China asks the U.S. to return the mystery seeds shipped to American mail boxes.
According to the China Post, the country’s state owned postal service asked the U.S. Postal Office to send back the packages for investigation. People in at least 15 states have received unsolicited seed packets from China and the package itself is labeled something else, like jewelry. USDA considers the practice agriculture smuggling and is investigating
State ag offices are telling local farmers not to plant or eat the seeds. Karla Salp, with Washington State Dept. of Ag, states, “It could be something that’s invasive. Probably a bigger concern is that it could be harboring some sort of pest or disease that could then infect plants here...it could potentially be something that may not be invasive, it may not be carrying a disease, but it could be something that is harmful to livestock if they were to eat it.”