Importing British Chocolate/Candy to the USA
 

I know, it's an odd-ball question, but we Old Brits usually fly in to the USA with a few tins of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadbury_Roses and similar products when we visit the USA [twice a year] for the lovely people in Reservations, Reception, The Bar, The Restaurant - you know the deal. Nice wrapped candy, with British chocolate instead of ... oh, I'll skip discussing Hershey choco-substitute.

The last time we entered, and for the first time we can recall, both Immigration and Customs were asking about bringing in meat products. We're now wondering whether we are actually "International Candy Smugglers" with undeclared sweeties for the people. The websites haven't given us a clear answer on anything much, apart from weapons of mass destruction and drugs ;-)

There must surely be someone here who can advise what we should do/say at the US Border.

I've always declared the chocolates I bring home on the customs form under food and it has never been questioned or examined.

We usually bring back 1/2 a suitcase of different foodstuffs from Oz each time we travel home, including cadburys chocolate/Vegemite/allens snakes/BBQ sauce etc.

We always declare we have food and tell customs what it is - never had a problem. In fact they've never even looked. ^

Wow ... quick service!! Thanks, FT people!

@ PostmanPat ... sorry, mate, Vegemite doesn't quite compare with Marmite: it's a girls' option. I will admit that I have a jar on the go at the moment, though ... there are times when the subtle lack of flavour is appropriate :D

They started being a lot more inquisitive about food other than fresh meat and vegetables/fruit/seeds after the last foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the UK. I have once at PHL been randomly selected to go through a secondary food inspection on arrival - they put your luggage through a screening machine.

I have been told of cases where they were very fussy about/suspicious of chocolate.

If you run into trouble, go for Ghirardelli, Scharffenberger, Godiva or even See's. Any of these are good-quality chocolates! (In fact, I'd far rather eat any of them than Cadbury's, but there's no point initiating culture wars.)

wg

Just make sure you declare it. Everyone in my family brings food from EU to US several times per year (and everyone knows that if you go through AMS you are required to bring back as many stroopwafels as you can carry for... well, me).

Recently my wife had a small box of cookies she'd bought in Frankfurt and didn't think of it any differently than anything else she usually carries with her on TATL flights and it never crossed her mind to declare it. Ended up costing her over an hour extra time in customs and included a lengthy lecture about how they could have prosecuted her. First time any of us has ever had any issue at all with customs.

I was interrogated and detained last August at ATL - selected for secondary, interviewed at length, made to unpack and re-x-ray luggage - for telling a staffer when asked that I had a single orange in my handbag, which I had purchased at a grocery store in the Caribbean.

Also, had a jar of Kentish Bramble - an awesome jam you can buy at London's Borough Market - taken away from me when I packed it in my carry-on. (Someone let me know if there's an outlet I can buy this online. Sigh.)

You may want to ship that food via UPS or Fedex.. If they haven't been taken over by foolishness in this regard, I mean (I haven't shipped food internationally lately.)

Fruit and vegetables do get more scrutiny at most customs entries around the world due to the fact that there's more potential to spread disease to the local fauna and the potential that seeds could land in the soil and sprout. Processed foods (like chocolate) is not as big of a deal since that kind of food won't reproduce and probably won't spread disease.

When I've returned from cruises to the Caribbean, I've always seen amnesty garbage cans right before the customs area. They have big signs on them telling folks to toss their fruits, veggies and seeds out. The signs also warn of big fines if folks try to bring those items into the States.

I agree with the others that the chocolates should be safe as long as they are declared, with one exception: I recall a thread a while back about people having Kinder Surprise chocolates taken away at the border. These are chocolate eggs from Germany with a toy inside. The FDA doesn't allow non-food items inside food.

I got a strange look recently from the CBP officer when I declared a pack of gummy bears on my way back from Madrid. But despite their reaction, you are safer declaring everything than taking the risk that a cranky CBP officer arrests you for an undeclared Snickers bar.

As a rule of thumb, bringing anything that isn't cooked/processed/pasteurized is a gamble. Chocolate is definitely processed.

I wouldn't bring in a mortadella from Italy! :)

HTSC

fruit is a different story from regular processed food
 

esp here in California any fruit is grounds for hassle due to the agricultural concerns here. Same with nuts -
We brought in lots of chocolate and jam from the UK this past holiday and had no problems w/ the items BUT were searched at Agriculture because some small round wrapped soaps looked like wrapped nut candies.

Oh, yeah. Me too. However, I've also had a lot of experience with bringing grocery-store food into the country with no problem - in this instance the fruit in question had stickers, was wrapped, with price tags.

I'd have been glad to throw it away, and only mentioned it in passing because I thought it was no big deal. I certainly would have tossed anything I had bought in a farmers market, say, or from a street vendor, and would have done so in this instance had I any prior experience indicating it might be a problem.

However, the out-of-proportion, in my opinion, screening began and I was not only not offered the option of discarding the orange, but all - and I mean all - of my 2+ checked bags filled with scuba gear plus two stuffed carryons were disassembled, a LEO was brought, etc. (The suspicion level goes to 11 if you travel with scuba gear. You'd think it would be commonplace for TSA on trips to and from the Caribbean, but every time you're treated even more like a subhuman than is usual. I've actually seen some articles in the professional literature about this lately.) It took almost an hour and I nearly missed my connection.

In the old days, I'd have said: In the future I'll simply throw away anything remotely questionable. However, given the current state of things in the airports, there won't be nearly so many future trips. I'll be enjoying my oranges in the comfort of my own home, or at a destination - like Florida - within driving distance.

Fresh fruit is a no-no. Consider yourself lucky they didn't slap a big fine on you. Apples are known to have costed up to $10,000.

Meat and cheese, well, if you have an entire prosciutto it is going to be confiscated. Small packages, especially commercially sealed ones, don't even register at the USDA machine. Of course if you declare that tortellini package, you are calling it upon yourself. They wouldn't care, but if you tell them they have to act.

Declaring chocolate, candies, bubblegums may indeed provoke stares: Officers cannot believe you are trying to waste their time like that.

Best procedure is not writing anything on the form and when asked at passport control say "some chocolate" or a "bottle of cognac".

Also remember that US territories that are deemed "exotic" by USFS/USDA may also require customs-style declarations and confiscation/removal of food items in order to prevent invasive species cross-contamination. My parents had to chuck some oranges on a flight from KOA-LAX (I told them not to bring that stuff to the airport, but they are frugal healthnuts and refused to pay for food on the flight so what are you gonna do :|

On a slightly-comical side note, I got secondaried once for bringing back a not-so-literal ton of roasted Kona coffee because the aromatics kept tripping the GC. But I made it out with all my beans intact (and not excessively fondled :D

Coffee is commonly used to hide other "smelly" products. A secondary for excessive coffeination is not unusual. Have you seen Beverly Hills Cop ?