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I sent this card to my BIL and his family in Australia. I know that they are quite strict about what they allow in there; I've heard before of cards or layouts with skeleton leaves or pressed flowers or anything along those lines being impounded. So I am always careful never to use anything like that on cards I send.
Well, apparently the Customs aren't familiar with Flower Soft either :rolleyes:. My BIL got a photocopy of the card, and he was told if he wanted to pay AUS $42 he could get the card back, although he also seemed to think they'd pulled it apart.
I'm wondering if they'd have reacted the same way to some of the more colourful shades of Flower Soft, if it was just the green that made them think it was plant material - but I'm not going to risk it again.
LOL, Lydia!! Wow, I would never have thought that Flower Soft would be an issue with Customs, but I guess... if you didn't know what it was... it could look a bit... mossy? I wonder what their lab techs will think?!
So sorry that your card was "quarantined". They are very strict here in Australia and probably thought the green Flowersoft was plant material - and then they worry about fungal diseases or possibly insect infestation. The cost they are quoting is most likely to fumigate it. It was a beautiful card too!
Maybe this funny story will cheer you up.....my Scottish friend Betty (who lives in Australia) is very tight with money had travelled back to her Scottish homeland on holidays. She bought a pack of washing powder over there, but didn't want to throw it away (that would like throwing away money to her) as there was still lots left in the box, so she came up with the brilliant idea of decanting the white laundry powder into little clear snap lock bags and put them in her suitcase and travelled back to Australia. It never occurred to her that Australian Customs might be very suspicious when they went through her suitcase and she had a VERY interesting time and was somewhat delayed........ :!: We STILL laugh about it!!
oh what a shame, they let the jars of the stuff come in .... and lots of people sell it here. I guess it is just that it was on the card and like someone else said they thought it was plant material.
oh what a shame, they let the jars of the stuff come in .... and lots of people sell it here. I guess it is just that it was on the card and like someone else said they thought it was plant material.
I was pretty sure I'd seen it on cards from Australia, and these days product is pretty much worldwide. I'm still reckoning that it was purely because it was the green one, the coloured ones would be more obviously man-made. It was just a bummer when I am always careful NOT to send any cards with organic stuff on them when I'm posting to my BIL's family or birthday RAKs.
@JoBear2 - I can imagine how that looked - although one taste would have solved the issue of what was in the bags. DH got some very suspicious looks the time he had several bags of flour in his suitcase for his sister, but they accepted the fact that she wanted to be able to make proper Irish soda bread :p.
So sorry that your card was "quarantined". They are very strict here in Australia and probably thought the green Flowersoft was plant material - and then they worry about fungal diseases or possibly insect infestation. The cost they are quoting is most likely to fumigate it. It was a beautiful card too!
Maybe this funny story will cheer you up.....my Scottish friend Betty (who lives in Australia) is very tight with money had travelled back to her Scottish homeland on holidays. She bought a pack of washing powder over there, but didn't want to throw it away (that would like throwing away money to her) as there was still lots left in the box, so she came up with the brilliant idea of decanting the white laundry powder into little clear snap lock bags and put them in her suitcase and travelled back to Australia. It never occurred to her that Australian Customs might be very suspicious when they went through her suitcase and she had a VERY interesting time and was somewhat delayed........ :!: We STILL laugh about it!!
Quarantined Flower Soft
