In late August, two freighters docking at the Port of Brownsville were quarantined when U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) inspectors detected egg masses on the exterior of the arriving sea vessels that were confirmed to be those of the Asian gypsy moth. The Asian Gypsy is a foreign pest with a voracious appetite for more than 500 species of U.S. shrubs and trees.The U.S. Department of Agriculture stated that, "the moth poses a major threat to forest habitats in North America, with at least three large infestations occurring during the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest and North Carolina."
Anabel B. Unwin, Chief Agriculture Specialist, stated that, "on both of these vessels cargo offloading was prohibited until more comprehensive inspections could be performed. In both cases cargo was limited to steel products and after inspection the cargo was determined to be free of egg masses." She added, "the names of the vessels have now been entered into our system and before docking at other U.S. ports, re-inspections will be ordered to determine if the egg masses have been completely removed."
Eddie Perez, CBP agriculture inspector, stated that, "CBP agriculture specialists working at U.S. ports of entry ensure that imports are free from insects, pests, and plant disease that could harm the agricultural products, plants and trees in the United States," "Asian Gypsy Moths could be devastating to any plant or tree with leaves since it has no natural predators in this region. It could become prolific and cost millions of dollars and man-hours to eradicate if not stopped at our points of entry."
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Posted 9/23/2011
Posted 9/23/2011
