Coming back from a recent trip to the Caribbean, I wanted to make sure there weren’t any hitchhikers.
Just before heading to the airport, we visited the St. Croix Agriculture Fair. There were plants for sale, and I thought about bringing a piece of St. Thomas home with me. I would have been required to declare it at customs. The United States Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists would have inspected it. Because there was soil, which is not allowed into the US, the plant would have been confiscated and destroyed.
Hitchhiking pests and diseases could cause serious damage to crops, livestock, and the environment. Just look at the fire ant. They hitchhiked into the US from South America over 100 years ago. The ants came into an Alabama port in soil. If you haven’t encountered these ants, consider yourself thankful.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, is tasked with keeping potentially harmful pests and diseases from coming into the country on food or other agriculture products.
When traveling back into the country, you are required to declare agriculture products in your checked baggage, carry-on or in your vehicle. It may be tempting to not check the box declaring you have fruit, plants, meat or some other agriculture item in your bag on the customs declaration form. If you try it, dogs trained by USDA will sniff out the agricultural product in your luggage. Declaring an item not allowed in the country will only end up with it confiscated. Not declaring it will result in a fine.
At the St. Croix Agriculture fair, I also visited the livestock barn, which had pigs. I could have brought something back in dirt on the bottom of my shoes. For five days after I returned, I needed to avoid going anywhere that may have pigs, including farms and the zoo. You may be wondering why I needed to stay away from pigs.
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and deadly virus that affects pigs. Humans aren’t affected but can spread the virus in foods made with pork. The virus is not in the US and the agriculture inspections aim to keep it that way, so some pork products are not allowed into the country.
Think you won’t be affected if ASF gets on American soil? This virus has the potential to destroy pigs across the country, raising the cost of food and making it harder to find bacon and ham for your morning breakfast.
Making sure you didn’t bring home an uninvited guest is vital to the safety and security of the US food supply. Don’t pick up a hitchhiker.
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