Yes, I have had them both inspect the bottoms of my shoes and spray them with disinfectant.

I've checked yes to being on a farm many times, often when returning from Central America. Have been on a couple farms on other continents and always indicate so on my declaration.

Normally they mark an "A" on my US Arrivals card. Sometimes they'll ask about what type of farm I was on, sometimes they'll ask about my shoes and if I washed them, but there are other times when all they do is just x-ray my belongings looking for Ag products.

In most cases I end up checking the box because I went horse back riding at a farm. There's been other times where I've taken tours which have involved going onto farms and being around livestock.

My advice - be 100% honest when completing the declaration. Clearing Agriculture is no big deal IME; it's not a hassle like Secondary Customs can be.

Ag often results in a short interview with a couple questions and ends with an x-ray of baggage for agriculture items.

With respect to food items, I typically don't check yes for chocolates, BUT I declare the chocolates & their value on the customs form. Anything edible other than chocolates, I tick yes.

One thing I often bring back from Central America is fried plantain chips -- I mark yes for those; often the officer at the immigration booth will ask what the food item is and then cross out or initial over the yes.

Hope this info helps.

I have never marked yes, even though I have stayed in farmhouse B&B's in france and other countries, and sometimes bring in tinned food without explicitly declaring it. In other countries than the US I usually pay a little more attention, but nobody has ever hassled me anywhere about this subject

The wife and I went to Egypt recently and did the requisite tourist camel ride, so we checked yes on the form regarding livestock contact.

We got the A, got sent to ag, and chatted with a woman for 1-2 minutes. She asked how many times we had traveled overseas in the last year (seemed irrelevant but I answered) and if we were headed to any rural areas in the US (makes sense as a legit question). When we said we were going to suburbia, she lost interest, typed a bit on her computer, sent our bags through her x-ray, and let us go. She asked what was in two liquid bottles she saw in the x-ray of our check luggage, but didn't verify with a physical inspection after we answered perfume.

It probably would have been easier for us if we lied, but it also seemed a topic where CBP might try to trap up tourists who have gone there and answered no. Hopefully it won't cause us any problems in the future.

I had a customs officer once tell me that I didn't need to check the "yes" box for chocolates bought at duty free. On a subsequent trip though, another officer told me to always check "yes" for any food product, no matter what it is or where it came from. I always check "yes" now for anything edible in my bag and let them sort it out.

I been told two different things from two different CBP agents.

1. Mark yes only if you have fresh meat, dairy, fish, fruits, veggies, etc. No need to mark yes for stuff like candies, chips, snacks.

2. Mark yes for everything and have them in one location when asked about it.

I do #2. If you declare it, nothing will happen. Worst is they take it away. No fine... hopefully.

It's best not to get caught in a lie in such circumstances, and your course of action was best. I'm positive that such disclosure usually does not cause any problems in the future.

+1

I've heard the same things, especially when asking if the food question on the GE kiosk pertains to chocolate.. However, I prefer to be safe than sorry, and always declare and food, and answer the other questions truthfully. I'd hate to end up in the back room with a few good cop/bad cop CBP agents!

At one point I always checked yes for chocolates and like you also had a CBP officer tell me that I did not need to check yes for duty free chocolates.

I know others that have been given different answers -- going forward, I'll probably play it safe and just check yes. I typically buy good duty free chocolates when departing Europe. I've never been sent to Ag for chocolates, but even if they did direct me there, my encounters have always been quick and pleasant.

Secondary US Customs Interrogations at DTW on the other hand, anything other than pleasant; really nice facility (NW..now DL terminal), but I've had my absolute worst encounters with CBP there and now avoid it like the plague.

Agriculture secondaries are pretty fast, and there are a lot of good reasons for them if you have been on a farm. People do try and bring all kinds of oddball stuff back - whole salamis, hams, etc. It seems pretty funny, especially on sandwiches, but there are a couple of good reasons.

I had two bananas confiscated in Amsterdam once, so it's not just the US. In fact, in airports in South Florida, there are (or at least used to be) signs up about not transporting backyard citrus north. There are domestic inspection stations into Florida on I-95 and into California on I-80, amongst others. So, keeping the unseen passengers out of areas is important, even though it seems stupid at the time. Ask anyone in the DC area about the recent infestations of stink bugs, or snakehead fish in the Potomac, or kudzu in the south, or zebra mussels in the Great Lakes.

The main problem is that the Blue Form's wording doesn't actually reflect the law. The "Food" thing needs to be changed, and the GE kiosks actually better reflect what needs to be declared than the form does.

They may have just been typing into a computer the fact that they cleared you to go, and perhaps why.

Glad it's not just me that feels this way--I thought I was just being overly sensitive since I am more used to the major costal ports of entry (JFK, SFO, LAX).

In my MR days I once received the "A" with only a backpack but no food and "no" on the form. I was told by the "A" section guy that they had to screen a quota of pax and people with backpacks are easy. There's no limit to human ingenuity.

I got the A at LAX TBIT the last time, returrning on SQ SIN-NRT-LAX, only having visited Singapore and Japan. I marked yes to food on my form and wrote in "chocolates only" as I usually do. After first standing in line almost an hour for the exit, they sent me to the ag X-ray line, which was almost another hour.

Then the woman official there got upset with me because I said something when some guy not in any sort of a uniform started to grab my belongings after they had been cleared. She tried to insist that I apologize to him and I said that when I see some stranger who doesn't look like an official try to touch my stuff at, for example, an airport security station, I certainly will say something.

Not fun at all. Fortunately I didn't pick a tight connection.