Wholesale Plant Orders From Thailand: One Shipment From Several Nurseries, One Set of Documents

Does a consolidated order from several nurseries need one set of documents or several?

One set. The US regulation attaches the permit to the importer and the phytosanitary certificate to the shipment it accompanies, not to the nursery that grew each plant. A buyer who sources from five growers and ships through one exporter presents one permit and one certificate at the port.

"(a)(1) Plants for planting may be imported or offered for importation into the United States only after issuance of a written permit by the Plant Protection and Quarantine Programs, except as provided in the Plants for Planting Manual."

Source: 7 CFR 319.37-5(a)(1), Permits, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current as of 1 September 2026.

"(a) Phytosanitary certificates. Any plants for planting offered for importation into the United States must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate, except as described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section. The phytosanitary certificate must identify the genus of the plants for planting it accompanies."

Source: 7 CFR 319.37-6(a), Phytosanitary certificates, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current as of 1 September 2026.

The certificate lists every genus in the cartons, so a mixed order of Monstera, Philodendron, Hoya and Alocasia is declared genus by genus on a single document. The international standard behind the form describes it the same way, as a description of one consignment:

"Phytosanitary certificates are issued to attest that plants, plant products or other regulated articles meet the phytosanitary import requirements of importing countries and are in conformity with the certifying statement."

Source: ISPM 12, Phytosanitary certificates, International Plant Protection Convention, FAO, 2014 edition with Appendix 1, 2015.

Dragon Courier holds an import permit for each market it serves, so no import permit is required from the buyer for the USA, Canada, the EU, the UK, Singapore or Hong Kong, and the team sends a copy of the plants that permit covers on request. The phytosanitary certificate and, for orchids, the CITES document are provided free of charge on the USA route.

Where does a small parcel end and a wholesale shipment begin?

At 12 plants for the paperwork and at 30 kg for the price. The USDA lets a shipment of 12 or fewer plants in without a written permit when no specific restriction applies; anything above that number is a permit shipment whether it holds 13 plants or 500. On the Dragon Courier plant rate the box rate ends at 30 kg and a per kilo rate takes over.

"Shipments of 12 or fewer plants, only if no specific restriction applies"

"Most plants and seeds for planting require a PPQ 587 permit."

Source: How To Buy Plants and Seeds Online, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

There is no second threshold between 13 plants and a full pallet in the regulation. The permit, the certificate, the ban on soil and the inspection station apply identically to a collector's box of 20 Hoya and to a nursery order of 400 Aroids. What changes is the weight, and with it the way the shipment is priced and moved.

Dragon Plant Export Rate, USA zone, 10 June 2026, fuel surcharge included. Billed weight is the actual weight or the volumetric weight, length by width by height in centimetres divided by 5,000, whichever is greater.

No single carton may exceed 65 kg, and a carton between 30 and 65 kg carries a 4,500 THB surcharge, so a 200 kg order is packed as five or six cartons of 30 to 40 kg rather than three heavy ones. A carton whose longest side passes 121 cm, or whose length plus girth passes 266 cm, carries a 2,500 THB oversize charge; tall palms and trees are the usual reason.

What does the inspection on arrival look for, and who pays if something is found?

An inspector at a USDA plant inspection station opens the cartons, checks the roots for soil and the leaves for pests, and compares the plants with the certificate. A pest that cannot be treated means the whole consignment is refused, and the importer pays for its destruction or return.

"(a) Any plants for planting at the time of importation or offer for importation into the United States shall be free of sand, soil, earth, and other growing media, except as provided in paragraph (b), (c), or (d) of this section."

Source: 7 CFR 319.37-10(a), Growing media, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current as of 1 September 2026.

"(a) Approved ports of entry. Any plants for planting required to be imported under a written permit in accordance with § 319.37-5(a), if not precleared, must be imported or offered for importation only at a USDA plant inspection station, unless the Plants for Planting Manual indicates otherwise."

Source: 7 CFR 319.37-8(a), Ports of entry, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current as of 1 September 2026.

"Any plants for planting found upon inspection to contain or be contaminated with quarantine pests that cannot be eliminated by treatment will be denied entry at the first United States port of arrival and must be destroyed or shipped to a point outside the United States."

Source: 7 CFR 319.37-8(c), Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current as of 1 September 2026.

