I don't know if this needs to be moved to a different forum, but I hope I get some feedback.

Last week, my youngest brother came back from CDG via YUL. he is 17, he was gone for 18 days (he did very well in High school and that was his gift). while there, he purchased couple of items, including clothes and a cheese product. Total cost of everything he had was under $200.

This was his first time travelling by himself, so when he filled the declaration form, he made the mistake of not declaring anything .

Well, he ended up going to inspection at Canada Border Services Agency, and they charged him $25.27. The description for the charge is as the following: "Forced payment. Duty and taxes collected in lieu of seizure action. 17935".

I have couple of questions:

1- He is under 18.. does that make a different ?
2- The total cost of the items is still within limit, why he had to pay fees .. ?
3- I am more concerned about him being put on a list where they will give him hard time every time he passes the boarder, is it the case .. ?
4- If we need to contest this, what is the proper channel, how do we go with this .. ?