Farm Compliance

Los Angeles, California - Alert U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists at the Los Angeles seaport discovered a dangerous new pest never before seen in the United States in a shipment of ceramic tile from Italy.

On July 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture identified the bug as curculionidae, a species of weevil. The lone weevil, found July 16 by CBP under the tiles’ plastic cover, was placed in a vial of alcohol and sent to Los Angeles County USDA for identification.

The 3,366 pieces of ceramic tile were fumigated and released by CBP to the importer.

Had the weevil escaped discovery it could have done serious damage to America’s agriculture industry.