Memphis Seizes 40 Live Plants from Vietnam

HI INDIA NEWS DESK
MEMPHIS, TN – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel at an express consignment hub in Memphis, Tennessee seized 40, undeclared live plants.

The shipment from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was described as cotton dresses. However, a CBP Agriculture Specialist counted 40 live plants instead: Rhynchostylis, which is part of the Orchid family, Dimocarpus longan, an Asian, tropical fruit bearing tree, Chrysophyllum, which is another tree, Ochna, an evergreen tree, and Averrhoa, a flowering tree from southeast Asia. The plant pots contained soil and lacked the required U.S. Department of Agriculture permits. The live plants were destroyed by steam sterilization under CBP supervision.

This seizure took place within the Area Port of Memphis, which covers ports of entry throughout the state of Tennessee and falls under CBP’s New Orleans Field Office. This Field Office includes all ports in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.