A very long time ago I brought several bottles into the USA when when I was 19.

I smiled was nice and the customs agent looked the other way.

"A very long time ago" the drinking age in many states was 19.

If you failed to declare more than a liter of alcohol, it is subject to seizure. You could have declared it up front and paid the duty, but say you didn't declare it, then it is subject to seizure due to being undeclared dutiable goods. But seizing it would be a small headache for the CBP agent. He'd have to fill out a form...bla..bla..bla... So he offers the opportunity for the traveler to voluntarily dispose of it. Easy solution for him and for the traveler.

The OP would be making no such offense since he is not required to declare it anyway since it's under a liter and not dutiable. His problem is an age problem and that isn't really even any of customs business to enforce but they do. CBP policy (not law) is not going to let him keep that booze if it is discovered.

A lifetime of experience has taught me......

Under aged discovered to have booze. It's goin' down the sink.

Middle aged with more than a liter of undeclared booze.......

The amount in excess of 1 liter, is goin' down the sink.

Any alternative will cost you a time and headache factor in excess of the value of the booze.

So from a legal standpoint if I am on an Int'l flight what's the drinking age? What law governs this?

a) Whatever the carrier wants it to be
b) Whatever the attendant tells you is what it is

What about domestic flights in the US?

Please note: I have merged your thread with a current thread on TravelBuzz which addresses this issue. http://web3.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=645831
Please continue the discussion there.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

I am 20. I just went through ATL customs and declared the 12 bottles of wine i had with me. The immigration (I might of mixed the two up, it was the first guy i saw) guy didn't make an issue out of it when I told him I was traveling with people over 21, which was true. The Customs people were ... hole about it "Your in the state of Georgia where the drinking age is 21, do you want a record?" I grabbed a travel companion who was over 21 and they made her promise that she would hold on the the Wine and release it to my parents. Funny thing was we were on different PNRs and had different final destinations.

emphasis mine: just curious but does posessing a sealed (in other words, unopened) bottle of alcohol where the "holder" is under the legal age, constitute breaking the law? true some states will argue that "posession being 9/10ths of the law" is what it's all about but to me, i think the customs person was being an a$$hole-i mean after all, it's not like you were not declaring and thus smuggling the wine as it was over limit by 11 bottles*-you declared it and i assume you paid what ever duty was required, right?. another example-let's say you and your dad (or mom) go to costco and you help mom/dad by carrying the box containing the alchohol to the car as it is extremely heavy-mom/dad says, "go load the car, i have to run into another store for a second"-are you breaking the law because you are possession of alcohol but under the legal age? the officer was a putz.


*like i didn't do with 16 bottles of good french wines in my wheels

As far as Federal law goes, it appears that the only law that applies is that persons under 21 are not entitled to any duty exemption for alcohol whatsoever.

However, in the case of Georgia, "No person under 21 years of age shall purchase, attempt to purchase, or knowingly possess any alcoholic beverage;". There are exceptions for temporary possession regarding employment (ie, stocking beer in a store) or the in-home possession while supervised by a parent/guardian. Those probably wouldn't apply here. As for the car example, you could probably argue that the booze was still in the possession of your parents; you were just in the area. If you're traveling without your parents, you're on much shakier ground.

The CBP will enforce local liquor laws, so I think you're out of luck.

I had a friend (under 21) that had his alcohol confiscated from him passing customs. It was wine for his parents, but they didn't let him keep it. YMMV.