CHAMPLAIN, N.Y. - During a three week period, Agriculture Specialists with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) searched over 200 trucks containing Christmas tree and greenery shipments that resulted in the interception of more than 350 invasive pests.
A couple weeks prior to the thanksgiving holiday and proceeding through the first week of December has traditionally been considered the peak shipping period for Christmas trees and greenery. With these shipments comes an increased concern for insects that can cause massive damage to United States forestry. The interception of these pests is an important role that CBP Agriculture Specialists have in order to help prevent millions of dollars in damage and the loss of large numbers of trees. Several of these shipments were destined to southern states where they do not yet have these devastating insects, so their detection was crucial to prevent them from making that journey.
Specialists at the Port of Entry in Champlain,
New York.
During this time period, CBP encountered more than 170,000 plant units and intercepted over 350 insects. Several of which were deemed reportable and could have caused massive forest damage in some of these southern states.
“Our CBP Agriculture Specialists are our first line of defense when trying to stop insects from entering our country and potentially causing massive damage to U.S. forestry”, said Area Port Director Steve Bronson. “We have an incredible group of dedicated employees that work tirelessly to keep these insects from devastating our agriculture and natural resources.”
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