the authorities is that the product reached the homes of thousands of Americans without having been purchased or requested.
“The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, other federal and state agriculture departments to investigate the situation,” the department said.
The packages were also seen in Canada, where the government posted an alert against “foreign seeds sent by mail from China or Taiwan”.
Source: G1