Declare that food!
 

or lose some money and GE. that must be some powerful good popcorn.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-dont-smuggle/

On Tuesday, a couple from West Chester, Pa., attempted to smuggle about 30 pounds of undeclared and prohibited food products from India through Washington Dulles International Airport, authorities said. The people were “trusted travelers,” a special status given to travelers who pay $100 fee and undergo a rigorous background check that includes an interview. The “trusted” status allows them to speed through screening by making their declarations at special automated kiosks.

CPB officials said the couple returned from India through Dubai and went to the Global Entry self-help kiosk to make their declarations. Neither of them said they had any food products. CBP officers, however, referred for secondary inspection.

The couple again said they did not have any food in the eight pieces of luggage they’d returned home with. More questioning followed and they told officers they had only sweets and spices. But when a CBP agriculture specialist passed each bag through an X-ray, “anomalies” were detected in seven of the eight bags. After further examination, agents found about 25 pounds of chick peas and five pounds of popcorn with green curry leaves — which, yes, you guessed properly, are not allowed.

(NOTE: Chickpeas from India are prohibited due to the possible introduction of harmful plant diseases and insect pests, such as the highly destructive Khapra beetle.)

Bottom line: trust broken.

In addition to a $500 fine, the couple are no longer trusted travelers

I recently got into a discussion about declaring candy at the GE kiosk. I was told it was not necessary, but on one trip when I had plenty of time, I did declare some candy just to see what would happen and how long it would take to clear once I declared it. Well, the CBP officer just blew up, said why was I declaring candy? I just screwed up the system etc. Anyway, after leaving the customs area, I saw a CBP officer and asked him about declaring candy, I did not mention the episode with the other officer, he said that if you can put it in your mouth, it is food, so yes it should be declared. I thanked him and went on my way. The question regarding food is slightly ambiguous at the kiosk terminal, but on the manual questionnaire, the blue form, it says FOOD, so I don't declare candy at the kiosk, but I do on the blue form, just in case.

Supposedly the kiosk question has been updated and now says "food" - so that would have to be declared. There is a thread in this forum. Posted around the last time I used a kiosk, which was just prior to Xmas, but the machine I used (pre-clearance, YYZ) had the question the same way it always did, asking about specific kinds of food.

I have used the Kiosks that were/are very specific about the type of foods and candy was not one of them, but if now it says "food" then a declaration will need to be made on the Kiosk as "yes".

Once you get that X on your slip, get ready to have more secondary screenings when traveling international. After I've gotten that X, you'll get the infamous SSSS on your boarding pass when departing the US. I've gotten it two consecutive times since December and I travel overseas every month.

That isn't how it goes for everyone in these kind of situations. If you think the <SSSS> flag on future flights is a result of kiosk giving an X previous times, then you should consider a refundable ticket to get a boarding pass for a flight with another airline at that airport for the same day and see what happens when you check-in for that other flight/airline and see how that works out. That would provide more of a clue on what may be taking place.

I hadn't realized the paper form had changed as well, but most of my international travel is from India (twice a year, generally), and I'm bringing back dry snacks that my mother-in-law makes. CBP's never had a problem in the past, but I'm applying for GE now and I'm concerned that this is going to cause a problem for me when I come into the country. I'm mainly doing it to get Pre (and skip the line when I do enter), so I'm wondering if I'm better off to just abandon this and apply for Pre instead.

I'm a US citizen, btw.

See reply #52. As long as you answer truthfully, you'll be fine. It's CBP's job to determine which food can be admitted to the US or not. If it's not admitted and confiscated, then you're still fine. The key point is that you made a truthful declaration.

+1

I think Kinder Eggs are an excellent example of something apparently innocuous that could cause real problems.

There's nowhere on the airline videos or the blue form indicating that there's a special type of chocolate, ie, Kinder Eggs, that is specifically prohibited. I suspect there are many many frequent travelers unaware of this restriction. I brought them back overland from Canada for a long time and may have brought them back after they were prohibited without realizing it. I verbally declared chocolates and no one ever asked specifically about Kinder Eggs.

Confiscation is bad enough, if it's something that a reasonable traveler couldn't (IMHO) be expected to know about. Losing trusted traveler status or getting flagged by a zealous agent is a much bigger deal.

Sometimes the declaration is simple and the agent waves you through or gives you the 'why are you wasting my time?' attitude. Sometimes it leads to a time-wasting secondary. I'm risk averse and will continue to follow the instructions I was given: declare it all, even if I know it is allowed.

I always kinda wonder if something like vanilla counts as food or not. I had something else once that I picked up on a cruise that I wasn't really sure whether it counted as food or not (can't remember what it was though unfortunately), I actually waited till I got to an agent that time to ask whether I should mark food or no food for it (pre-GE for me, and a cruise, where there's no GE anyways).

The bean or the extract?

Vanilla extract is normally, what, about 30 proof ^ ? you might have to declare for the booze ;) :D

There are many posts in this forum on FT, where people have gotten an "X", but not had further incidents.
In my case, about two years ago, I got an "X", was sent to the "special room", the agent thought the "X" was fingerprint related; a day or two later I got an email form GE, asking me to describe my incident (I think they want GE to be snafu free). On lots of domestic and intl. flts I've been "X" and SSSS free...I'm in TSA pre-check*--one trip back to the US from ZRH I had SSSS, it was explained by the AA agent (SSSS has NO effect on security by ZRH's security people) that a random selection of people are selected by DHS and have (minimal:)) extra checking done.
If you are getting extra SSSS's there (probably) is more to the "story" than a single "X".
*my bps for my return trips to the US from overseas usually have TSA Pre-Check on them...but since TSA has no foreign presence, TSA Pre-Check has NO significance for these.

A while back, I declared, including monetary value since I still had the receipt in my pocket, a package of hot chocolate I was bringing back from Canada. CBP at preclearance in YYZ gave me a "seriously, you listed that" look when going over my declaration card. Didn't ask to see it, waved me on through.

But I'd do it again, just to be safe.

I have been struggling with this question for years. It isn't something that is limited to GE. There is no published definition of "food" or at least none that I have ever been able to find.

Finally in exasperation I submitted the question via a Department of Agriculture web site. About a year later they acknowledged my query but have yet to actually give me an answer.

As previous poster has stated leaving it vague means that they get to hear about anything you think is food and they can decide if it is prohibited. Of course the line agents roll their eyes if you follow that logic and declare something they deem harmless. On the other hand if you fail to declare they'll gladly hang you out to dry for lying.

I also will continue to err on the side of declaring anything that remotely strikes me as something that could be considered food until I receive official, written confirmation of what is and isn't.

A better question is how have you guys been answering your 6059B forms before GE? They always asked food there.