It isn't the magazine's fault and they can't do anything about it because these problems all arise from Brexit, a very badly negotiated exit treaty for trade and the movement of goods and the NI protocol which is deemed necessary to keep the Good Friday agreement alive.
All of those are a result of a "people's" vote to leave the EU and political failure afterwards in the UK, NI and EU.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
JUST FOR FUN!!! I´m a subscriber fom Slovakia (from EU).
I was disappointed to find no free seed packets in my January issue of GW as promised. I was on the point of contacting GW and they send me gift seeds from January issue in separately envelope during the March. I wondered why they didn't send me the seeds from February and March issue, too.
They replied as follows :"Unfortunately BBC Gardeners’ World is unable to supply free
seeds to subscribers and readers outside mainland UK due to new restrictions on
moving plants and seeds overseas that came in to place at the beginning of
January."
Out of curiosity I ordered April and May issue of GW from the Newsstand. Today I received April issue from both company - GW and Newsstand, too. Guess what was in envelopes?
1st envelope from GW - april issue without gift seeds :-(
2nd envelope from Newsstand - april issue with gift seeds! :-)
My questions are:
Newsstand does not follow the Brexit regulations?
When GW could send me january seeds in separately envelop, by this way why can not send me other seeds, too?
When GW send me january seeds in separately envelop, they violated the regulations?...if yes...why?
In my opinion the brexit regulations do not relate to gift seeds.
I am very disappointed with the approach of the editors.
despite the fact that subscriptions to the EU are much more expensive EU readers have become secondary.
I'm not talking about those couple of pennies, but about the principle.
Sending seeds or plants or cuttings etc from the UK to anywhere outside the mainland and Scottish Isles is now illegal without a phytosanitary certificate. The same goes for importing seeds and plants into the UK.
It will, no doubt, take a while for people distributing magazines and those who have been used to swapping and sharing seeds on a private basis to get used to these new post Brexit rules. The bigger seed companies are, even now, taking steps to get to the certificates they need to carry on accessing supplies and distributing seeds for customers but UK companies will no longer be fulfilling personal orders to private clients abroad because of the cost of the certificates. It's only worth it for a commercial quantities because the £150ish cost of the certification can be absorbed across large quantities but not personal orders.
The extra cost of the subscription outside the UK is purely down to postage.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
The seeds supplied free (to some people!) with GW magazine are Mr Fothergill's. Seeds from this company are available in garden centres in Northern Ireland as can be seen from the attached advert. I have sent a copy of the ad to GW and asked that they supply Northern Ireland subscribers with vouchers to exchange in outlets here but have not received a response.
i am very disappointed to find out that after subscribing for a year that i will not be able to get the free seeds offers due to living in NI. this was not clear when i signed up.
How are the people who run the magazine supposed to know any better than you what Brexit would involve?
Northern Ireland voted remain on the whole but was that to maintain the Good Friday agreement and independence form Eire or because every single one of you had read all the pros and cons and likely implications of Brexit and withdrawal from EU trade agreements??
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Apologies for redirecting this thread if that’s not the proper thing to do. Anyone know if NI subscribers will get the free seeds in 2022?
I think it was the November issue said that further details on the free seeds would be published in December, then December confirmed that free seeds would be available in 2022 but that for NI subscribers, more details would follow in January. I’ve now received January’s issue and it doesn’t confirm anything! The small print has changed from seeds to unavailable outside the UK to being unavailable in EU countries and the rest of the world. Does that mean NI subscribers will get them this year? Or, is NI still considered an EU country given the protocol and the wording change is just because they are trying to cover up the fact that they won’t send them again? I was expecting explicit confirmation one way or the other!
Posts
All of those are a result of a "people's" vote to leave the EU and political failure afterwards in the UK, NI and EU.
Out of curiosity I ordered April and May issue of GW from the Newsstand. Today I received April issue from both company - GW and Newsstand, too. Guess what was in envelopes?
It will, no doubt, take a while for people distributing magazines and those who have been used to swapping and sharing seeds on a private basis to get used to these new post Brexit rules. The bigger seed companies are, even now, taking steps to get to the certificates they need to carry on accessing supplies and distributing seeds for customers but UK companies will no longer be fulfilling personal orders to private clients abroad because of the cost of the certificates. It's only worth it for a commercial quantities because the £150ish cost of the certification can be absorbed across large quantities but not personal orders.
The extra cost of the subscription outside the UK is purely down to postage.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Northern Ireland voted remain on the whole but was that to maintain the Good Friday agreement and independence form Eire or because every single one of you had read all the pros and cons and likely implications of Brexit and withdrawal from EU trade agreements??
I think it was the November issue said that further details on the free seeds would be published in December, then December confirmed that free seeds would be available in 2022 but that for NI subscribers, more details would follow in January. I’ve now received January’s issue and it doesn’t confirm anything! The small print has changed from seeds to unavailable outside the UK to being unavailable in EU countries and the rest of the world. Does that mean NI subscribers will get them this year? Or, is NI still considered an EU country given the protocol and the wording change is just because they are trying to cover up the fact that they won’t send them again? I was expecting explicit confirmation one way or the other!