U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists in Portland, Oregon found three Asian gypsy moth egg masses in mid-October. The egg masses typically contain hundreds of eggs that will hatch. The issue is AGM are an invasive species that are highly mobile – being capable of flying up to 25 miles and eat the leaves of more than 500 different species of trees.

The AGM egg masses were found on a foreign flag merchant vessel coming from an area known to be a high risk for AGM. CBP will typically remove the egg mass and then the entire vessel was treated with a pesticide. After fumigation, CBP will then re-inspect the vessel and approve whether or not to process the cargo.

If you have had your shipment detained by Customs for AGM or other pests found in wood packaging materials contact David Hsu immediately. Time is of the essence in WPM/pest cases as CBP will ask the importer or shipper to re-export immediately. Contact David Hsu by phone/text immediately at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com, dh@gjatradelaw.com.