sam007

guys

I'm on a BOM-JFK flight on Etihad and US Customs has a base at the airport where they do pre-clearance for US-based flights so that when you land in the US, you basically land in a domestic terminal and immediately exit.

I have packed plenty of eatables in my luggage such as assorted bread, snacks, sweets from India (nothing that's banned bringing into the US).

This form http://tinyurl.com/plwjl9n shows the question
"I am (We are) bringing fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds food, insects"

I guess I'll have to put a tick mark next to it but hope they don't see it as me bringing live plants, etc and take me aside for further questioning potentially causing me to miss my flight. Any ideas on the the best approach to this? I wish they had a question that read "i'm not carrying any banned items" because I know how to answer that after reading the US customs what's permissible list


Thanks

Xyzzy

When filling out that form I generally write what food items I have next to the 'yes' check box (making sure to check the box if I have food items). Ex: 'Candy, bread, chocolate' This lets the CBP agent know you know what's allowed and what's not. They then generally ask me about the specific items. Often the immigration agent will cross out the 'yes' and circle 'no' and send me on my way to the customs agent telling me to just tick 'no' next time. I'm smart enough not to do that because if I've ticked 'no' and they subsequently find me with food I'll be in truble.