Originally Posted by
evergrn
When I buy skincare products (suntan lotion, lip balm, etc), I always ask the store person to remove the actual product from the box or some cardboard paper it's attached to, and then only place the actual items in the sealed bag. That removes a lot of bulk and makes it easier to pack in suitcase. Every place has been willing to do this in the past. I've never had anyone turn me down until this latest trip. The dude at the store tells me he can't do it because that's against the rule. What rule? I thought the only rule was that you can't consume it while in Jpn and that it needs to stay in the sealed bag until departing Jpn. Has anyone had this type of experience?
Parsing the vagaries of the War On Liquids is like going down a rabbit hole ... but here goes ... The only rules that I'm aware of are that passengers' Duty Free purchases must be sealed in tamper-evident bags, with the receipt in the bag. Liquids that are packaged in this way can be taken through security checkpoints at airports that allow this.
Perhaps the store clerk decided on his own initiative that he should not put a "tampered with" product into a tamper-evident bag. Or perhaps there's a store policy that stems from some incident - e.g. a customer complained that his sealed bag was confiscated at a transit airport because it contained an un-boxed product. Or perhaps the store created rules because increasing numbers of tourists are leaving packaging behind that the store must dispose of at its cost.
BTW - I recommend that you say "lip salve," rather than "lip balm," at the airport.