THE SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERCEPTIONS OF FRESH PRODUCE FROM LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN INTO THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

This paper develops a method to examine data on fresh produce imports from Latin America and the Caribbean into the United States from 1993-1999 to determine: 1) if there are significant differences in frequency of interceptions for a specific product for the region or a specific country within the region, and 2) whether significant changes in trade flows for specific products have occurred between points of origin and ports of entry. The results show that there are indeed differences between countries with respect to interception frequency, however current data on the fumigation frequency for a commodity/country or commodity/port of entry is not sufficient to determine the causes that underlie differences in frequencies between countries.International Relations/Trade,