A computer has become a big part of Wanda Wolf’s business, but the spice and herb grower and shipper from Phippen, Sask., says the slow dial-up internet system in rural areas adds hours to her work days.
Wolf was showing members of the Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association’s annual conference held in Saskatoon on Jan. 12 how to fill out a prior notice document on the computer. The documentation is required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before anyone can ship plant products across the border.
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“Even if your shipment is going to Mexico but via the U.S., you need a prior notice.”
Phippen said because she ships a variety of spices and herbs, she has to fill out a prior notice for each sample or container. In an hour-long workshop she showed just how slow the process can be. She said some days it takes her 10 hours to fill out five of them.
Part of the problem is the computer’s slow page processing due to the dial-up connection. The other problem is the bureaucratic strings of code numbers and categories that Americans require for the multi-paged notice.
While exasperated with the lack of internet speed, Wolf kept assuring association members that the process “seems scary but it’s easy.” She said the FDA has a toll-free number that offers guidance through the form. However, she agreed that some people have stopped selling to the United States because they are worried about the red tape.
Wolf said incorrect paperwork is dangerous because U.S. Customs staff will then stop the product and send it to a quarantine warehouse.
“If I ship $10,000 worth of fresh-frozen calendula, I would have to pay to transport it to the holding place and most places don’t have a frozen facility so (my shipment) is garbage. That $10,000 is a huge loss to me.”
Some growers noted they also had problems with the U.S. holding their product. One noted that his truck had sat in Minot, North Dakota, for two weeks and the trucker was held in custody because he quarrelled with U.S. border staff about the validity of the paperwork.
“The problem is their people (U.S. Customs) not knowing the system and they’re afraid they’ll make a mistake and be hassled by their supervisor,” said another.
However, other herb and spice growers in the room who have shipped to the U.S. said they turned it over to another party such as a trucking company to handle the paperwork.
“We hire a broker and pay $1,000 a year and it’s better because they take care of it,” said Martine Carlina.
She runs Mums Original, a health food company from Regina that specializes in organic hemp and flax oil products that are sold to health food stores across North America.
Carlina, who has been in business for five years, said the U.S. represents half of her business. Last year she bought 160 tonnes of hemp seed compared to the 10 tonnes she bought in her first year.
Carlina’s latest venture is a magazine called Organic Lifestyles. She publishes it with a Calgary partner and sends 40,000 copies every two months to health food stores across Canada, except Quebec. She is working on the third issue and hopes to soon increase circulation to 100,000.
She got involved with hemp during various public events and fashion shows held in 1997-98 to convince Health Canada to legalize the crop. When that change came in, she continued to work with the industry. Carlina moved to Saskatchewan from Alberta in 2000 to lower her business expenses. She now has six employees and a 4,000 sq. foot warehouse.
No hot new products are leaping out at the members of the herb and spice association. There is no Cinderella crop, said executive director Connie Kehler.
She said the best business tips for members are to connect themselves with a retailer or other larger chain in the industry, and to learn to record every step of their crop and processing for on-farm safety.
A potential new area for spice and herb growers will be collecting non-timber products from forests, such as moss, mushrooms, berries and wild plants. Also called wildcrafting, she said the practice will have to be done ethically with care for the environment in mind.
Kehler said the Saskatchewan group also does the office work for the national association. It recently helped the federal government develop regulations for natural products.
“We’d rather be on the inside making it work than on the outside screaming,” Kehler said.
