Miami airport gears up for flower flourish

Miami airport gears up for flower flourish With the busy Valentine's Day season just a month away at Miami International Airport, Customs and Border Protection officials are working with the trade to gear up for the peak season for flower shipments.
   CBP is starting with a cut flower inspection seminar Jan. 17. CBP's Miami International Airport agriculture inspectors, along with its air cargo compliance team, will offer repeat morning and afternoon sessions at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Those sessions will be at 2461 N.W. 66th Ave., Building 702, Room 205 at the airport.
   Persons with questions about the training seminar should call CBP agricultural operations supervisor Marisol Perez-Cajamarca at (305) 869-3188.
   In addition, the CBP's Miami Service Port will set up a 24-hour hotline beginning Jan. 25 to address service-related issues. Service-related calls should be made to the Operations Desk located in Building 708 at (305) 526-2933.
   The A1 Operations Desk will have the hotline operational around the clock through Feb. 14 to address issues involving cut flower shipments. All calls will be logged and senior management officials at CBP Miami will monitor the log for the appropriate resolution action.
   CBP's Cargo Clearance Center will operate 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays. There could be an extension of those hours during the peak period if CBP has enough advance information on high volumes to indicate an extension would be needed.
   The CBP said that to enable it to staff accordingly, the trade is being asked to provide advance notification of flight information, including flight number, estimated time of arrival, and rough workload estimates of high, medium or low. That information should be faxed to Perez-Cajamarca at (305) 526-2762 or e-mailed to Marisol.perezcajamarca@dhs.gov.