I have ordered from USDA/GRIN within the last few years. I breed tomatoes and have only sold the seeds from the plants I have grown and we are talking about 15 packs of seeds in the entire time I had a Google store.
I don't see any ethical problem with the general public accessing these seeds so long as you have an interest in breeding them.
That said, I think the many, many of these seeds are not exactly stable. I suspect that many accessions from overseas were landraces to begin with and I also think that there has probably been a fair amount of accidental cross pollinations within GRIN. My basis for saying this is the difference between the descriptions in the GRIN catalog and what I have grown from the seed provided as well as variations within the plants that I have grown out.
My blog has several GRIN varieties that I am happy to share for a SASE.
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Scott
http://worldtomatoes.blogspot.com/
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