Notice to Agricultural 

Merchants and 

Consumers:

Preserving Florida’s 

Environment and 

Agriculture

 

Americans have grown accustomed to seeing healthy 

varieties of food at supermarkets, diverse selections 

of plants at their local nurseries, and marvelous 

animals, trees, and ornamental plants at local zoos 

and parks. However, people do not always realize the protective measures the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) and other agencies take 

to preserve these environmental and agricultural 

resources.

 APHIS touches the lives of all Americans by 

ensuring the availability of domestic and imported 

foods in the marketplace, facilitating the exportation 

of agricultural commodities to foreign countries, and 

preserving the vitality of U.S. public and private lands. 

APHIS is also responsible for regulating agricultural 

commodities brought into the United States. Many 

commodities are prohibited entry into the United 

States because they may harbor alien invasive species—exotic plant and animal pests and diseases—

that could seriously damage America’s crops, livestock, and environment.

Florida Under Siege

 Agricultural smugglers place America’s agriculture, economy, environment, and food supply at risk. 

Because they circumvent legal importation requirements, smugglers present a great risk of introducing 

plant and animal pests and diseases into the United 

States that cost millions of dollars to eradicate. 

 Smugglers illegally avoid U.S. restrictions and 

safeguards designed to exclude plant and animal 

pests and diseases, as well as alien invasive species. 

These products also often fall well short of high sanitation and health standards maintained by American 

farmers.

 Because of its tropical climate, unique animal 

and plant life, and robust $6 billion agriculture industry, Florida is inherently susceptible to the introduction of foreign plant and animal pests and diseases. 

The State has been plagued by repeated outbreaks 

of exotic pests and diseases over the past few years. 

USDA and the Florida Department of Agriculture and 

Consumer Services (FDACS) spent about $25 million 

to eradicate Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) outbreaks 

from Tampa and surrounding areas in 1997; efforts 

to eradicate bacterial citrus canker from Florida currently cost more than $10 million annually.

 But these eradication expenses alone do not 

reflect the full impact on Florida growers. The full 

impact must include lost production areas and lost 

opportunities to market products in domestic and foreign markets. The costs of controlling and eradicating pest and disease outbreaks are ultimately borne 

by consumers in the form of higher grocery costs.

 In addition to losing production areas because 

of regulatory actions, growers also suffer from smugglers’ unfair business practices. Smugglers undercut local markets by selling their high-risk products, 

which may not meet basic sanitation and pesticide 

residue safeguard requirements, at much lower prices. Several producers in south Florida have been put 

out of business because of this unfair competition.

Enforcing the Law

 In response to the growing volume of smuggled 

and improperly imported agricultural products entering the United States, APHIS’ Plant Protection and 

Quarantine and FDACS have recently launched the 

Florida Interdiction and Smuggling Team (FIST), a 

group of specially trained officers from Federal and 

State regulatory agencies. Specializing in smuggling interdiction and trade compliance, FIST officers 

investigate and bring agricultural smugglers to justice. 

These investigators determine the pathways through 

which prohibited products enter the United States, 

and then seize and destroy all prohibited materials 

at the law-breaker’s expense. If warranted, FIST 

pursues civil or criminal penalties. Some of APHIS’ 

national smuggling interdiction efforts have led to 

grand jury indictments, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and seized, prohibited agricultural products.

High-Risk Produce

 Although they may look luscious and wholesome, 

illegally imported fruits and vegetables may harbor a 

variety of agricultural pests and diseases. Many fruits 

and vegetables from certain foreign countries are 

restricted from entering the United States because 

exotic fruit flies and other pests and diseases are 

known to occur in these countries. 

 

 
Medfly, citrus canker, and melaleuca are a few examples of alien invasive species that have had a huge 

impact on Florida residents, growers, and the State’s 

environment in recent years. Medfly is a devastating 

pest of more than 200 varieties of fruits, nuts, and 

vegetables. Citrus canker, a serious disease of most 

citrus, causes lesions on leaves, stems, and fruit, as 

well as premature fruit drop. In Florida, not only is 

there an abundance of commercial citrus crops to 

serve as hosts, but there is a plethora of backyard 

citrus, as well. Melaleuca and other noxious weeds 

threaten to crowd out native Florida vegetation and 

deplete essential natural resources, including unique 

ecosystems such as the Everglades. 

 These threats are real. Each year, APHIS intercepts an increasing number of plant pests and infested agricultural products in Florida that could destroy 

ecosystems and agriculture across America, as well 

as negatively impact the U.S. food supply. The following are among a few of the high-risk agricultural 

products prohibited or restricted entry into the United 

States from certain countries:

Meat and Meat Products

 Animal disease organisms can live for months in 

meat and meat products, such as sausage and many 

types of canned hams sold abroad. Foot-and-mouth 

disease, African swine fever, and classical swine fever 

(hog cholera) are a few of the several livestock diseases that could cost billions of dollars to eradicate if 

introduced to U.S. livestock. These diseases are not 

present in the United States but are known to occur 

in many foreign countries from which travelers and 

importers bring meat products. 

 All meat shipments regardless of amount or 

purpose, except for small amounts of commercially 

canned meat for personal consumption, must be 

accompanied by official foreign government meat 

inspection certificates. These certificates, in part, 

establish country of origin and the specific processing. 

The type of processing varies depending on the 

animal disease situation in the country from which 

the meat originates. Commercially canned meat is 

allowed if the inspector can determine that the meat 

was cooked in the can after it was sealed, thus making the product shelf-stable without refrigeration. 

More Than Agriculture at Stake

 When smuggled agricultural products skirt APHIS’ 

health and quality safeguards, pathways are opened 

for the introduction of undesirable pests and diseases to enter the United States. Illegally imported 

agricultural products present a great threat to U.S. 

agriculture and trade, but some of them can also 

pose potential human health risks, such as: bovine 

spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease); 

highly pathogenic avian influenza (Asian bird flu); or 

eosinophilic meningitis or eosinophilic gastroenteritis, 

potentially lethal diseases carried by snails, slugs, and 

rodents.

 In addition to introducing pests and diseases, 

smuggled meat products are often inferior and fail to 

meet basic safeguard and sanitation requirements.

Additional Information

 Smuggled and illegally imported agricultural products affect everybody in Florida in one way or another: 

from the potential destruction of local ecosystems and 

depletion of natural resources to the devastation of 

U.S. agriculture and America’s food supply. APHIS 

needs your help in protecting these vital resources. If 

you suspect any agricultural smuggling, please contact your local FIST officer immediately. Your confidentiality will be maintained.

 If you have any questions about the FIST program 

or if you want to report smuggling activity, please call 

one of the following numbers:

Fort Lauderdale: (954) 356–7252

Fort Myers: (941) 768–4758

Fort Pierce: (561) 464–1038

Gainesville: (352) 331–3990

Jacksonville: (904) 396–2363

Miami: (305) 536–4758

Orlando: (407) 648–6856

Tampa: (813) 228–2121

West Palm Beach: (561) 844–9935

If you have questions about the legal importation of 

foreign plant and animal products, contact the USDA 

Import Permit Unit at (301) 734–8645 or check the 

APHIS Website (www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/imex.html).

avocado

citrus

durian

guava

kaffir lime

litchi

longan

mango

papaya

rambutan

red rice

star apple

tejocote

pomelo

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination 

in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national 

origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply 

to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative 

means for communication of program information (Braille, large 

print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 

(202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of 

Civil Rights, Room 326–W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250–9410 or call (202) 720–5964 

(voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and 

employer.