As millions of flowers are shipped to the United States from South America, Central America and other locations leading up to Valentine's Day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agricultural inspectors at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are responsible for inspecting a sampling of the stems for insects and disease.
On Monday morning, inspectors handled a shipment from Ecuador, the second-largest country of origin for cut flowers into the United States behind Colombia.
"The No. 1 thing is to ensure no pests are coming into the United States that could affect our agricultural economy as well as our ecosystem," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection cargo operations watch commander Matthew Marcoccia.
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