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Facts and Figures about CBP Flower Inspections

Release Date
Wed, 02/01/2012

CBP processed approximately 802.5 million cut flower stems during the 2011 Valentine's season from Jan. 1 to Feb. 14, compared to 320.8 million stems processed during the 2010 season -- an increase of 150 percent. Most of the cut flower shipments are imported from South America, primarily Colombia, with 502.1 million stems or 63 percent, followed by Ecuador with 187 million stems or 23 percent.

Miami ranks first among U.S. ports of entry for shipments of cut flower imports, followed by Los Angeles. The quantity of imported cut flowers processed by both ports during the 2011 Valentine's season has more than doubled compared to 2010 season.

During calendar year 2011, CBP processed approximately 5.1 billion cut flower stems and Miami alone processed 4.3 billion stems.

During the 2011 Valentine's season:

  • CBP in Miami processed approximately 673 million stems, or 84 percent of the total imported cut flowers nationally, compared to 272 million stems imported during last year's season. Los Angeles has ranked second by processing 38.2 million flower stems during the 2011 Valentine's season, compared to 17.4 million stems imported during last year's season.
  • Approximately 477 million of cut flower stems imported from Colombia were processed in Miami, where the top cut flower imports are Roses, mixed bouquets, and Dianthus.
  • The imported cut flowers inspection process resulted in a total of 3,404 pest interceptions nationally. Miami intercepted 1662 pests, followed by Otay Mesa with 377 pests.
  • 1176 pests (35%) were intercepted from Colombia and 866 (25%) were intercepted from Ecuador.
  • The most common type of insects intercepted in these cut flower imports are Thrips (Thripidae), Moths (Noctuidae), Aphididae (Aphids), and Miner Flies (Agromyzidae)

Top 10 ports of entry, by volume (number of stems), that processed shipments of cut flower imports for the 2011 Valentine season:

LocationQuantity in Stems
FL Miami Air Cargo673,409,603
CA Los Angeles38,186,871
NY JFK Air Cargo18,912,341
TX Laredo Colombia18,631,901
CA Otay Mesa 17,529,242
IL Chicago 5,885,801
NJ Newark Air Cargo5,136,142
MA Boston2,824,395
DE Wilmington2,485,500
PR San Juan Air2,439,812

Top 10 Cut Flower Imports:

CommodityStems
Rosa282,746,548
Bouquet, Mixed96,939,718
Bouquet, Rose64,102,393
Dianthus58,699,001
Chrysanthemum (pom-pon)39,304,941
Alstroemeria30,862,582
Dianthus (mini)27,105,716
Tulipa25,432,678
Chrysanthemum18,415,057
Gypsophila16,750,045

Top 10 Exporting Country of Origin:

Country of OriginStems
Columbia502,116,104
Ecuador187,006,177
Mexico40,184,995
Netherlands29,753,378
Costa Rica11,328,579
Thailand7,796,316
Guatemala5,668,043
India3,179,442
Kenya2,441,797
Peru1,939,064

Top 10 Ports of Entry, by Number of Plant Pests Intercepted From Shipments of Imported Cut Flowers:

LocationPests Intercepted
FL Miami Air CBP1662
CA Otay Mesa CBP377
CA Los Angeles CBP368
PR Aguadilla CBP238
PR San Juan Air CBP139
NY JFK CBP128
IL Chicago CBP60
HI Honolulu CBP59
TX El Paso CBP55
CA Calexico CBP41
Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021