Farm Compliance

Gulf Port, Mississippi - Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists at the Port of Gulfport recently made a significant and important interception in a shipment of organic bananas from Colombia, South America during a container tailgate inspection.

During the routine inspection, alert agriculture specialists discovered the insect, Faustinus rhombifer Champion (Curculionidae). The insect was submitted to USDA for identification. Similar species feed on the vegetation, stems and leaves of a multitude of plants. Based on the identification, this is a new pest. CBP issued a notice to the shipper that entire shipment be re-exported.

	CBP agriculture specialists discover potentially harmful pest in organic banana shipment from Colombia.

“The CBP agriculture specialist at U.S. ports of entry, detect, intercept, and thereby prevent the entry of potential threats such as this new insect before they have a chance to do any harm that could seriously threaten U.S. agriculture, our natural resources and our economy,” said Robert C. Gomez, CBP director field operations for the New Orleans Field Office.

The country faces a new and dangerous threat post 9/11. Agro-terrorism is the intentional introduction of a plant or animal pest or disease or contamination of food materials with a toxic substance. “With the added danger of agro-terrorism, the role of the CBP agriculture specialist at our ports of entry is more crucial than ever,” said Gomez.