By Jesse Newman and Jacob Bunge
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 31, 2020).
The case of the mystery seeds showing up in U.S. mailboxes from
shippers in China and other countries has gone global.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said consumers in at least 22
U.S. states and several other countries had received unsolicited
packages of seeds. Canada, the U.K. and Australia all are
investigating the matter.
The USDA, in a recorded radio broadcast released Wednesday
night, revealed the world-wide scope of the seed shipments after
thousands of people across the U.S. reported receiving seeds in the
mail they didn't order. States from Washington to Virginia have
warned residents about the unsolicited packages, and the USDA said
earlier this week that it was collecting the packages to test the
seeds for anything of concern.
Multiple U.S. agencies are now investigating the seeds, from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Department of Homeland
Security's Customs and Border Protection.
Unsolicited seed packages have been on the USDA's radar since at
least early June, according to state agriculture officials. Gary
Black, Georgia's commissioner of agriculture, said his department
contacted the USDA after a handful of state residents reported
receiving such deliveries around June 2.
Osama El-Lissy, a deputy administrator for the USDA's Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service, said the agency has so far
identified 14 species of seeds, from mustard and morning glory to
cabbage, rosemary and roses.
As of late Wednesday, there was no indication any of the seeds
carry pests or diseases, according to the USDA.
The USDA also reiterated it has no evidence the packages are
anything other than a "brushing scam." In such scams, vendors
selling through online retailers like Amazon.com pay "brushers" to
place orders for their products, and packages with low-value or no
contents are shipped to strangers. Brushers then pose as the buyers
and post fake customer reviews to boost the vendor's sales.
"These appear to be delayed packages due to Covid-19, not
brushing," a spokesperson for Amazon said in a statement. The
company said it is working with its sellers, customers and
government agencies to address concerns about the mailings. The
USDA didn't immediately comment.
Washington resident Jennifer Taylor received all the corn,
broccoli and cucumber seeds that she had ordered from Amazon in
time to plant her garden in the spring. Then last week a small
package arrived in the mail, postmarked from China. It contained a
packet of small, cream-colored seeds that, she said, made her
nervous. Now, she said, "I want to burn them."
In Louisiana, state inspectors are working to collect hundreds
more packages sent from countries including China, Uzbekistan and
the Solomon Islands. Other recipients say packages were sent from
the United Arab Emirates and Kyrgyzstan.
Minnesota's agriculture department is talking with the U.S.
Postal Service about identifying and intercepting the
packages----often marked as jewelry, toys, and other
goods----before they are delivered to homes, said Denise Thiede,
head of the agency's seed program.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency this week instructed
Canadians who had received such packages not to plant the seeds,
while the U.K. government said it has been investigating packages
of seeds marked as "ear studs" that citizens there received over
the last month. A spokeswoman for Australia's Department of
Agriculture, Water and Environment said the agency was looking into
whether unsolicited seed mailings had been received in that
country.
China's Foreign Ministry earlier this week said that mailing
labels on the seed packages were forged, and that China had asked
the U.S. to send packages for investigation. Chinese government
officials had no further comment Thursday.
In the U.S., state and federal officials are asking people who
received unsolicited packages not to plant or handle the seeds, to
keep them in their original packaging and turn them over to local
or U.S. agriculture departments. Planting the seeds can potentially
introduce invasive species and spread plant disease, said
officials, who also advised against throwing the seeds in the trash
for fear they would sprout in landfills.
Some consumers have received seeds in mislabeled packages that
weren't what they ordered. Others have received multiple seed
packages after their initial order was delivered. Still others are
finding small packets of seeds tucked into packages of other goods
they ordered, such as clothing.
In Derbyshire, England, Susan Westerdale two months ago received
a small package labeled "ear studs" with Chinese lettering on the
address label. Inside was a pack of small, black seeds that looked
like those of a cumin plant, she said. Ms. Westerdale had recently
ordered seeds on Amazon and eBay, but the description and origin
didn't match that on her orders.
Some seed recipients said they had listed seeds on Amazon "Wish
Lists" that were shared with other people. When seeds arrived in
the mail, they thought they were gifts, but the seeds didn't match
those on their lists.
Sheree Long, who runs a nonprofit organization in Washington
state, began receiving seed packages that appeared postmarked from
China in late May, and had labels suggesting they were jewelry. She
assumed they were a gift from someone with access to her Wish List.
But they didn't look like any of the seeds she had registered for.
She tried to get the seeds to sprout by placing them on a moist
paper towel in a sealed plastic bag. Nothing happened. More
packages of seeds came, including a sixth one on Thursday.
"It's very odd," Ms. Long said. "I'm a big gardener so I knew
something was off. These weren't the seeds on my lists."
Reports of unsolicited seed packets proliferated after state
agriculture departments warned residents about them last week,
including from people who had received unexplained seed deliveries
weeks or months ago.
Across the U.S., state agriculture departments over the past
week have dispatched plant inspectors and other employees to
collect seeds from residents for analysis and investigation. In
Alabama, agriculture commissioner Rick Pate said he sent inspectors
to dig up seeds recipients had planted.
Logan Wilde, commissioner of Utah's Department of Agriculture
and Food, said his department is planting some of the seeds it has
collected for testing and is awaiting new USDA guidance on how to
destroy those left over. He also said the FBI had requested a
meeting with his department this week. An FBI representative
declined to comment.
Sid Miller, commissioner of Texas' agriculture department, said
he is sharing his personal email address and encouraging seed
recipients to contact him. One woman this week sent him a photo of
a plant she was raising from some bulbs that had arrived in one
such package. "I said, you need to burn that right now," Mr. Miller
said.
--Annie Gasparro and Alistair Macdonald contributed to this
article.
Write to Jesse Newman at jesse.newman@wsj.com and Jacob Bunge at
jacob.bunge@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 31, 2020 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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