Summary: | In order to minimize the entry of pathogens in a given country, all animal and plant products have to have an international sanitary certificate that guarantee the sanitary status of the country of origin, as determined by the World Organization for Animal Health. The inspection of the entry and exit of animal and plant products in Brazil are exclusively performed by the International Agricultural and Animal Health Surveillance. Sanitary education is an important tool in agro-defense. The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of passengers of international sea cruises on the entry of pathogens in Brazil via animal and plant products and by-products. Interviews were carried out with sea cruises 354 passengers. Based on the responses, 63.5% of the passengers reported not having previous information on the matter and 29.7% understood that the reason for the prohibition was preventing product spoilage or contamination, not safeguarding agricultural and animal health. It is important to improve sanitary education programs related with agro-defense in the international cruise passenger terminal of the Port of Santos, and to design specific programs for international airports.
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