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Gulfport, Miss. - Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists in Gulfport, Miss., recently targeted three shipments of pine tomato stakes arriving at the port from Honduras which proved to be treated with chromated copper arsenate, a substance banned by EPA for use on certain products, including tomato stakes.

Because they were treated with the illegal chemical, they were exported back to Honduras since the CCA chemically-treated stakes are illegal for release into the United States.

CCA is used as a wood preservative and protects the wood from decay fungi, wood attacking insects, including termites, and marine borers. The chromium acts as a chemical fixing agent; the copper acts primarily to protect the wood, while the arsenic is the main insecticidal component of CCA. Wood treated with the compound is typically green in color. CCA is a registered chemical pesticide that is subject to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Customs and Border Protection enforces hundreds of laws across a variety of agencies, including EPA.

“Protecting our nation’s agriculture is an important mission of CBP and one that we take very seriously; denying entry at the border or port, further ensures that potentially dangerous products are not introduced into the commerce of the United States,” said Robert C. Gomez, CBP director of field operations for the New Orleans Field Office. “The CBP agriculture specialist protects our country with inspection, detection and prevention efforts designed to keep prohibited agricultural items from entering the U.S. causing potential harm to humans or crops.”

CBP recently kicked off a recruitment program themed “New Year, New Career,” a hiring initiative aimed at filling 11,000 positions in 2009; among the numerous positions to be filled is the agriculture specialist. For additional information or to apply online, visit the CBP Careers Web site. ( Careers )

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.