WASHINGTON (December 15, 2015) – The Border Trade Alliance today congratulated the South Texas Assets Consortium, or STAC, on earning a grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture that will be used to add more federal agriculture inspectors at South Texas land border ports of entry.

Under the terms of the grant, the department will supplement up to 50 percent of the costs to add the inspectors. The other half of the costs will be covered by STAC, which is able to supplement federal staffing levels through the multi-community consortium’s designation by Customs and Border Protection under Sec. 559, which allows local governments and private entities to contribute to the costs of additional port staff and infrastructure improvements.

“South Texas ports are poised to win big under this grant,” BTA President Noe Garcia, III said. “The region’s ports are seeing growing agricultural traffic, but without the specialized inspectors who can process this trade, we are faced with increased congestion and the potential for reduced shelf-life for these perishable items. The BTA was proud to support STAC’s grant application and the federal programs – Sec. 559 and the predecessor Sec. 560 – that makes it possible for local communities to play a greater role in the operations at their ports of entry. We congratulate STAC for showing such leadership in TexasMexico trade, and we thank Sen. Juan Hinojosa, Sen. Eddie Lucio, Rep. Bobby Guerra and Rep. Eddie Lucio III for working together to pass the legislation that made the grant program possible and for recognizing the importance of ensuring that Texas maintains its competitive edge in cross-border agriculture trade.”

The STAC members that will be able to take advantage of the grant are the cities of Laredo and Pharr, as well as Cameron County and the privately owned Starr-Camargo Bridge Co. in Rio Grande City. McAllen is also a STAC member.