Plants & seeds
Quarantines stop at state lines. Your checkout should too.
Plant shipping is governed by agricultural quarantines: rules designed to stop pests and diseases from crossing borders. Which quarantines reach your species and your destinations depends on both, and the current lists are published by state departments of agriculture and the USDA.
The quarantine patchwork
Quarantines cover citrus greening, fire ants, gypsy moth, Japanese beetle and more — each with its own list, each maintained by state departments of agriculture and the USDA, and several drawn at county rather than state level. Which of them reach your species and your destinations is a question for those lists, not for us, and they change during a season. Nurseries routinely end up holding multiple overlapping restriction sets, which is precisely what Shopify’s one-profile-per-product shipping system can’t express.
How sellers handle it on Shopify
Tag plants by quarantine group (for example citrus-plants), create one rule per group, and let checkout block quarantined destinations with a message that explains why — buyers take “state agricultural quarantine” much better than a silent error.
Common questions
Where do I find the official quarantine lists?
State departments of agriculture publish current quarantines, and the USDA maintains federal ones. Rules change seasonally — recheck before listing new species.
Can one plant be in several quarantine groups?
Yes, and that's fine: multiple rules can cover the same product, something Shopify shipping profiles can't do.
This guide is general information for merchants, not legal advice. Regulations change — verify current law for your products and destinations.