For a wholesale order this is the reason to consolidate through one exporter rather than to let each nursery ship its own box. One packer washes every root to the same standard, one certificate is written against what is actually in the cartons, and one inspection covers the lot. Five nurseries shipping separately means five inspections and five chances of a refusal that the buyer pays for. On the plant service the shipper is responsible for the declaration and its compliance, and a shipment refused for a documentation error is not compensated; the terms are set out on the plant export page.

Delays are rare in practice. Dragon Courier clears customs on the day the shipment is presented in most cases, and transit to the USA runs 2 to 5 working days, 4 to 5 to Canada and the UK, 5 to 7 to Europe and 2 to 3 to Singapore and Hong Kong.

What do the other markets ask for on a wholesale order?

The same two documents under different names. Canada, the EU, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong all require a phytosanitary certificate for every consignment of plants for planting, and Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong add an import permit or licence on the buyer's side. Dragon Courier holds that permit for each of these markets.

Sources for the document rules: inspection.canada.ca directive D-08-04, food.ec.europa.eu, gov.uk, nparks.gov.sg, afcd.gov.hk. Transit and minimum weights from the Dragon Plant Export Rate of 10 June 2026.

"A Phytosanitary Certificate is required for all plants for planting entering Canada."

Source: D-08-04, Plant Protection Import Requirements for Plants and Plant Parts for Planting, Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

"For high risk or medium risk A or B plants and plant products, your exporter must get a phytosanitary certificate for each consignment from the plant health authority in the country they're exporting from."

Source: Import plants and plant products from non-EU countries to Great Britain, GOV.UK.

"Any plant imported into Hong Kong must be accompanied by a Plant Import Licence issued by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and a valid Phytosanitary Certificate issued by the competent authority in the country of its origin."

Source: Plant Quarantine, Plant Import, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is the market where the paperwork starts before the plants are packed: the invoice and the packing list go ahead of the shipment so the licence can be applied for. On every route the declared value is capped, at 1,000 US dollars for the USA, 200 pounds for the UK, 200 euros for Europe, 650 Canadian dollars, 400 Singapore dollars and 25,000 THB elsewhere, and a wholesale order above those figures is discussed with the office before booking.

How is a mixed order collected and packed?

Dragon Courier collects from each nursery in an air conditioned van built for plants, brings the order to Bangkok, and packs it into export cartons with the roots bare and wrapped in moss. Each nursery packs its own plants first, because each grower knows how its varieties travel, and the consolidation is done at the Dragon Courier facility before the certificate is issued.

Orchids are the one category with an extra document. An artificially propagated hybrid of Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis or Vanda can move with no CITES paper when it is recognisably nursery grown:

"Artificially propagated hybrids of the following genera are not subject to the provisions of the Convention, if conditions, as indicated under a) and b), are met: Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis and Vanda: a) Specimens are readily recognizable as artificially propagated and do not show any signs of having been collected in the wild such as mechanical damage or strong dehydration resulting from collection"

Source: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Appendices I, II and III, valid from 5 March 2026, cites.org, annotation attached to the Orchidaceae listing.

Every other orchid travels with a CITES export permit, which Dragon Courier arranges for the USA at no charge. Which orchids fall under which appendix is set out in the guide on importing plants from Thailand, rules by country.

Plants are not insured. Loss is compensated at 100 THB per kilo up to 500 THB per air waybill, and no claim is accepted for the condition or appearance of a plant on arrival; a wholesale buyer prices that into the order rather than into the freight. A plant shipment cannot be returned to Thailand, because the import rules on the Thai side do not allow it. Which families travel well and how long they last in the box is covered in the guide on which plants survive the flight.

About Dragon Courier

Dragon Courier is a Bangkok courier and the number one exporter of live plants in Thailand, with 30 years in the business and more than 20,000 shipments a month worldwide. The company sends only by air, handles customs clearance itself and delivers by courier at the destination.

On plant export the service is door to door with duty and tax paid, an import permit held for each market, and the phytosanitary certificate free of charge for the USA and the UK. The office quotes wholesale orders on the plant rate card and on the space the cartons take in the hold.

Contacts and drop-off

A wholesale quote needs the plant list with genus and quantity, the approximate weight and carton sizes, and the delivery address. Office +66 2656 9019, LINE and WhatsApp at +66 6-5937-0812, or info@dragoncourier.com.

Collection from nurseries is arranged by message, and a pickup date and time can be fixed in advance. Drop-off runs until 17:00, Monday to Saturday, at the Bangkok office on Sukhumvit Soi 4. The most common questions on plant export are answered on the FAQ page.

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