USDA has advised us of a nationwide alert on blueberries being imported from Argentina. Due to a pest being found at Miami International Airport (MIA), for the time being, all shipments of blueberries from Argentina are being held at the airlines for a physical inspection by USDA. Even though the shipments are pre-released by USDA in Argentina, they will be doing physical examinations of the outside of the containers to make sure there are no pests. Shipments are being inspected at the airline only. Bonded warehouse movements will not be allowed and no Delivery Tickets will be stamped as they don’t want possibility of these bugs leaving the airport.
Today (Nov. 19,2015), according to USDA Supervisor Ramirez at LAX, this is a nationwide alert and they are waiting for Headquarter’s decision as to when this pest alert will be lifted and go back to normal operation procedures.
Flegenheimer International will continue to monitor and keep you all posted.
Thank you,
Flegenheimer Team
Leave a Reply