Under 18 going through customs in YUL
 

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 .. ?

I would imagine it's for having the cheese product. I'm pretty sure you cant bring cheese in as it is a dairy product. Maybe someone with more experience will chime in?

Here is the link to the 'be aware' brochure from customs.

http://www.beaware.gc.ca/english/pub...s/broche.shtml

It states all cheese and diary prodcuts MUST be declared.

they didn't seize the cheese, they let him keep it.. :)

when i read the receipt again, it states clothing/mens/cotton/nes with classification no: 6211.32.00.90

:)

If your brother is a star student, then surely he could have read the customs form and filled it out properly by declaring the value and contents of his purchases. This would have avoided the issue completely.

Just fyi, you ARE allowed to bring most cheeses in to Canada - I often do, always declare them, and it has always been ok as long as they aren't "packed (i.e. floating) in whey".

His mistake was that he didn't check on the Dairy products item in the decliration form.. but the thing is, the charge wasn't even for the cheese.

What exactly do you want to "contest"? That persons under 18 don't have to declare goods imported into Canada?

It's really simple: he didn't declare and got caught. I'm assuming paying some penalty is better than having the goods seized.

Lesson learned, I trust, for your otherwise capable brother.

No, I m not contesting that he didn't have to declare what he got.. but I'm annoyed to the possibility that he might be put on a list that going to give him hard time everytime he goes through customs.

Yes, his passport is probably flagged now.

If he is flagged, he now has 50/50 odds of being pulled into secondary inspection whenever entering Canada regardless if he has anything to declare.

There is a possibility that the slate may be wiped clean when he gets to 18 but I doubt that. The only way to tell if you have been flagged is to travel. The only way to get out of being flagged is to continue business as normal and eventually the secondary inspections will go away.

It's not the end of the world really. It's not like he has a criminal record.

I would just play it safely the next times and see how things go. Make sure he declares everything down to the penny.

You CAN bring more than the total $XXX (I forget what it is now) but it has to be declared. Normal taxes/HST/GST/PST/STST will be charged on the portion over the maximum.

HTSC

Your brother will be dumped into a more moderate risk category, but not a high risk category. Had he been over 18, CBSA would have charged your brother for failure to declare instead of forcing him to pay duty on imported goods (put simply, your brother had a duty free limit of zero because he failed to declare his goods were below the duty free limit).

My guess is that your brother will have a very difficult time getting Nexus card within the next five years (where's the smilie for Mission Impossible music).

This incident will not affect hius next passport application.

Your brother will likely face minor increased amount of questioning when comming back to Canada for the next 5-15 trips. This incident will show up on CBSA computer screens which will bring more questions from the officer, and the officer may decide to send your brother to secondary the next time he goes through primary inspection lane.

As for contesting the penalty, I would not recommend this coursed of action. If you contest, there is a good possibility CBSA will reopen the possibility of charging your brother with failure to declare. This would be a much more serious offense to have on his record.

The trickier question is what should family travel companions do when your brother is on the flight. My recommendation is to have your brother segregated from the rest of the travel companions for purposes of CBSA cards (e.g. have your brother fill out a separate declaration card and stand in a separate line from rest of the group). If your family fills out one declaration card and your brother is flagged for secondary. then the whole family could be sent to secondary. If your brother fills out a separate declaration card, there is a greater chance that only your brother will get senty to secondary.

Finally, I would recommend your brother abstain from importing food, large summs of money, firearms, tobacco, and liqour (anything that gives reason to check a box on the declaration card). Clothes and other items can be imported, but your brother should make sure he is well within the duty free limit (e.g is if the limit is $200, don't go over $150). Taking this step will clean up his CBSA record within the next 10 border crossings or 5 years.

Sure about that? I'm over 10 crossings and I'm still flagged.

Carpe Caseus
 

Seize the Cheese!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

You can bring in a small amount of dairy, but any amount has to be declared, and there is a limit (can't remember what it is exactly). Not sure if above that limit gets confiscated, or if its just really high duties.

They just want to inspect it - much like fruit for US or Canada - where you have to declare it all, and while most can be imported (strong exception is that NO citrus fruits are allowed into the US), they want the agriculture guys to inspect it first. Some may be confiscated depending on type and country of origin, but most will be let in.

Be annoyed as you wish, but he did it to himself - he didn't declare items despite the fact that the form is quite clear that you have to check the "yes" box asking if he had dairy products. You can try and contest if you wish, but I agree that it might just make it worse. He made a mistake and now may have to live with some consequences for a little while - being under 18 is not going to sway most customs personal as an excuse, IME. If he was 12, then perhaps, 17, I doubt it.

On the other hand, I do know of people who get sent to secondary everytime because of things the government themselves screwed up on the record and refuse to fix. I don't want to take over this thread with a different story, but IME, that is inexcusable. By being honest going forward (even if what he did was an honest mistake), whatever flag exists will likely come off after a few more trips, at least.

No.

Because he lied would be my guess.

If the guy who rents a room from you is giving your brother a hard time, I suggest eviction.

Try here. In what way did the officer apply the law incorrectly or misunderstand the facts?