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Woman is fined $500 by customs officials for carrying an APPLE

Woman is fined $500 by customs officials for carrying an APPLE

Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:04 pm
  #31  
 
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Originally Posted by justforfun
Lying requires intention to deceive. If she legitimately forgot she had the apple, she wasn't lying.
On the GE kiosk you must attest all the statements made are correct (including a question about food). Even if it is not intentional, it is a mis statement and CBP is will within their authority to exercise a fine and possibly revoke her GE membership.

Honestly this is nothing new, either anecdotally or legally. She of all people should have been the least surprised given her GE status.

Edit: I do think carriers should remind pax before disembarking an intl flight not to take any fruit or other prohibited foods off the plane. It's not the airlines responsibility but clearly people do forget.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:04 pm
  #32  
 
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I've never seen a customs agent decline to allow someone to throw an item away. They have big trash cans there just for this purpose. Sometimes people forget what they're carrying. To deny her that opportunity and slap her with a $500 fine over an apple is excessive.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:04 pm
  #33  
 
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If I remember correctly, New Zealand very aggressively warns you about having fruit as you're walking to customs and has bins for you to throw any away.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:05 pm
  #34  
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
Discretion. Which tells me it's likely this woman (especially based on how she blames everyone else) acted like a nitwit to put it nicely with the agent.
This. I'm guessing there's more to the story around exactly how her interaction with the CBP agent went down. I wouldn't be surprised if she believed having GE made her special enough to skirt the rules.

It's likely those agents see innocent snacks and such all the time, usually followed by a quick explanation and confiscating/trashing the item in question. Those agents probably don't want to write up the citation/fine or whatever any more than a passenger wants to pay a fine.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:07 pm
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by nosecohn
I've never seen a customs agent decline to allow someone to throw an item away. They have big trash cans there just for this purpose. Sometimes people forget what they're carrying. To deny her that opportunity and slap her with a $500 fine over an apple is excessive.
Global Entry or regular pax? Note also if you declare the fruit on the kiosk slip or forget to enter it on the slip but verbally declare it at the checkpoint you may be ok. If they find it, that's when you are likely to get in trouble.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:07 pm
  #36  
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Originally Posted by justforfun
If I remember correctly, New Zealand very aggressively warns you about having fruit as you're walking to customs and has bins for you to throw any away.
+1. I think they're even labeled "Amnesty Bins" and there are specific reminders that even items provided on your flight must be discarded.

And IIRC, there are disposal bins in the customs areas in US airports, too. Though admittedly the announcements are far less aggressive as NZ/Australia.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:07 pm
  #37  
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Originally Posted by PrivatePilot
Moral of the story: when in doubt, just declare it.
Yep, and also IME most customs folks are pretty easy going if you're honest and forthcoming. When I was coming back from South Africa a couple of years ago I was over my duty free alcohol allowance, which is not hard coming back from there with wine. I straight up told the CBP officer at Abu Dhabi (stupid preclearance), he asked me by how much I was over. It wasn't a lot, a couple bottles, but over the limit is over the limit. He said thanks for declaring it and it was fine, have a nice flight.

My favorite reaction though was going into Australia a couple years ago. I was again over the alcohol importation limit since I was bringing some stuff to a family friend that they couldn't easily get down there and when I asked the Aussie Border Force guy at the baggage carosel about it he said "worse case scenario they make you chug it before you enter the country!"

Originally Posted by gooselee
+1. I think they're even labeled "Amnesty Bins" and there are specific reminders that even items provided on your flight must be discarded.

And IIRC, there are disposal bins in the customs areas in US airports, too. Though admittedly the announcements are far less aggressive as NZ/Australia.
I think Canada has them as well, at least my home airport did. I just try not to carry food in. I did have a flight once where I had stashed a couple bananas in my bag from the lounge and forgot about them until we were on descent. I gobbled those thing up on the plane.
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Last edited by krazykanuck; Apr 22, 2018 at 4:15 pm
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:10 pm
  #38  
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Originally Posted by justforfun
Lying requires intention to deceive. If she legitimately forgot she had the apple, she wasn't lying.
Nothing in her statements suggests she forgot. Indeed, she admits she put it in her bag with the intention of eating it later. The questions aren't ambiguous, either. She should have known.

