U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists are working at Arizona's ports of entry ahead of this Mother's Day: They're making sure that imported flowers for Mother's Day do not have any insects, pests or diseases that could harm the agricultural and floral industries in the U.S.
The United States celebrates Mother's Day this Sunday, May 13th.
"The Mother's Day period is a time when our CBP agriculture specialists see an increase in the number of floral arrangements arriving at local area ports," said Tracy Filippi, Supervisory Agriculture Specialist for Tucson Field Office. "CBP agriculture specialists work constantly to ensure that the flowers or plants they will see are free from insects, pests and/or disease."
Before importing floral arrangements, CBP encourages anyone to visit their websiteto know which flowers are allowed and which are prohibited.
The CBP says one single pest can cause millions of dollars worth of damage to crops in the United States.
