LegalTender

I once bought four 12" wall clocks from a Vancouver IKEA to bring home to demonstrate time zones for my kids.

The Blaine, WA CPB agent doubted my explanation. But mostly, didn't like my attitude.

Detained a hour in a small room, I was eventually declared a "commercial importer" and assessed duties and fines roughly three times the value of the actual clocks.

The attitude of the CO woman was likely the nail in the coffin.

LegalTender

That needs to be tested in court.

flyerCO

Everything is destroyed.

beachmouse

IIRC, all inbound food taken off planes after international arrival into the USA is supposed to be incinerated.

flyerCO

Strange. CX removes the flowers from each FC seat and FC lavs and trashes them upon landing in US, doing so due to US customs rules.

jdrtravel

I wonder how much food waste this is? If it's a lot, I wonder if there could be some way to divert this to homeless people that would not pose a threat to agriculture? Like, if it's actually a ton of food at every airport (and I have no idea if it is) could there be some type of soup kitchen where people could come eat a free meal onsite but not be allowed to take anything with them? I'm sure this would be expensive to manage and involve some logistics, so probably not practical. At the same time, if it's a lot of perfectly good food being destroyed. . . .

Paplover

Why? The law is that EVERYONE caught not declaring prohibited fruit is subject to a fine. CBP discretion for most normal travelers is to confiscate and let the traveler move on, it is generally not considered worth the effort to fine everyone who fails to comply with the law. CBP is less likely to exercise discretion and waive the penalty for GE members who have agreed in advance to be held to a higher standard and to declare all food items and were explicitly warned of the consequences for failure to follow the rules. GE is a Trusted Traveler program, like most legally recognized trusted relationships, the penalties are higher if that trust is violated.

pbarnette

Paplover

A few issues. One is that the food sent to soup kitchens would be subject to commercial importation duties, destroying it avoids those costs. Second, the whole point of the food restrictions is to prevent damage to domestic agricultural operations. You would need to sort all of the wasted food into acceptable and non-acceptable bins, with the latter being destroyed. Also, if you watch most flights, everything that has been served is just dumped into garbage bags for disposal, this makes it even harder to reuse that food besides the sanitary rules about reserving food. I expect that there is not much food that is not served and so is potentially recyclable.

Ber2dca

I always declare everything because I don't import anything objectionable, and I try to follow the rules.

But the question was whether one would answer "Yes" to the food question on the customs form if one, for example, had a bottle of HP brown sauce in the suitcase. Everything I have ever seen on this subject indicated that food in this context means agricultural products (meat, plants, grains, fruit & veg) and 'fresh' food items. That appears to be the common field interpretation of the rule and I've yet to see a CBP officer view a bottle of brown sauce as a questionable object.

sddjd

That's exactly the issue here despite the myriad judge-and-jury posters here so quick to throw the book. If you look at the photos posted of the apple in question, it was sliced and sealed in Delta Airlines packaging, CLEARLY provided by the airline in question and not something she picked in a French orchard and secreted away in her bag.

There is a distinct problem with the perception by travelers that items purchased/received inside of the security thresholds at airports are acceptable items for transport, and I have no doubt that most passengers on int'l flights would not suspect that such items violated these rules. I err on the side of caution every time, and almost every time receive the "why are you wasting my time" attitude.

pvn

That didn't address the point the LegalTender was wondering about. He's not confused over whether fines exist, he's wondering if the speculation that GE participants are more likely to be fined has any basis. You saying that it "seems fair" isn't evidence either way.

ecaarch

Australian customs caught me with an unopened & sealed bottle of Gatorade. I was let off with a warning. Have not made the same mistake on subsequent visits. I'm a guest - so I gotta play by THEIR rules.

IADCAflyer

From Customs Form 6059B:

"Mark an X in the Yes or No box. Are you bringing with you:

1. Fruits, plants, food, or insects?
2. Meats, animals, or animal/wildlife products?
3. Disease agents, cell cultures, or snails?
4. Soil or have you visited a farm/ranch/pasture outside the United States?"

From the Global Entry program how-to guide.

"5. You must declare any fruits, vegetables, plants, insects, meats or meat products, dairy products, animals or animals/wildlife products, disease agents, cell cultures, snails, or soil. If you have visited a farm/ranch/pasture outside the United States, please let the CBP officer know"

TObject

Yes, SU international soft product is very good. And they try to do nice little gestures.

One of their favorite parting gifts is giving each passenger a little baggie of some fine loose-leaf white tea. I question the logic of giving somebody, who is about to go through customs, something that looks like a baggy of weed. But what do I know about baggies of weed, I only see them on TV.