Originally Posted by fezzington

The previous flight's supplies are left onboard when the crew deplanes. If catering doesn't get there in time and the previous flight was domestic, it's not uncommon to use some of those supplies for PDBs (this happens on domestic flights too). IME, liquor is offloaded at any station that would have Polaris service once catering does arrive.

Liability is a customs infraction, which can carry a monetary fine to the company and/or the individual. It's also a pain in the ... to deal with from what I've heard.

exUS flights are bonded carts, as are flights from Europe, Israel, India, GUM, and SIN. It turns out that flights from PEK/PVG/CTU, SYD/MEL, and the rest of the island hopper destinations aren't bonded, which is news to me, as I don't typically work those routes.