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In March 2004, Frank Mihalic ran afoul of the United States Department of Agriculture's import restrictions on 'artificially dwarfed plants' when a shipment of 229 bonsai from Asia bound for Wildwood Gardens bonsai nursery in Ohio were destroyed by incineration under quarantine restrictions the USDA put in place to counter the threat of wood boring beetles.
Mihalic documents a loss of nearly $30,000 and filed suit over "bad advice" received from the Ohio State Department of Agriculture inspector's office that recommend he continue following "regulations which have been used in the past," despite the changes in Federal procedures, which now require a two-year quarantine. The state claims it is Milhalic's own responsibility to know the rules. Meanwhile, Wildwood Gardens is in a fight to stay afloat. The Geauga County nursery was recently given preliminary approval by state and federal regulators to participate in a pilot quarantine program, but it may be too late for the Mihalics, and this loss may be too much for the nursery to bear. The severity of the import restrictions has led to a drop of more than 50% in sales. "We're struggling ...struggling like hell," Tony Mihalic told a reporter RELATED STORIES: Print Friendly Version Print Page Discuss this Article on bonsaiTALK |