Washington — U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained 11 shipments of reed fencing from China infested with plant pests and diseases that, if established, could cost the U.S. hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop loss and treatment costs.

The first shipment of reed fencing arrived at the port of International Falls, Minn. infested with Cecidomyiidae flies and Phoma spp., a plant disease. Cecidomyiidae is the family of flies that are known as the gall midges or gall gnats. They are tiny flies that feed on plant tissue and cause abnormal growths called galls to develop on the host. There are some very serious economic pests in this family, including the Hessian fly which attacks wheat, the pear midge and the raspberry cane midge. Phoma spp. are fungal pathogens that cause blight disease in a wide variety of plants including nursery stock, trees and agricultural crops. Blight is characterized by a withering and fading of the plant leaves and often kills the plant and spreads to other plants in the vicinity.

When a similar shipment of reed fencing arrived in Seattle and was found to be infested with harmful pests, it triggered research on this commodity by the Seattle Advanced Targeting Unit. CBP Seattle discovered that the same shipper was shipping similar products through various ports on the east and west coast, as well as on the northern border.

Because the consignee was a large volume importer who would have distributed the fencing nationally, the CBP Office of Field Operations Agriculture Programs and Trade Liaison issued a nationwide alert to all ports of entry. As a result of this alert, 11 shipments of reed fencing have been rejected by CBP since January.

All shipments were either fumigated or re-exported.

“Kudos to CBP Seattle,” said CBP Executive Director Vernon Foret, Office of Field Operations, Agriculture Programs and Trade Liaison.

click for hi-res Noctuidae moth larvae intercepted from reed fencing.

“Their communication and collaboration with other CBP ports resulted in the discovery of these pests on this commodity in multiple locations nationwide.”

OFO APTL in cooperation with CBP’s national account manager conducted outreach to the importer who has agreed to preventative treatment of this product at origin prior to shipping.

In addition to the plant disease and gall midges, some of the other pests intercepted on reed fencing shipments included Noctuidae moths and the Striped Rice Borer, Chilo suppressalis.

Noctuidae is a family of moths comprised of as many as 100,000 species. Many are important agricultural and horticultural pests, including cutworms that eat away the bases of plants such as lettuce and broccoli.

The Striped Rice Borer, Chilo suppressalis, is a stem-feeding beetle considered to be one of the most serious economic pests of rice crops in Asia. It can cause 100 percent mortality of infested fields. It is not currently known to occur in the U.S., but could become a serious pest of cultivated rice if it were to be introduced.

CBP agriculture specialists and CBP officers at U.S. ports of entry and international mail facilities target, detect, intercept and thereby prevent the entry of potential threats before they have a chance to do any harm. On a typical day during fiscal year 2008, CBP agriculture specialists at ports of entry seized 4,125 prohibited meat, plant materials or animal products, including 435 agricultural pests.