Millions of pounds of fresh fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, herbs, and other items enter the United States via<\/p>\n
While these items seem harmless, there could be hidden threats in that luggage and in those trucks, trains and containers of fresh goods that could seriously threaten U.S. agriculture, our natural resources and our economy.<\/p>\n
The CBP agriculture specialist and CBP officer at U.S. ports of entry and international mail facilities look for, detect, intercept, and thereby prevent the entry of these potential threats before they have a chance to do any damage.<\/p>\n
Cada a\u00f1o, los especialistas en agricultura de la CBP interceptan decenas de miles de \u00abplagas procesables\u00bb, es decir, aquellas identificadas a trav\u00e9s de evaluaciones y estudios cient\u00edficos de riesgo como peligrosas para la salud y la seguridad de los recursos agr\u00edcolas de Estados Unidos.<\/p>\n
They check containers and trucks for smuggled agricultural products or packaging materials that may contain invasive species that could harm our agriculture and environment.
Examinan los pal\u00e9ts de madera que podr\u00edan ocultar las larvas de insectos perforadores de la madera dispuestos a atacar los \u00e1rboles aut\u00f3ctonos o el material de vivero.
Se aseguran de que las frutas y verduras importadas est\u00e9n libres de plagas.
Los especialistas en agricultura del CBP trabajan con m\u00e1quinas de rayos X especializadas que detectan materiales org\u00e1nicos. Utilizan caninos agr\u00edcolas espec\u00edficamente entrenados para olfatear carne y materiales vegetales en las zonas de pasajeros de los aeropuertos internacionales.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, our post 9\/11 world includes a new and dangerous threat. This threat is agroterrorism. Agroterrorism is terrorism directed at some component of agriculture or the food supply. Examples include the intentional introduction of a plant or animal pest or disease or the contamination of food materials with a toxic substance. Agricultural inspections have traditionally focused on the unintentional introduction of pests or diseases, i.e., those that go unnoticed in someone's luggage or hitch a ride on the walls of a container. Now we need to focus on the deliberate introduction of these threats as well.<\/p>\n
With the added danger of agri-terrorism, the role of CBP agriculture specialists at our ports of entry is more crucial than ever.<\/p>\n