FlyingHoustonian

I have also, even in some military exchanges however they have been banned for a long time.

FromMAtoAZ

When arriving at DFW from HKG I selected yes to the food question as I had packaged dried fruit. I got a big X across my slip. I walked to the agent said I had dried fruit and he waved me on. No time wasted. Also, here is the U.S. approved version of a Kinder Egg: http://www.chocotreasure.com/.

14940674

Since the primary inspection officer did not stamp your slip, how did the exit officer know that you had visited primary inspection to resolve the X? One could have received the X and walked straight to the exit, violating program rules.

bocastephen

Got the new format at YYZ and SFO - the word is definitely there and I can't fathom why how this is going to benefit the process except to create more work for inspectors.

My experience:

YYZ - declared, got the 'O', went directly to secondary (I know the drill here as sometimes use this process to my advantage to cut in front of lines of people waiting to enter security). Went to agent, said "Global Entry with food to clear"...she took me to the inspection area, I told her what I had, she stamped my BP and sent me on my way.

SFO - exited the flight to find the worst cluster**** line I've ever seen entering customs. Non-citizens easily had a 2-3 hour wait and citizens were probably at least 90 minutes. I did the kiosk, entered yes for food (hard candy, sheesh), then checked in at the inspection area at the Customs exit. The first inspector wasn't sure what to do about my candy, but the supervisor just had my bags x-rayed then sent me on my way - an extra 3 minutes, but better than 90 minutes. I was already in the United Club for my domestic connection after the toilet, walking to T3 and pre-check before the first US citizens from my flight had moved 20 feet in the line.

AlphaTango

The "food" that you declare at a pre-clearance kiosk (say YYC), that's "food" that you acquired prior to the kiosk, correct?

So if you buy "food" (and I'm talking about candy, here by the way - specifically the Cadburys Crunchie Clusters - amazing) after you're in the pre-clearance area - that's OK? (I hope)

flyquiet

That is what drives me CRAZY. It asks about bringing FOOD into the USA, and you correctly say NO as you have none, and then you purchase Canadian food while in the terminal and take it to the USA, what is the difference? They should ask "are you bringing any food that you cannot purchase in the terminal?" and 99.9% of all of our paranoia would go away.

chollie

Used common sense, but if I got secondaried, the most they were going to do was confiscate and lecture me, not put a black mark on my file forever or yank GE (which I didn't have). I unwittingly always brought back a few Kindereggs, both before and after they were prohibited. I didn't know about the prohibition for a long time and I only identified 'chocolate candy' on my form because I was usually bringing back multiple types of chocolate.

The rules are very clear: you declare all food, even if you think it's allowed, no exceptions.

The stakes are a lot higher now if you get a by-the-book agent, so why take a risk?

flyquiet

I am a declare-everything believer, and my usual strategy is to tell people I can't bring them candies home because of NEXUS/GE! And I only take granola bars with me when I am going somewhere that I don't believe I can readily buy them at the other end. (and I declare as food when I have them.)
But, I admit I always have a bit of butterflies about chewable supplements. They're in some ways candy-like but they're not "food". I figure, if every traveller declared anything and everything ingestable, vitamins and medication, we would be there all day.

chollie

I would declare vitamins and supplements, but not meds. I usually count out the vitamins I need for my trip and have just enough to last while I'm away.

I don't know what a strict agent ("if it goes in your mouth, you declare it") would make of something like Emergen-C or NUUN tablets, though.

flyquiet

I do the same with vitamins in the day-of-the-week box, but then I worry they're going to say "how do I know it is what you say it is?" That's not a NEXUS/GE question, though.

chollie

No, thank heavens. I transfer enough vitamins for my trip to a zip-loc or an empty vitamin bottle. They all look different, so I have no problem sorting out my daily allotment. I also always have a small assortment (tiny ziplocs) of basic meds: aspirin, ibuprofen, sudafed and a couple tiny ones that help me sleep.

Ironically, I've never had a problem with assorted vitamins and OTC meds in unmarked ziplocs, but I got my bottle-within-a-bottle original packing prescription nitro pills confiscated once during a TSA bag search. Now I just have to take the risk and not carry them, because I'm afraid if I transfer them to another container and they get swabbed and alarm, I'll really be in hot water and accused to trying to 'artfully conceal' a 'boom' substance.

dan1431

I was truly unsure if coffee beans constituted food and declared them on my last time through immigration and customs.

I got the X on my Global Entry Receipt and the Immigration officer asked what food item I was carrying, when I replied coffee beans she smiled, thanked me for being honest, but said that coffee beans are not food and do not need to be declared, I said I was honestly unsure and figured that over declaring was better than under declaring.

She said that is a good policy, but that I should be prepared for some officers to get a little upset that I declared something that doesn't need to be declared and mess up the system.

She wrote something on my receipt, made some sort of notation on the computer and sent me on my way to Customs. I handed the receipt over the officer there who asked what I mistakenly declared and when I said coffee, he said happens all the time, stamped my receipt and welcomed me home.

Dan

RadioGirl

As I said earlier in this thread, you can't win. Coffee beans are not food but tea bags are. Chocolate, sometimes.

emcampbe

You can't really win, can you? Because you never know if the next time you bring coffee beans in and remember this experience and don't declare, then get a random X and find an officer upset that you didn't declare it.

weave

I read this thread last night before my trip back from UK today with great interest since I was hauling back a lot of sweets. Just wanted to add an update with my experience.

I can say for sure they are updating the procedure as they learn. Last Summer I checked the all-inclusive agriculture box because I had been on a horse farm in Iceland and back then I got the X and had to start at immigration.

This time I had candy. Checked the same box. This time I got a big O on my ticket instead of an X. That now means you can skip immigration and go straight to the agriculture line after baggage pickup. It was a breeze. I was asked what I had, told them it was candy, they sent it through their little machine and I was on my way. It added two minutes tops to the exit procedure.

So my recommendation is, just declare it if you have candy. It's better to be safe and it really doesn't slow you down (granted there weren't any other people in the agriculture check area, but that's also because I was ahead of the crowd from my flight because of the GE kiosk procedure)

This was at PHL FWIW.