Overview

• Plant-health inspectors at Frankfurt Airport intercepted about 65,000 China-origin seed shipments without required phytosanitary certificates by early June, a marked spike this year.
• Authorities say most parcels contained unrequested seed and were frequently misdeclared as items like earrings or greeting cards, leading to return of the shipments.
• The Julius Kühn-Institut warns the unknown seed could introduce invasive plants or carry pests and diseases that threaten gardens, parks and agriculture.
• The concentration in Frankfurt is linked to the DHL post center at the airport, which forwards many small parcels from China across Germany.
• Investigators have not established a motive; hypotheses include a brushing scam or probing EU entry points, and officials advise against buying seed online from non‑EU sources and to discard any unsolicited seed in household waste, not compost or biowaste.