Originally Posted by
evergrn
We've done a couple trips now since getting GE. There was wishful thinking on my part that, with GE, I'd be able to declare food with my head held high and still be waved through because, well, I'm a "trusted traveller." Wrong. Sent to agriculture both times, even though I told the customs guy I just had snacks, tea and coffee and didn't have any of the banned items. Only x-rays each time, but that took almost 10min at SFO the last time.
If you got GE thinking you'd get around the restrictions and checks on importing food, you got it for the wrong reasons.
It is true that in the past, the kiosk asked a more lenient version of the food question, more like the Canadian version where they ask about specific types of foods vs. about any food.
When you declare food, you get an O on your receipt, and when you see the officer, they might ask you about it, and depending on how you answer, and quite likely your demeanor in answering, whether they think you're being truthful, see something in your facial expressions, etc. they'll either stamp you receipt and send you on your way, or send you into inspection.
I've had both happen, though more recently, mostly the wave through - though I'm typically only bringing packaged food, snacks, chocolate, etc. I declare everything, because I'd rather have an officer tell me I didn't need to declare it (and yes, I've had that happen), then have to live with the consequences of having it found in a random inspection.
Originally Posted by
televisor
Just wondering: what kinds of experiences do people have when they declare food, and then also get an X (e.g. for fingerprint/admissibility/other reasons)? Does the immigration officer ever ask you about food? Does the customs officer ever ask you anything?
(I ask, because the GE receipt prints either an O, X, or nothing - but not both O and X in my experience. And the X override the O for obvious reasons since you're not admitted yet.)
IIRC, if you answer yes to one of the questions, and get an X/O, it also prints a code at the bottom that the officers know what it means. My guess is if you declare food and have something that gets you an X, then you'd get the X on the receipt as it is the more strict thing, and I'd guess there is a capacity to print multiple codes.
I'd gather they'd want to ask about the food as well, as they'd want to clear up your admissibility (or whatever) and also make sure you're not importing food that shouldn't be brought in.
Of course, this doesn't phase me anymore - now that we travel with a toddler using GE who hasn't had her fingerprints taken since she's too young, it doesn't matter - we always have to see an agent anyway, and they just ask any additional questions there.