Gateway America operates a perishable treatment center near several major ports and highways in the Gulf Coast region. It offers cold storage, fumigation, irradiation, and other treatments to facilitate exports and imports of produce. The facility has customs and USDA inspection on site and works with producers and importers to establish treatment plans and compliance agreements for shipping fruits and vegetables internationally.

1. COLOMBIAN EXPORTS

2. Location
Gateway America Air Cargo Perishable Treatment Center
Interstate Access:
 3 minutes from I-10
 45 minutes from I-59
 1 hour from I-65
 2.5 hours from I-20
Ports:
 5 minutes from Port of Gulfport
 1 hour from Port of Mobile
 1.5 hours from Port of New Orleans

3. Gateway America is a
Primus Lab
Certified Global Food
Safety Initiative Facility
(GFSI)

4. In April of 2013
Gateway America
was approved for
treatments including:
 PORT OF ENTRY
 EXPORTS
 DOMESTICS

5. On-Site Facility Features
 Customs & Customs Agriculture
 USDA-APHIS-PPQ
 USDA-APHIS-PPQ Identifier

6. Cold Storage and Staging
 20,000sq.ft. of cold storage
 Gateway America offers 3 cold chain
atmospheres
 All dock doors are equipped with Kelly Door
seals and vehicle restraint systems
 Our entire cold chain process is regulated,
recorded, and monitored by Siemens Apogee
system

7. Ocean Cargo
Ports Serviced:
• Port of New Orleans, LA
• Port of Gulfport, MS
• Port of Pascagoula, MS
• Port Bienville, MS
• Port of Mobile, AL
• Port of Houston, TX
• Food Irradiation
• Fumigation
• Pre-Cooling
• Track & Trace
• 3rd Party Logistics
• Re-Pack
• Cross Docking
• Labeling
• Specialty Sorting
• Aircraft Ground Handling
• Nation Wide Trucking
• Freight Forwarding
• Foreign Trade Zone No. 92
Facility Services:

8. Direct Air Cargo
Gateway America Equipment:
• 400 X 400sq.ft. Air Cargo Ramp
• (2) FMC Main deck Loaders (40,000lbs) capacity
• (1) Lantis Lower deck loader (20,00lbs) capacity
• 33,000lbs capacity Caterpillar Forklift
• Cargo dollies
• Tugs
• TLD Dual Output Ground Power Unit
• (2) Air Stairs (MD-11) & B737-B747
• Rice Lake 10’ X 8’ 20,000lbs capacity scale with printer
Incentive Programs for Air Cargo:
• Foreign Trade Zone 92
• Tax free bonded fuel for international flights
• Aircraft ground handling
• Waived landing and takeoff fees
• Waived ramp fees

9. Indirect Air Cargo
Gateway America works with Customs, USDA, and our Customers
to import commodities for Port of Entry Treatments. Many of these are
passenger aircraft with belly hold capacity others are freighter operations.
Following airports are currently being used for Port of Entry:
Atlanta Hartsfield International ( ATL ) DELTA AIRLINES
Dallas Fort Worth ( DFW ) AMERICA AIRLINES
Houston Intercontinental ( IAH ) UNITED AIRLINES

10. Produce Irradiation
 Fresh produce will generally tolerate doses of
1kGy of irradiation although variation exists.
 Not only does our customer meet the regulatory
requirement for importing product into the U.S.
they generally see added shelf-life extension
due to the elimination of spoilage bacteria

11. Framework Equivalency Work Plan (FEWP)
Operational Work Plan (OWP)
Gateway America works with:
 Host Countries
 National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO)
 USDA- APHIS
To establish the necessary dialog to build and implement their Framework Equivalency
Work Plan (FEWP). This is a basic trade reciprocity agreement.
Once that is complete we will work with the growers and importers to establish the
Operational Work Plan (OWP). This is a simple document stating intentions and project
overview.
This covers:
 Packaging materials / Pest Proof Packing (PPP)
 Routing
 Logistics

12. Compliance Agreements
Once the framework equivalency work plan (FEWP) and operational work plan
(OWP) are completed we can move on to Compliance Agreements.
USDA now works directly with the treatment facility to setup Compliance
Agreements for new importers.
First step in setting up a Compliance Agreement is to send the boxes to Gateway
America at the following address:
Gateway America
4300 Air Cargo Rd.
Gulfport, MS. 30501
Once that is complete we will build a customer profile. We will discuss your
routing and logistics options.

