Importing herbarium specimens

Herbarium specimens are preserved plants or plant parts that are dried, pressed, and mounted on sheets of paper.

They are typically labelled with information about the plant's species, location, date of collection and collector's name.

Obtain a phytosanitary certificate

Phytosanitary certificates are only issued for these purposes:

• Certify that plants, plant products or other regulated articles meet the phytosanitary import requirements of importing countries and conform to the certifying statement.
• Support re-export certification to other countries.

They are normally issued by the authority of agriculture or the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of the country of origin of the plants and plant products.
You need a phytosanitary certificate to import herbarium specimens into Singapore.

Additional declarations and treatments applied

Your herbarium specimen must receive the following treatment if it contains Hevea spp:

Refer to the factsheet below for more information.

Who to contact

Your supplier must arrange for the exporting country's authority of agriculture or National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) to inspect the herbarium specimens you want to import into Singapore. The phytosanitary certificate will be issued if the plants meet Singapore's import conditions.

After receiving your phytosanitary certificate

After receiving your phytosanitary certificate, you will have to apply for an import permit before you can bring your herbarium specimens into Singapore.