Gum counts as "food"? You can't be serious, no one eats gum and it has little if any nutritional value.

The Canadian form is arguably more specific about what kinds of food you need to list but even Canadian officers seem to want all food declared notwithstanding the form does not require this.

The Canadian form isn't arguably more specific, it is more specific. The Canadian form does not require you to declare "food" but specific kinds of food (meats, dairy, fruits, vegatables, seeds, nuts, etc.) My practice is to declare any food I'm bringing into the US, but into Canada, only the specific types of food listed. Once brought dried fruit into Canada and declared it as fruit, which they didn't care about, as I knew they wouldn't, but knew technically it fell under the definition of fruit.

Officers in Canada can certainly ask you about food you have coming back into Canada if they are talking to you, but certainly don't have a right to give you consequences for not declaring things on the form that they don't ask about.

This thread is always so entertaining.

People spend their time here debating rules and points of order and clarification as to what is and what is not strictly allowed within the letter of cross-border activities.

There's rules that apply to daily life (you stop on a red, etc, gum is not food etc), and then, well, there's the border.

The fact is that the border is staffed on both sides with folks who have massive enthusiasm for any opportunity to spot any sort of infraction.

If you have Nexus, you have basically agreed to submit yourself to their enthusiasm. No ifs, ands, or but's.

There are rules. Then there's the border. Then there's the border with Nexus.

You are a fool if you can't tell the difference. If you can't, you don't really get Nexus.

+1

All those folk who want to carry cards only and no passports, or split hairs on what they have to declare or not.

With Nexus you are walking a legal tightrope. One mistake and it is all over. The rule is to be as conservative as you can and declare everything.

It's about what you can consume. You can bring some gum every time and see what happens if you don't check the box. The airport is much stricter than the land border and they have interpreted gum to be food.
Note: The idea in general is that you can't be in trouble for declaring what you have, even if you think that no one wants to know. If you declare it and they don't care to know, you win. If you don't declare it and they decide you should have, you lose. An honest mistake can still happen but deliberately not declaring something is just as bad.

The list is not exhaustive -- the list gives examples. You must declare all foods.

Well said.

Then cbsa better get themselves some lawyers to redo the form as a declaration on that form not including food that is not listed WILL NOT stand up in court.

Any penalties arising from failures to declare prohibited or controlled foods are administrative in nature and do not fall under the jurisdiction of any courts. An appeals process can be had through the CBSA Appeals Division of the Recourse Directorate. It is during that appeal that the traveler must show that he/she satisfied the onus to declare ALL prohibited or controlled products.

Again, the declaration card is just a guide. "Be Aware, Declare."


Cheers

Well, CBSA actually should not care about foods that are not in the bracketed part so its really not a huge deal. If they do care, then they should add the words "for example or etc..." to the bracketed examples. Would save everyone a bunch of hassle. Trust me...no CBSA officer I have ever met cared about someone's Mars bar!

Wow, you just dont get it, do you?

Close, but not quite. As with nearly all administrative penalties, the appeals process eventually ends in the court system. In the case of someone changed under the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act, the Appeals process is as follows:

1. Option 1: Request a review by the Minister of Public Safety or Option 2: Request a review by the Review Tribunal (Agriculture and Agri-food) (If you choose option #1 and lose, you still have the right to pursue option #2).
2. If you lose at the Review Tribunal, you can apply for judicial review by the Federal Court of Appeal (pursuant to section 28 of the Federal Court Act).

Realistically, you would be unlikely to loss your Nexus card for not declaring (coming into Canada) a piece of gum, as it was not on the list. At some point in the appeal, a lawyer (every Review Tribunal has at least 1 on it) would probably point out to CBSA that they've gone a little over board, and that if they wanted every type of food declared, perhaps they should just ask about food in general, like the US does.

InTheAirGuy: I think we are all very conscious of the fact that Nexus is a privilege, and as such go out of our way to comply with everything asked of us. But you seem to suggest that anyone with a Nexus card should be assumed to have read, and memorized, all possible import/export laws for Canada and the US, and I think that is unreasonable. could you honestly explain to someone who doesn't read FT, why they just lost their Nexus for not declaring gum, when the customs card didn't ask them to? I can, and will, do everything asked of me; but I'm not a mind reader.

Non-withstanding all the above, my advice to anyone reading FT is:

1. Ask an officer (of either country) if you aren't sure if you should be declaring something or not. You will find that honesty goes a long way in this situation.
2. In the event that you get the absolute, biggest ....... of all time customs officer going off on you for something ridiculous; relax, think about your answers carefully, and don't be afraid to ask for a supervising officer.

You have no idea how much I do "get it". Thanks for your concern.

Since this discussion has come up, I'd like to ask a related question, especially given the post about needing to basically declare all goods that are restricted, even if it is not on the form. Forget a Nexus member in the below situation, but let's just say average Joe, who maybe crosses the land border a few times a year, and by air maybe once or twice (or even not at all), and who is not familiar with the customs form. Because I've always wanted to know this too.

So a person crosses the land border in a car. In addition to a small suitcase with clothes, toiletries, etc., they have a) a roast beef sandwich and b) an apple, They are planning on eating the food later for lunch. Both of which are restricted, but admissable items, into either country.

They hand the inspector their passports at the border, get asked the purpose of thier visit, how long they are planning on staying and if they have any alcohol or tabacco with them. They say they are going to visit [insert the name of US/Canadian city here] for a couple of days, and that no, they don't have any alcohol or tabacco. Since they don't fill out a declaration card (land border, in a car), there is no box to check off or not whether they have fruit or meat with them. The officer tells them to proceed and to have a good trip.

What is supposed to happen here. Legally, are the occupants of the vehicle supposed to say, "but, by the way, I have this sandwich and apple which I am planning on eating for lunch." Don't forget, they don't cross the border too much, so aren't aware of some of even the most basic rules, forget about the detailed ones that many others may not know about. Or is it ok, as they were questioned by the officer, answered the questions truthfully and told to proceed?