Overview
- Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists inspected and seized a shipment that contained 337 hatching eggs on May 27 after the cargo arrived at the Cincinnati Port of Entry.
- The parcel was manifested as “winter jackets” and the eggs were hidden in layers of foam, and officers found the shipment lacked the required import documentation.
- CBP immediately turned the eggs over to the local U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for evaluation and final disposition.
- Hatching eggs are tightly regulated because they can carry avian influenza and Newcastle disease, and USDA policy bars import of hatching eggs from countries with highly pathogenic avian influenza.
- The seizure underscores border biosecurity efforts to protect the U.S. poultry supply, and no public test results or final disposition of the eggs have been reported yet.