What do avocados, bananas and citrus fruit all have in common in Texas? A large percentage reach our shores by ship. But you know how bananas and avocados ripen on the kitchen counter. How are they kept fresh from grove to store, and whose responsibility is it when the produce arrives in damaged condition, or the buyer fails to pay for these commodities?

Container ships with dedicated refrigerated containers (reefer ships) regularly transport perishable fruit from Central and South America to U.S. ports on the Gulf, East and West Coasts. The U.S. Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA) governs the transportation of cargo by ocean common carriage between the United States and foreign ports. Common carriage means that the ocean carrier makes its cargo space available to the public, as opposed to private carriage, which dedicates its cargo space to one or a select few shippers.