Dulles CBP agriculture specialists seize 440 pounds of unprocessed cotton in traveler baggage
STERLING, Virginia – This story may seem to be hanging by a thread, but this was certainly no yarn as U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists seized about 440 pounds of unprocessed cotton that arrived in passenger baggage at Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday.
CBP officers referred a family that arrived from Afghanistan to a secondary examination. The family declared to officers that they purchased cotton from a store and intended to use it to fabricate bedding products for themselves. Officers observed that three large duffel bags were stuffed with unprocessed cotton and sought advice from CBP agriculture specialists.
CBP agriculture specialists noticed that the unprocessed cotton still contained seeds. The cotton and seeds are prohibited without a U.S. Department of Agriculture permit, phytosanitary certificate, and specific entry treatments such as fumigation.
Raw, unprocessed cotton may be a vector for invasive and harmful insect pests, such as the cotton seed bug and pink bollworm, which could threaten the United States textile and agriculture industries.
CBP agriculture specialists seized the cotton, which weighed a little more than 440 pounds, and released the family.
“It’s important for travelers to know that something that they consider traditional and innocuous may be inadmissible because it could pose a serious threat to our nation’s agriculture and textile industries. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists have a very important role and that is to educate travelers about these potential threats while they also protect our nation’s vital agricultural resources, and by extension, our nation’s economic security,” said CBP Area Port Director Christine Waugh, Area Port of Washington, D.C.
CBP agriculture specialists safeguard American agriculture by preventing the introduction of harmful exotic plant pests, foreign animal diseases, and potential agricultural bioterrorism into the United States. Every day they inspect tens of thousands of international travelers and cargo shipments being imported to the United States. On a typical day last year, CBP agriculture specialists across the nation confiscated 4,691 prohibited plant, meat, animal byproducts, and soil, and intercepted 222 insect pests at U.S. ports of entry.
CBP's border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
Learn more at www.aphis.usda.gov and www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on X @DFOBaltimore and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram @cbpfieldops.
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