Ginseng , the plant whose pungent, harmless-looking root is one of the world's most famous alternative medicines and aphrodisiacs, is becoming a nightmare for Australian customs officials.
Tourists unaware that the plant is endangered and that it is illegal to bring ginseng roots home from holidays are making up the bulk of all customs seizures under the Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act.
Illegal imports of unprocessed, endangered American ginseng roots made up around 80 per cent of the 300 seizures during December, and throughout last year quantities of the root entering Australia continued to surge dramatically.
Because the plant is listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - the same convention that prevents the import of all products made from tigers, ivory, coral and turtles -it cannot be brought into Australia in its root form.
The Federal Government's position on ginseng is that all specimens in root form are illegal but manufactured medicines, tea and tablets are not. The punishment for importing ginseng roots is up to a $100,000 fine or 10 years' imprisonment, but only warnings have been issued so far.
In Appalachia, in the eastern United States, a tea made from the roots is used as an aphrodisiac. American Indians used it as a contraceptive, a treatment for rheumatism and vomiting.
Today it is used around the world, but particularly in Asia, to treat convulsions, dizziness, nervous disorders, colds, fevers, headaches and shortness of breath.
Illegal imports have become so common that the wildlife protection section of Wildlife Australia - formerly the Australian Nature Conservation Agency -Australian Customs and the World Wide Fund for Nature are to embark on the first major public campaign on illegal, alternative medicines.
American ginseng is also called five fingers and dwarf groungnut, according to wildlife protection officers. It is a rare perenniial with two to four leaves divided into five leaflets at the end of a leafstalk , which grows up to 25 centimetres tall. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, and the berries are a vivid, shiny scarlet. Its roots are large and aromatic.
American ginseng is usually found in cool, wooded areas or cultivated in greenhouses. It is favoured over its Asian relatives because it is milder and so can be used more often.
A spokesman for Environment Australia's wildlife protection section said the roots can be worth up to $US1,000 a pound ($1,300 for 450 grams) and many tourists purchase hundreds of dollars' worth of the roots while overseas only to see it seized upon arrival in Australia.
One of the organisation's most frequently received complaints is from tourists baffled by the seizure of their ginseng , he said. "It is quite extraordinary that people would target a wild product such as ginseng when there is so much other material available elsewhere - it must be part of the drive towards alternative medicine."
* Valued for 5,00 years as a medical herb
* Regarded by many as a panacea, primarily used as a tonic for mental and physical disorders
* considered an aphrodisiac and to promote longevity
* Cultivated since 12th century in Korea, American ginseng cultivated since 1880's
WHERE IT GROWS
* Panax pseudoginseng: native to Korea and Manchurian regions of Asia
* Pansz quinquiesfolius: native to North America (Quebec to Minnesota)
- By: James Woodford
- SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald1997.01.30
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