Sri Lanka’s ornamental fish farms also grow freshwater aquarium plants for the pet and aquascaping trade: stem plants, rosette plants such as Cryptocoryne and Aponogeton, mosses, and plants tied to wood or stone. They ship bare-root, in pots or in bunches, and can go in the same air shipment as fish.

Plants have extra steps. Each shipment needs a phytosanitary certificate, some countries require an import permit for aquatic plants, and some species cannot be imported into certain markets. We check your list before we quote.

What to include in your request

• Your plant list, with pot, bunch or bare-root
• Quantity per species, or a mixed box
• Destination airport, and whether it ships with fish
• Any certificate your import permit requires

Farm-grown plants only

We supply cultivated plants from aquatic nurseries, not plants collected from the wild. Several wild Sri Lankan aquatic plants, including native Cryptocoryne and Lagenandra, are protected, and we do not quote for wild-collected stock.

Some aquarium plants are restricted in some markets. For example, the United States lists Hygrophila polysperma, Limnophila sessiliflora, Salvinia and Hydrilla as federal noxious weeds, and the EU bans several invasive aquatic species. We do not supply restricted species to those markets.

For the United States, plants ship bare-root: most growing media cannot enter. Plants tied to wood or stone are checked case by case.

Importing into your country

Every shipment travels with a phytosanitary certificate from Sri Lanka’s National Plant Quarantine Service. What else you need depends on where the plants are going. Send us your species list and destination and we check the rules before we quote.

• European Union: all plants for planting need a phytosanitary certificate, including small lots and parcels. Some genera are on the EU high-risk plants list and cannot be imported until they are assessed, so we check each species first. Any growing medium must be new or treated and declared on the certificate, and professional importers register with their national plant-health authority.
• United Kingdom: plants for planting need a phytosanitary certificate, pre-notification on IPAFFS and inspection at a border control post, where fees apply.
• United States: the importer needs an APHIS import permit (form PPQ 587, free, applied for online; allow 30 to 60 days). Plants arrive bare-root, without soil, and enter through a port with a USDA plant inspection station.
• United Arab Emirates and the Gulf: the importer usually needs an import permit from the national ministry before the plants are shipped (in the UAE, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment).
• Japan, Canada and other markets: a phytosanitary certificate is required, and some plants also need an import permit or inspection on arrival. We confirm before quoting.
• Australia and New Zealand: very strict. Most live plants need an import permit and post-entry quarantine, so we quote these case by case.

How to get a price: tell us the quantity, your specification and your destination port. We quote FOB Colombo, CFR or CIF, with lead time and minimum order, and arrange samples before an order.

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