CBP in Otay Mesa Blocks Shipment of Broomcorn, Intercepts Pest
October 28, 2009U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Otay Mesa cargo port intercepted a prohibited item and an actionable pest that could potentially cause harm to U.S. agriculture.
Early this month, CBP agriculture specialists at the Otay Mesa cargo facility encountered a shipment manifested as cut flowers and vegetables. They took samples of each flower type and vegetable for inspection and discovered Sorghum bicolor, also known as broomcorn. Broomcorn, a plant genus from Mexico, is prohibited from being imported into the United States due to its susceptibility to European corn borers. The shipment was refused entry and returned to Mexico.
On September 30, a CBP agriculture specialist found an actionable pest on a shipment of corn. This shipment was also returned to Mexico because the larva found on it was identified as Diatraea considerata Heinrich, a significant quarantine pest. Intercepting Diatraea considerata Heinrich on corn is an unusual occurrence for the San Diego ports, as the pest is known to be a sugarcane borer.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) identifies through scientific risk assessment and study which pests are “actionable” or dangerous to the health and safety of U.S. agricultural resources. If introduced into the United States, actionable pests could cause serious damage to crops, livestock, the environment, and potentially public health.