13. Information needed for compliance
agreements
Thank you for your interest to import commodities using irradiation upon arrival.
Please provide the following information:
1. Name (and Company)
2. Mailing address
3. Phone number
4. Fax number
5. Commodity for import
6. Country of origin
7. Port of entry. Note: No cargo can enter into CA or FL at this time.
8. Route to treatment facility. Note: No cargo can travel through CA or FL at this time. You must use a
sealed, refrigerated conveyance to carry commodity to treatment facility. After leaving the port of entry,
commodity cannot be trans-loaded into another means of conveyance.
Before the compliance agreement will be issued, PPQ must receive notice from the treatment facility that
they are prepared to irradiate your product. Please contact the facility to ensure that there is an APHIS
approved package (this includes pest proofing material) and process configuration for your commodity. The
facility will contact PPQ if a new package or process configuration approval is needed.

14. Pest Proof Packaging
Listed below are the regulations for Pest Proof Packaging:
For pest proof packaging (PPP), PPQ requires a mesh size of < 0.6 x 0.6 mm, or a pore
size < 0.8mm (for largest dimension, i.e. the hypotenuse). If PPP bags are used, the PPP must
be knotted or heat sealed (folding or rolling bag is not sufficient). If PPP mesh is used to
cover holes and openings on boxes, the PPP must be glued to the box (there can be no gaps
between the box and PPP). If cardboard boxes with no openings or holes are used, then box
seams can be taped shut. Packaging and PPP cannot create modified atmospheres with O2
concentrations < 18%.
Please keep in mind that the NPPO will work with USDA to while setting up the Operational
Work Plan to establish the specific Pest Proof Packaging regulations, these are the general
guidelines.

15. Import Permits
1. Go to the USDA eAuthentication web site
https://identitymanager.eems.usda.gov/registration/index.aspx
2. You will apply for a level 2 permit.
3. Next we will help you find qualified Customs Broker that specializes in
Perishables Imports for Ocean or Air cargo. Gateway America will help locate
the best Customs Broker for your operation.
4. If you need any help with during your permitting process please feel free to
contact us anytime.

16. Port of Entry Treatments
Due to some of the complexities of handling (POE)
treatments it is important to understand some of the
steps and actions to be taken.
For many of our importers this may be the first time
they have ever imported product into the US. We
work with the importer and USDA to ensure that all of
the protocol steps are followed such as:
 eAuthentication and applying for level 2 access for
ePermits
 Routing, Compliance Agreements, and Permitting
 Finding the Customs Broker that fits their needs
 Labeling Requirements
 Logistics
 Distribution Planning and Execution

17. Port of Entry Treatments
For Gateway America understanding the
entire process is key. If one small piece
of the puzzle is overlooked it could delay
an importer by months and could delay
the import until the next growing season.
Example:
One of our customers at Port of Origin forgot
to mark one of their pallets as a SAMPLE
PALLET. US Customs came very close to re-
exporting that entire shipment which was
about 39,500 lbs. Thankfully Gateway
America ad USDA were able to work with US
Customs to resolve the issue.

18. Interesting Link
 http://www.freshplaza.com/article/159372/Mexico-Puebla-achieves-record-
breaking-pitahaya-exports

19. Gateway America, LLC.
4300 Air Cargo Rd.
Gulfport, MS 39501
Office: (228) 331-1473
ops@gatewayamerica.net
Connect with Gateway America
Ryan Hollingsworth
VP Of Operations
Wireless: (228) 547-6546
Ryan@gatewayamerica.net
Frank Benso
President
Wireless: (217) 621-3140
Frank@gatewayamerica.net