GE kiosks have changed the question about food
 

Came through GE at pre-clearance at YYZ on Monday, and the same kiosk question as always popped up for me - no mention of the word "food". If the question is re-worded like on the paper form, this would be a step backwards for trusted travelers.

Has anyone seen what the question on the automated passport reader kiosks in the regular line ask? I assume it would be what the paper form says, but thought I might see if anyone knows.

GE kiosks -- at JFK yesterday too -- now say "food".

The APC kiosks last month at least had far fewer words in each question and had fewer questions than what is on the printed declaration form that is written on by passengers.

I'm also wondering about:

- Cough Drops.... I often have a few rolling around in my briefcase somewhere. Are they "food" or medication?

- Tea bags.....I travel with a few decaf Lipton's and Chamomile tea because it is hard to fine on board (I prefer to ask for hot water and brew my own). Would the tea bags have to be declared as food?



I guess the days are over of picking up some cookies and other goodies at the duty free (or airport grocery store, like at FRA)....*sigh*

Here is what I found:


Food Products (Prepared)
You may bring bakery items and certain cheeses into the United States. The APHIS Web site features a Travelers Tips section and Game and Hunting Trophies section that offers extensive information about bringing food and other products into the U.S. Many prepared foods are admissible. However, bush meat made from African wildlife and almost anything containing meat products, such as bouillon, soup mixes, etc., is not admissible. As a general rule, condiments, vinegars, oils, packaged spices, honey, coffee and tea are admissible. Because rice can often harbor insects, it is best to avoid bringing it into the United States. Some imported foods are also subject to requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.


And from APHIS directly:


Generally Allowed Food Items

The following food items are generally allowed entry:

Condiments such as oil, vinegar, mustard, catsup, pickles, syrup, honey without honey combs, jelly, and jam.
Foodstuffs such as bakery items, candy, and chocolate.
Hard cured cheeses without meat, such as parmesan or cheddar.
Canned goods and goods in vacuum- packed jars (except those containing meat or poultry products) for personal use.
Fish or fish products for personal use.
Powdered drinks sealed in original containers with ingredients listed in English.
Dry mixes containing dairy and egg ingredients (such as baking mixes, cocoa mixes, drink mixes, instant cake mixes, instant pudding mixes, liquid drink mixes containing reconstituted dry milk or dry milk products, potato flakes, and infant formula) that are commercially labeled, presented in final finished packaging, and require no further manipulation of the product are generally allowed.
Remember, you must declare all food and agricultural products, including those listed above, to a CBP agriculture specialist or officer when you arrive in the United States.


Emphasis mine.

I got the "food" question at IAD today. Answered yes, and got an "O" and a notation to "proceed to baggage control" or something like that. At IAD, the only one to check your receipt is the guy you hand it to on your way out after claiming your luggage. He asked me what i was declaring, I told him (chocolate), and he waved me on. I barely had to slow down.

I appreciate those of you who blaze this trail. The more experiences like this that I read about, the more comfortable I will feel about answering "Yes" to this question.

Yeah, they're fine with it. I've shown them chocolate I bought at the duty free, they don't send me off to secondary. I've never been scolded.

Are you sure that a "yes" entry on the computer for "food" doesn't open up a secondary menu which asks additional questions?

On a related question, does anyone know about a iOS App for APHIS. (I found one dealing with commercial cattle). My wife and I cross the US/Canadian land border a fair amount and it would be real handy to have.

Stop complaining!!! :rolleyes:

At MSP on 1/1/14, I answered "yes" to the food question as I was bringing in jam. No additional questions by the machine were asked. The receipt had a circle around the the phrase proceed to "Baggage Control." However, in MSP, the "immigration" officers review all receipts with circles, which caught me by surprise. (At IAD, all GE members pass through "immigration" booths with no one monitoring them.)

It took me just 1-2 minutes talking with an "immigration" officer to explain what "food" I was bringing in and to explain to him that the questions had been modified. At first he asked me why I answered "yes" when all I had was jam, as jam wasn't considered an agricultural, etc. product. After pointing out the "food" wording on the receipt, he then stamped my GE receipt and wrote his badge number, telling me that the machines had changed the wording to his surprise, and apologized.

Instead of heading to the exit, I went to Baggage Control, as the receipt had instructed. There, the "customs" officer just told me to head to the exit, immediately after seeing my receipt with the previous officer's annotation. He didn't even bother reading what I answered "yes" to.

My only criticism about this is that CBP needs to be trained about the GE machines asking different questions and that the machines should print receipts with "Proceed to Nearest CBP Agent" as opposed "Proceed to Baggage Control" for situations like mine.

Summary:
* Total additional time inconvenienced: 2 minutes. :rolleyes:
* Improvements required: Staff training and modification of wording on receipts to match local airport's CBP procedures.

My rules world-wide:
1. Declare any food or beverage substance (chocolate, jam, teabags, coffee beans...) (I draw the line at things like chewing gum or breath mints, though.)
2. Be prepared to be accused of wasting their time, for which I will offer my profuse apologies. :rolleyes:
Lather, rinse, repeat.

Seriously, you can't win this one.

My honest-as-the-day-is-long young colleague was mercilessly excoriated at SYD for not declaring a (commercially packaged) box of tea bags from the UK. In his mind, tea is a drink, not a food, and the bags aren't even a drink until you add water. They let him keep it, but he was extremely - and unnecessarily - embarrassed.

At the same airport, I regularly declare Swiss chocolate. 20% of the time, I'm told "you don't need to declare that". 20% of the time, they ask to look at the package to "make sure." 60% of the time, I'm told "Okay, no problem." One time they located it on the (random) baggage x-ray (I had declared it) and asked me to get it out. I pulled out a flat gift-wrapped box, they glanced at it and said, "Okay, fine." There's no rhyme or reason.

Just noticed this at SEATAC today. They still had the old, more specific question last week.

Tea is generally from tea leaves/plants. I always declare tea, in the interest of helping the agricultural industry in my destination country.

Just had this at IAD. Checked yes to food (no additional question). Got circle around "baggage control", which is the customs exit point. Showed her slip and told her I had some candy. "Anything else?" "No." On my way. Added time about 15 seconds.

I don't disagree - and I would have declared it myself - but to my colleague, the question using the word "food" did not cover "tea bags".

Playing devil's advocate for a moment, the issue is surely not just "made from a plant" but how much processing the plant material has received (ie, whether the processing has been sufficient to eliminate the risk of carrying disease or insects). If it's an entire freshly-plucked green plant with dirt still clinging to the roots, that's clearly a problem. But does anyone declare clothing made of cotton or linen (or hemp :eek:)? Or a book or stationery kit because the paper came from a tree? Wooden buttons? Pencils?

I mentioned above the quarantine people who said I was "wasting their time" with chocolates. Imagine someone declaring every linen, cotton and paper item in their bag!

Tea leaves have been processed more than a freshly harvested plant, but not as much as the cotton in my shirt. They've probably been processed LESS than the wood in a box of pencils. This sort of question requires the passenger to make a judgement call as to whether the item has been processed enough to be no longer considered "made from a plant" or not. And it's to be expected that different people would make different conclusions. In fact, my colleague might well have thought differently about loose tea leaves that had been measured out for him into a paper bag in a village in a developing country versus a shrink-wrapped box of name brand tea bags from a gift shop in Yorkshire.