CBP Reminds Public Ponche Ingredients are Prohibited from Entry

SAN DIEGO – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are reminding the public that ponche ingredients, guavas, Hawthorn apples, and sugarcane are prohibited from entering the United States.

Ponche, a traditional Mexican holiday punch, is shared and enjoyed among many families along the Southwest Border during the holiday seasons. However, the ingredients used to make it, guavas (guayabas), Hawthorn apples (tejocotes) and sugar cane (caña de azucar), are all illegal when imported through a passenger port of entry, like the San Ysidro border crossing.  Sugar cane must be properly peeled, with nodes removed, and inspected before it can be considered for entry in passenger processing.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and agriculture specialists are expecting an increase in the attempted importation of the prohibited ingredients.

CBP is advising the public that the prohibited items pose significant pest risks. Hawthorn apples or tejocotes, and especially guavas, are hosts to exotic fruit flies.  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, fruit flies are among the most destructive pests of fruits and vegetables around the world.  Fruit flies spend their larval stages feeding and growing in over 400 host plants.

Introduction of these pest species into the United States causes economic losses from destruction and spoiling of host commodities by larvae, costs associated with implementing control measures, and loss of market share due to restrictions on shipment of host commodities.  Both guavas and tejocotes are prohibited under 7 CFR 319.56, and sugar cane, if imported freshly harvested, is prohibited under 7 CFR 319.15.

“I want to remind the public that these products are prohibited and failure to declare them could result in penalties,” said Pete Flores, the director of field operations in San Diego.  “CBP officers and agriculture specialists will be on the lookout for individuals attempting to import these ponche ingredients through the passenger environment and will refer vehicles for secondary inspection that are believed to be transporting these and other prohibited items.”