If in doubt, declare. This is Global Entry 101 and I have zero sympathy for people that think the rules don't apply to them.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:13 pm
  #39  
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Originally Posted by krazykanuck
Yep, and also IME most customs folks are pretty easy going if you're honest and forthcoming. When I was coming back from South Africa a couple of years ago I was over my duty free alcohol allowance, which is not hard coming back from there with wine. I straight up told the CBP officer at Abu Dhabi (stupid preclearance), he asked me by how much I was over. It wasn't a lot, a couple bottles, but over the limit is over the limit. He said thanks for declaring it and it was fine, have a nice flight.

My favorite reaction though was going into Australia a couple years ago. I was again over the alcohol importation limit since I was bringing some stuff to a family friend that they couldn't easily get down there and when I asked the Aussie Border Force guy at the baggage carosel about it he said "worse case scenario they make you chug it before you enter the country!"
I almost always exceed the duty free allowance on alcohol. I always declare it. I've never been charged duty. The closest I came to having to pay was bringing 2 cases of wine back from Oz, but the agent gave up calculating the duty halfway through and sent me on my way.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:15 pm
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Originally Posted by krazykanuck
Yep, and also IME most customs folks are pretty easy going if you're honest and forthcoming. When I was coming back from South Africa a couple of years ago I was over my duty free alcohol allowance, which is not hard coming back from there with wine. I straight up told the CBP officer at Abu Dhabi (stupid preclearance), he asked me by how much I was over. It wasn't a lot, a couple bottles, but over the limit is over the limit. He said thanks for declaring it and it was fine, have a nice flight.
I've heard a few similar anecdotes. I guess the logic is:

1. At least they declared it, and
2. I don't want to deal with charging them a few cents for the duty.

I'm glad that customs offers are allowed to use their discretion in situations like these.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:28 pm
  #41  
 
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I've carried (small food items, cookies, a banana) food/snacks off international flights many times and have never been questioned or challenged about it. For a fact, they see/ sniff out stuff like this every day at every international airport and they confiscate and destroy it. Meantime people come into this country every day (legal and illegal) with TB, other diseases and all their social ills that American taxpayers get stuck with and carry the brunt of expenses for. Just another over-zealous, power-tripping CBP agent in a bad mood ?
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 4:56 pm
  #42  
 
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Umm what???
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 5:26 pm
  #43  
 
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Originally Posted by jdrtravel
And the very definition of insanity is being fined $500 for an apple, especially when it is very clear that agents have some discretion on the matter. A ban on importing agricultural goods is important to protect our crops, etc. That does not mean that an agent can't also be a reasonable and thinking person. Even if bringing the apple was fully intentional, and not a mistake, I still think $500 is crazy and frankly just wrong.
Admittedly I don't know you, but regardless, I honestly can't believe you or anyone could stand behind that last (bold is mine) sentence. If it were fully intentional and not a mistake, a person deserves literally anything that the law can throw at them.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 5:28 pm
  #44  
 
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Originally Posted by jms_uk
Same here, only with an orange I forgot about [agricultural violation] in 2010 and a reminder at my GE interview in Jan 2016. Same stern warning - I now definitely make sure not to have anything undeclared with me.
Do you still get asked, seemingly randomly, by CBP people whether you have an orange? Because I do about an apple, seemingly seriously but it actually appears tongue-in-cheek.
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Old Apr 22, 2018, 5:36 pm
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The thing that infuriates me about these situations is every single time I declare food in the US and UK the customs officer acts like I'm wasting their time or mentally handicapped. It is a major case of mixed messages.
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