Luis Ramirez

Two of the inspection bays at the Mariposa port of entry in Nogales, Arizona, have been turned into cold storage facilities.

Public officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week to inaugurate two cold storage rooms at a port of entry in Nogales, Arizona. They are the first such facilities on the Arizona-Sonora border.

The new cold storage facilities at the Mariposa port of entry are expected to make the Nogales border crossing a more appealing option for exporters sending perishable goods to the United States.

"It’s the ability to become more competitive against other corridors. It’s the ability to now attract new companies that would not have looked at our corridor because we did not have this capability," said Luis Ramirez, an adviser for the Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority, which hosted the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The new cold bays provide a temperature-controlled environment for customs inspections of berries, avocados, shrimp and other goods that could be damaged by the Arizona heat, he said. That puts Nogales on par with ports in California, Texas and New Mexico with cold storage capabilities.

The construction of the two cold rooms cost $900,000 invested by the state of Arizona, Santa Cruz County and the Nogales U.S. Customshouse Brokers Association.

Luis Ramirez

Public officials and local leaders gather for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate two new cold storage rooms at the Mariposa port of entry.