TWA884

Folks,

This is the Trusted Travelers forum and this thread is about Global Entry kiosks declarations, i.e., what should be declared.

According to the CBP: "Every fruit or vegetable must be declared to a CBP Agriculture Specialist or CBP Officer and must be presented for inspection - regardless of its admissibility status."

To find out which agricultural products can be brought into the US, please refer to the USDA Fruits and Vegetables Import Requirements webpage.

To continue discussing what kind of produce is admissible, please go to the What kind of food you can bring into US? thread in the Practical Travel Safety and Security Issues forum.

Future off-topic messages will be summarily deleted without further notice.

Thank you for understanding.

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

N1120A

SFO's ag inspectors are the most insane and anal in the system. The law actually spells out specifically what you have to declare as "food", and alcohol certainly isn't on that list, so long as you are within the allowed limits. There is a reason people don't lose their GE over such confrontations - because the agent would really be exceeding their authority.

pa3lsvt

Any agent that calls GE "first class or whatever you people call it privileges" clearly doesn't have a firm handle on the intricacies of the GE rules. I mean, really, the name of the program is right there in the logo:

ashwinbrao

I had a crazy experience at PHL last month..Flew in from MUC and had chocolates in my bag. I declared them on the machine and got a slip asking me to go to Agriculture (or something similar). The officer who first saw my slip, signed it and asked me to exit. At the exit, another officer saw the slip and told me that the first officer was wrong and that I was supposed to go the screening belt. I follow his instructions, go to secondary, a third officer asks me about what I have and waives me through..back to the second officer who says I got the wrong stamp on the slip and I need to see another person (officer # 4). At this point of time, the first officer who waived me through joins the conversation and starts cracking up at the craziness..he takes me to a supervisor who waives me through after a couple of questions (how long have I been a GE member, when did I renew my membership)..we all had a laugh about the situation and that added ~ 10 min to my clearance. Apparently, there was some audit going on and everyone was being extra careful

CKDGM

Coming back in at SEA earlier this week, I declared food at the kiosk and got the O; at the exit, the officer took my slip and asked "what are you bringing back to the US?" and I said "hard candies and cookies."

His one-word response: "Bye!" No "why are you wasting my time", no "go get your bag X-rayed", no "are you sure you're not smuggling in oranges"...just a friendly "Bye!"

Such a short response was so unexpected that I almost laughed right then, but managed to hold off until I had moved out of sight and, I hope, hearing.

jashsu

Was there a long queue of non-GE too? I flew into SFO yesterday and again got the O because of food declaration. Just as on a NRT-SFO a few months ago, also got sent to ag x-ray. Since I never check luggage, i'm usually at the customs exit before any line has accumulated. I suspect they wave on GE Os when there is a long non-GE queue and send them onto ag x-ray when there is no queue.

CKDGM

There was, so that's certainly a possibility. It might also vary by airport; I don't think I've ever had the ag X-ray at SEA in several trips, but did at least twice at BOS even with similar types of food.

GMTmin8

Arrived LAX TBIT this week, answered "yes" to food, got circle on slip. I had even written down a list of 8 categories of food brought back to be sure not to miss anything. CBP person barely looked at me or slip just waived me through without a word. There was no one in the GE queue.

However the non-GE lines were packed. Our plane had waited at the gate over 30 minutes before doors were opened because the arrivals hall was so backed up.

seawolf

IME, they keep it unpredictable. Flew int JFK T8 several times this year. Always declare chocolates. About 50/50 being sent to secondary vs. being allowed thru.

reclusive46

From my limited experience (I rarely go through TBIT), TBIT seems to be the most lax when it comes to GE members, I've never even had my passport looked at.

747FC

Had great experience in SFO yesterday: I got "O" for declaring shortbread cookies as only imported food product, but returning gave list of previously purchased foods with which we were returning.

Wife got "X" for fingerprints read error.

Agent just waived us on, which was an upgrade from previous experiences requiring me to get bag scan and wife to fill out customs form.

As an aside, LHR exit security much less rigorous than last tme.

MotelRomeo

I don't remember the exact questions on the GE kiosk, but I don't recall a place to list your declared goods. Where do I fill out the itemized list of goods I need to declare? If I'm bringing back a couple small souvenirs (like a magnet and shot glass) what do I need to do to declare these items? It seems like the paper customs form has a place to list the items, but I'm not aware of an option to do so with Global Entry or the Mobile Passport app.

1KChinito

If your total value is less than $800, then you do not need to declare nor itemize.

747FC

What I did is create a handwritten list with two columns: Column One contains the foodstuffs I purchase on the trip. Column Two contains the items that we initially purchased in the USA, but did not use on the trip and are re-importing.

I created this list before heading off on our 10+ hour flight, so that I was reasonably clear-headed. Upon getting the "O," I handed the list to the CPB officer and then explained to the officer what I actually obtained overseas and what was re-imported. Worked like a charm this time, but the CPB officer seemed to be processing us like people, rather than like objects.

MotelRomeo

Thanks. Looking for clarity when some of the CBP info on GE says "You must declare all goods purchased, received as gifts or repaired or altered while abroad."

I guess that just means they don't care in general what you bring back as long as it's not food, prohibited items, and under the $800 threshold.

I won't be bringing back food, so I shouldn't get dinged for that. I was just curious how to account for the souvenirs I bought. I struggled with the wording on CBP that mentions declaring EVERYTHING, but from what I've read that doesn't seem to matter if the goods are under $800.