Customs, states to coordinate ag protection

Customs, states to coordinate ag protection    U.S. Customs is establishing liaisons in two states as part of its two-year initiative to beef up its agricultural inspection capabilities, according to a top official.
   Thomas Winkowski, assistant commissioner for field operations, acknowledged Customs and Border Protection faces manpower constraints as its workload for preventing invasive pests and diseases from entering the country increases.
   CBP will soon locate an agriculture representative in Sacramento, Calif., and has posted a vacancy announcement for a similar position in Gainesville, Fla., to coordinate efforts with state and U.S. Department of Agriculture specialists, Winkowski announced Thursday in Miami before an industry-based federal advisory panel.
   States play a big role, through quarantines and other methods, in controlling the spread of pests and disease that can cause serious damage to crops, livestock and the environment.
   The volume of perishable trade that agriculture specialists have to quickly process is reflected at Miami International Airport, where 86 percent of the nation's cut flower imports and 68 percent of all fruits and vegetables enter the country by air freight. In 2009, CBP inspectors conducted 891,000 inspections of cut flowers and made 38,000 interceptions, Geoff Powell of C.H. Powell Co., reported following a tour of a bonded warehouse at the airport where the agency demonstrated its procedures. Local officials project pest interceptions will increase 23 percent to 47,000 this year, due in part to better training and information sharing, but not to any increase in inspection levels.
   During fiscal year 2009, CBP agricultural specialists nationwide seized more than 1.5 million prohibited meat and plant materials, or animal products, including 166,727 agricultural pests.
   Inspecting agricultural products is a labor-intensive process, but CBP's ability to hire more staff is constrained by the downturn in trade, Winkowski said. One-third of the field officer positions in CBP are funded by user fees, collection of which declined 8 percent last year.
   President Barack Obama's budget request for the Department of Homeland Security in fiscal year 2011 includes $44.8 million to offset the drop in inspection fees and hire 318 new CBP field officers and 71 support personnel.
   Although CBP is the largest DHS component and commands the largest share of the budget, it would take a 2 percent hit, $269.3 million, under Obama's plan compared to its 2010 appropriation if Congress doesn't adjust the amount.
   In 2010, CBP intends to create a risk-based model for deciding which ports of entry to assign agriculture specialists and agricultural canine inspection teams, according to the budget document.
   In related news, CBP plans to hold its second agriculture stakeholders conference in Washington, D.C., this summer to discuss issues that concern agricultural businesses. An outgrowth of the first conference in 2008 is a survey that CBP is preparing to soon send to farmers, agriculture extension agencies, food distributors and others to get suggestions for better ways to communicate with industry on pest interception efforts and other issues. ' Eric Kulisch