U.S. Gardeners who plan to purchase or receive seed from any companies, groups or individuals based anywhere outside the United States should obtain a Permit for Small Lots of Seed. It is free, good for 3 years and multiple uses, the application is available online.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-imports/buy-plants-seeds-online
We regularly check that all varieties we offer are compatible with the permit, please note that the USDA manual is more than 1500 pages and might change anytime.
Please note that due updated import regulations (2024) we are unable to ship Tomato and Pepper seeds to the US anymore.
You can order max. 50 Seed packages / shipment.
How to order with the small lots of seeds permit:
1. Apply for the permit
You can apply online: APHIS eFile
Commodity Type: "Small Lots of Seed"
Country/Region of Origin: “Ukraine”, (add any country you are planning to order seeds from – you can anytime modify this later if purchasing from an additional country).
Article: “Eligible taxa” or "All eligible taxa" (Your Permit will then allow you to import any seeds which are not prohibited, but it is your responsibility to make sure that all the seeds you bring in to the US are eligible. We do our best to only offer seeds from varieties that are eligible but please note that USDA manual is more than 1500 pages and is subject to change anytime).
2. Send us the 2 pdfs (permit and yellow/green labels) by e-mail
Send them by e-mail to info@nikitovka.com.
3. Place the order
Your account will be activated and the checkout available within 24h after we received the permit.
Once the Plant Inspection Station as received the package and finished inspection (which may some 2 to 4 weeks on average), they may contact you in order to send them a self-addressed and pre-paid USPS shipping label to forward seeds to your home address.
However, this depends on the inspection facility and in particular on inspectors. Some facilities and/or inspectors may not request a pre-paid USPS shipping label from you, but instead they will directly forward seeds to your address at no extra costs. If in doubt, please contact the APHIS facility which appears on the green/yellow label.