U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists reported a potentially destructive commodity at the International Falls rail facility earlier this year and reminds anyone traveling or ordering merchandise from abroad to avoid importing willow in any form. One of the most common imports of willow is in decorative baskets.
Two separate shipments of willow baskets arriving from China via Canada were targeted by CBP on Feb. 8, 2013 for an intensive agriculture examination. The shipments, destined to New York and Indiana, were offloaded and the product was inspected for potential wood pests and disease.
During the inspection of the rail container, 990 cases containing willow baskets were examined that resulted in the discovery of materials capable of propagation. Although the willow appeared relatively dry, sprouting buds and flexible tissue were discovered on the untreated willow, making it capable of propagation.
Salix sp., commonly known as willow, is prohibited from various countries because of its risk of spreading watermark disease, which could devastate the willow population.
Willow is also host to several wood-boring pests such as the Asian longhorn beetle (ALB). The potential impact to the U.S. forests for ALB alone is valued at over $2 trillion. A total of 7,920 baskets were intercepted and sent for destruction because they posed a significant plant pest threat to U.S. species and forests.
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