CBP / BPA CBP Agriculture & Prohibited Items 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal agency works alongside CBP at ports of entry to enforce U.S. agricultural import regulations?
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) (Correct answer)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Correct answer: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
USDA APHIS partners with CBP at ports of entry to inspect agricultural products and prevent the introduction of pests and diseases.
Question 2: A traveler arrives from Mexico carrying fresh mangoes. Under U.S. agricultural regulations, what is the MOST likely disposition?
- Allowed if the traveler declares them
- Subject to inspection and potentially prohibited or treated before entry (Correct answer)
- Automatically permitted as a tropical fruit
- Allowed in quantities under 5 pounds
Correct answer: Subject to inspection and potentially prohibited or treated before entry
Fresh fruits are subject to inspection upon entry because they can harbor pests or diseases, and may be prohibited or require treatment depending on their origin.
Question 3: What is the penalty for failing to declare agricultural items at a U.S. port of entry?
- Verbal warning only on the first offense
- Civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation (Correct answer)
- Automatic criminal prosecution
- Seizure of the item with no additional penalty
Correct answer: Civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation
Travelers who fail to declare agricultural items can face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation under CBP enforcement authority.
Question 4: Which of the following items is ALWAYS prohibited from entering the United States regardless of origin?
- Commercially packaged nuts
- African swine products (including pork from countries with African swine fever) (Correct answer)
- Sealed factory-packaged cheeses
- Dried pasta from Italy
Correct answer: African swine products (including pork from countries with African swine fever)
Pork and pork products from countries with African swine fever are prohibited to protect the U.S. swine industry from this devastating disease.
Question 5: CBP agriculture specialists are authorized to use which tool to detect prohibited agricultural products in luggage?
- Geiger counters
- Trained detector dogs (Correct answer)
- Portable DNA sequencers
- Ground-penetrating radar
Correct answer: Trained detector dogs
CBP deploys trained agriculture detector dogs (Beagle Brigade) at airports and land ports to sniff out prohibited food items and plant materials.
Question 6: A passenger from the Philippines declares fresh cut flowers. What is CBP's standard procedure?
- Allow them through without inspection
- Inspect for pests and disease; permit if clean or treat/destroy if infested (Correct answer)
- Confiscate and destroy without examination
- Allow only if accompanied by a Philippines phytosanitary certificate
Correct answer: Inspect for pests and disease; permit if clean or treat/destroy if infested
CBP and APHIS inspect declared cut flowers for pests; clean flowers may be permitted while infested or non-compliant flowers are treated or destroyed.
CBP / BPA CBP Agriculture & Prohibited Items 1
Which federal agency works alongside CBP at ports of entry to enforce U.S. agricultural import regulations?