The Illinois Department of Agriculture is urging citizens to contact them if they receive an unsolicited envelope containing seeds from a foreign country. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is working to address reports of unsolicited shipments of seeds from foreign countries to unknowing citizens.
Anyone who receives unordered seeds in the mail should contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture by emailing the following information to agr.seeds@Illinois.gov: First and Last Name, Phone Number and the number of packages received. Do not open the package, plant the seeds, or throw them out. Please keep all seeds unopened and with their original packaging and labels, including mailing labels, until further instruction is provided.