Agriculture specialist posted in Jackman

JACKMAN – An agriculture specialist has been transferred temporarily from Miami to Jackman to avoid truck diversions to Calais and Houlton after Maine’s congressional delegation pressured U.S. Customs and Border Protection to fill the position.

“It’s kind of a vacation for him,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Supervisor Francis LaCasse joked Friday.

LaCasse said the new specialist already is inspecting loads of grain coming into the United States headed to Maine farms, as well as checking individual passenger cars for vegetables, fruits and especially beef.

Because of the closure of U.S. borders to all beef because of mad cow disease concerns, everything but canned beef is banned, LaCasse said.

“If someone is coming into the U.S. on vacation and they have a container in their cooler of spaghetti sauce with beef, it is confiscated,” the Customs supervisor said.

The new inspector arrived this week and is assigned temporarily to Jackman, LaCasse said. A permanent specialist has been hired and is undergoing a three- to six-month prehiring screening process.

The lack of an agricultural specialist at the border crossing had caused a diversion in grain and feed shipments since July 13, forcing trucks to travel an additional 10 hours, round trip, to cross the border at a crossing point at either Houlton or Calais. There had been a specialist previously at the border crossing.