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New York - With Valentine's Day just around the corner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists working at New York area international airports are busy making sure that flower imports 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.

“CBP agriculture specialists examine imported flowers as well other agriculture products to ensure that plant disease and microscopic pests are detected and prevented from being introduced into United States,” said Robert E. Perez, director, field operations for CBP in New York. “By intercepting plant pests and diseases at ports of entry, CBP plays a vital role in protecting the economy and the environment from harm.”

In 2008, CBP agriculture specialists at John F. Kennedy and Newark, N.J. international airports processed 24 million stems of cut flower imports for Valentine’s Day. Here are more interesting facts about cut flower imports:

• In 2008, the top three ports of entry that processed shipments of cut flower imports for Valentine’s Day were Miami, New York/Newark and Otay Mesa, Calif.
• In these shipments of imported flowers, CBP in New York intercepted 215 plant pests.
• The top three flower imports into the New York Metropolitan Area are tulips from the Netherlands, roses from Ecuador and Dedrobium from Thailand.
• The most common type of insects found in cut flower imports are Moths (Noctuidae), Miner Flies and Thrips (Thripidae).

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. On a typical day during fiscal year 2008, the 2,277 agriculture specialists employed by CBP seized 4,125 prohibited meat, plant materials or animal products, including 435 agricultural pests at ports of entry. ( Protecting America's Agricultural Resources Photography )

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.