NEW YORK – Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists working at the New York/New Jersey area ports of entry are busy making sure that imported flowers used in Valentine’s Day bouquets are free from insects, pests and diseases that could harm the agricultural and floral industries of the United States.

“Valentine’s Day flowers can be a lovely present for that special someone, however they can carry pests that could cause serious damage to U.S. agriculture and our natural resources,” said New York Field Operations Director, Troy Miller. “This is why our CBP agriculture specialists are poised every holiday season to prevent the introduction of harmful insects and diseases in the U.S.”

So far in FY2020 leading up to Valentine’s Day, CBP agriculture specialists in New York processed approximately 40,000,000 cut flowers from more than 34 countries, consisting of carnations, alstroemeria, roses, tulips, chrysanthemums and mixed bouquets.

(The chart below show the numbers of stem-cut flowers inspected by CBP Agriculture Specialists at each port under the direction of the New York Field Office for Fiscal Year 2020, which began on October 1, 2019.)

Month JFK Newark NYFO TOTAL 2019-10 16,890,875 379,447 17,270,322 2019-11 12,611,047 26,072 12,637,119 2019-12 14,615,606 1,335,265 15,950,871 2020-01 17,527,316 1,817,093 19,344,409 2020-02 3,974,239 207,380 4,181,619 TOTAL 65,619,083 3,765,257 69,384,340

At international ports of entry, land borders and mail facilities, CBP agriculture specialists are the front line in the fight against the introduction of harmful insects, pests and diseases into the United States.