jdrtravel

Thank god you're not king. Or my boss or spouse.

Grog

Why? Because you'd like to be able to intentionally deceive any or all of the three and get away with little or no consequences for the deceit? Alrighty then.

chollie

I find it easier to always declare 'food', just in case I miss or forget something like an airline package of peanuts or a pack of gum.

Yes, at my interview I was told that anything that goes in my mouth has to be declared: gum, breath mints, etc. Would all agents take a hard line about a pack of gum? I don't know, but it only takes one.

Awkward when you declare a package of chocolates and the agent snaps at you and asks (literally) 'why are you wasting my time?', but better safe than sorry.

narvik

This is EXACTLY what annoys me too.
If I have food, I declare it. (It's not normally food that requires confiscation, but declaration), yet the officials give me this: "Really? You declared THIS?" look sometimes.

BTW (I didn't read all posts) but if one has Global Entry, I suggest to declare EVERYTHING. A consequence of being caught without having declared food items is the LOSS of Global Entry privileges.

Often1

Why do you keep repeating the same incorrect statement? Just because the woman said it some reporter?

The woman was not issued a proposed fine because she imported an apple. She was issued a proposed fine because she lied on her declaration. Just to be clear, here is the question as it would have appeared on the GE screen:

"I am bringing fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds, food, insects." YES NO

She received the standard $500 proposed fine, just as many other people do and will likely have her GE revoked. GE is a program for trusted travelers. She can't be trusted, so her membership is revoked.

Just to be clear, the reason I have inserted "proposed" is that you also keep repeating the same incorrect statement, e.g. that the Officer fined her. He did not. He has proposed a $500 fine. She may choose to admit the violation and pay the $500 fine. Or she may contest the citation and a hearing officer, in the first instance, may dismiss the matter, impose a fine of less than $500, impose the $500, or impose a fine of up to $11,000.

This is not DL's fault for giving her an apple.
This is not DL's fault for not telling her that the apple is food.
This is not CBP's fault for not telling her that the apple is food.

Why is all of this an issue? Because food-borne parasites are a serious threat to US agriculture.

Error 601

I got a guy at USCBP pre-clearance in Vancouver who loudly berated me and asked if I wanted to declare the scum under my finger nails and the contents of my intestines too while I was at it.

I got roughly the same treatment privately after being sent to secondary in Canada for declaring a fruit energy bar.

It is the agricultural guys who get really, really obnoxious though. They resent having to do anything at all.

Youngmiler

In NZ, its a $200 fine on the spot for any thing prohibited being brought into the country. As others have said, they have numerous signs and bins along the queue in NZ that make it very clear.

Jaimito Cartero

hoyt

https://www.abc.ca.gov/permits/importing.html

I've had this issue several times. The agents seem to think that 2 duty free means 2. Every time I go to AUS, I take empty case boxes and come back with 2+ cases. One time (I think I had 18 bottles), I recall the agent at LAX had huge eyes and told me that was "enough to look like I was importing." To which I replied "Have you ever been to a party?" I now keep that link bookmarked and refer the to the fact that 60 liters is considered "reasonable," so 2 cases is considerably more reasonable. I've never had to pay duty, but I think it's in the neighborhood of 5 - 10 cents a bottle.

jk88usa

This entire thread may as well be renamed “why I hate FlyerTalk half the time”...

Once again, act as high and holy as you pretend to be from behind your keyboard, but on the off chance YOU forgot to declare your apple on the way back in to the US and were fined $500 (by a customs agent with an extremely snarky quote ... clearly power hungry) perhaps you’d feel a little differently.

but who am I kidding...this is FlyerTalk...how dare JoeBlow from 13C store his carryon in your spot above 12D, let alone forget an apple at customs...

Finkface

Because she is a Trusted Travel by way of having GE. They trust her not to forget or not to purposely lie, and moreover, to know the rules and to follow them. And the punishment for breaking any rules of GE are hammered in at the time of application and interview. Why would they trust anyone who either knowingly breaks the rules or worse, doesn’t know them in the first place? Rather than typing it all again, I’ll just quote myself from earlier.

davie355

My thoughts.

1. In strict terms, only two parties to this encounter are in violation of anything.
--- Passenger: failure to declare
--- Officer: failure to adhere to courtesy and professionalism which CBP nominally requires of its officers
------ What's wrong with saying, "Ma'am, there's an apple in your bag, but your declaration says you are carrying no fruit. Unfortunately that requires me to fine you $500."

2. In practical terms, it's foolish of an airline to hand out contraband on arrival. Even if declared, the apple will need be thrown away.

3. Also in practical terms, it's foolish of a government to enforce customs at passenger points of entry.
--- Customs is meant to protect trade and agriculture. Shiploads of parasitic apples from a commercial importer has a low but meaningful chance of harming US agriculture. An apple in your bag is as likely to harm US agriculture as I am to marry Taylor Swift.

pbarnette

I've never been questioned about quantities. I guess there is some risk, but I would just tell them I am a collector. I have somewhere north of 500 bottles, so a couple of cases is nothing. In the LA instance, I had the impression that the officer was relatively new to the job - he was young and conferred with a colleague about what to do. Otherwise, I've never really been questioned beyond the occasional joke like "can I come over" or "did you bring me any".

I would note that the US, while they don't set a specific threshold, do have some statements (such as the link below) that suggest even two cases may be deemed suspicious.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...aENRX1BSS24%3D

narvik

So, when's the wedding?

Super Mario

It's really not a mixed message. The officers are looking for a few, specific things: resellers, honesty, and banned items.

Back onto the topic, this woman deserves the fine. Somewhere along the lines, it became ok to lie and deceive because you don't want to be inconvenienced.