Cheese

[anricat]

I know of a case where a US Citizen bought a ham sandwich at the Madrid airport and then boarded a flight to the USA. He forgot all about the ham sandwich in his carry-on luggage until found by US Customs which fined him $300.00. I bet the US Customs dog got a special treat!


-Paul

Seriously? They didn't just let him throw it in the amnesty bin? That's what the amnesty bin IS FOR. I had a bag of baby carrots accidentally in my carry-on backpack I forgot about on a flight back from Mexico. Ironically they were US-grown carrots that I bought in Mexico. I just told them I forgot about them and didn't need them. They tossed them into the trash and waived me on my way. $300 for a forgotten food item seems a little harsh. Not sure I'm buying it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Seriously? They didn't just let him throw it in the amnesty bin? That's what the amnesty bin IS FOR. I had a bag of baby carrots accidentally in my carry-on backpack I forgot about on a flight back from Mexico. Ironically they were US-grown carrots that I bought in Mexico. I just told them I forgot about them and didn't need them. They tossed them into the trash and waived me on my way. $300 for a forgotten food item seems a little harsh. Not sure I'm buying it.

Quite possible. There are multiple signs (in most airports, in my experience) telling people to discard any food items they have. If he forgot he had it, and it was in his bag, it's possible it was picked up on scanners. We just watched a To Catch a Smuggler show where two different parties were caught in this. One had an orange, the other an apple. Forgotten in their carryon bags. Since they by-passed all the signs and bins to drop such things in, they were fined.

 

[PurplePencil]

@RedHead0186
Well, in the link I posted from USDA, at least they pointed out you may get different opinions from different government agencies. Left hand, meet the right hand. CBP apparently does not enforce the USDA milk product ban.

The USDA link mentions homemade products. Vacuum sealed cheese does not meet that definition. Additionally USDA says that CBP enforces their rules.

 

[anricat]

Quite possible. There are multiple signs (in most airports, in my experience) telling people to discard any food items they have. If he forgot he had it, and it was in his bag, it's possible it was picked up on scanners. We just watched a To Catch a Smuggler show where two different parties were caught in this. One had an orange, the other an apple. Forgotten in their carryon bags. Since they by-passed all the signs and bins to drop such things in, they were fined.

Sheesh. With my carrots I passed by all those signs as well. They had just gotten buried under something else and I didn't realize they were there. It just seems WAY harsh for one little thing that was an honest mistake. The laws are in place for people actively trying to smuggle something into the country. Someone who forgot their snack at the bottom of the bag seems a strange person to punish. I guess I got off lucky.

 

[Kwami]

Sheesh. With my carrots I passed by all those signs as well. They had just gotten buried under something else and I didn't realize they were there. It just seems WAY harsh for one little thing that was an honest mistake. The laws are in place for people actively trying to smuggle something into the country. Someone who forgot their snack at the bottom of the bag seems a strange person to punish. I guess I got off lucky.

We don't know the full story, though. It's possible that this particular person was being difficult or that some other circumstances lead to the fine.

 

[bakerworld]

Going to Puerto Rico I bought an Orange in Philadelphia, took it to PR and returned with it but they let me keep it because I bought it in Philly. LOL

 

[pjacobi]

Seriously? They didn't just let him throw it in the amnesty bin? That's what the amnesty bin IS FOR.

When this person was asked about carrying any food, the person denied it, so they were fined when it was found.

I guess it is up to the discretion of the customs officer to believe if it was an honest mistake or an attempt of smuggling. Maybe the customs office just wanted to make an example to other passengers. It seems there are a lot of passengers that ignore this serious offense. One bad banana could literally cause unbelievable damage.


-Paul

 

[tvguy]

Going to Puerto Rico I bought an Orange in Philadelphia, took it to PR and returned with it but they let me keep it because I bought it in Philly. LOL

Other reason maybe because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory.

 

[soniam]

Seriously? They didn't just let him throw it in the amnesty bin? That's what the amnesty bin IS FOR. I had a bag of baby carrots accidentally in my carry-on backpack I forgot about on a flight back from Mexico. Ironically they were US-grown carrots that I bought in Mexico. I just told them I forgot about them and didn't need them. They tossed them into the trash and waived me on my way. $300 for a forgotten food item seems a little harsh. Not sure I'm buying it.

I had a similar thing, an apple. I this was a cruise ship. I had forgotten about it. The agent asked are you sure you don't have anything, like maybe fruit from the ship. That triggered my memory, and I told them about it and that I had forgotten about it. No fine. It went into the amnesty bin. I try to be more careful about it now. Darn healthy food

 

[Calantha]

Other reason maybe because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory.

Sounds like they just got lucky.

From https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/fresh-fruits-and-vegetablesSolid:
Passengers flying from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands to the U.S. mainland cannot take most fresh fruits and vegetables due to the risk of spreading invasive plant pests.

 

[dcassetta]

Sheesh. With my carrots I passed by all those signs as well. They had just gotten buried under something else and I didn't realize they were there. It just seems WAY harsh for one little thing that was an honest mistake. The laws are in place for people actively trying to smuggle something into the country. Someone who forgot their snack at the bottom of the bag seems a strange person to punish. I guess I got off lucky.

The plant laws are so strict because of the devastating effects even a few insects can have on agricultural production. The medfly alone has cost hundreds of millions of dollars in agricultural loss and eradication efforts.

If you are ever coming into an airport or cruise port and see the beagles with green jackets, they are Dept of Ag. They are not interested in weapons or drugs. They are smelling for food.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I had an open box of cookies from a bakery in France. Flew from degaulle to Detroit. US customs laughed at me when I guiltily produced them to “declare” and said we don’t care about cookies lol. I was so relieved. I didn’t even think about the cookies until I was walking off the plane and for a moment I was actually scared. It can be a real crap shot with coming back into the country though. Some of those agents are insane. Once dh and I were coming back into the US with our kids and the agent decided to quiz our youngest on his middle name. He was paralyzed with fear. He was only 5 or 6 and I guess it’s funny but we just didn’t use his middle name with him much. I don’t even know if he knew it. He couldn’t answer. It was a weird situation. Lots more questions after that. Nightmare. Make sure your kids know their middle names.

 

[anricat]

I had an open box of cookies from a bakery in France. Flew from degaulle to Detroit. US customs laughed at me when I guiltily produced them to “declare” and said we don’t care about cookies lol. I was so relieved. I didn’t even think about the cookies until I was walking off the plane and for a moment I was actually scared. It can be a real crap shot with coming back into the country though. Some of those agents are insane. Once dh and I were coming back into the US with our kids and the agent decided to quiz our youngest on his middle name. He was paralyzed with fear. He was only 5 or 6 and I guess it’s funny but we just didn’t use his middle name with him much. I don’t even know if he knew it. He couldn’t answer. It was a weird situation. Lots more questions after that. Nightmare. Make sure your kids know their middle names.

We got detained in Vancouver at passport control for awhile after our Alaskan cruise. (US Customs and Border security does US passport control before you get on the plane to the US) and my daughter was 8 at the time and they were quizzing her like crazy. We were there for almost 45 minutes. I have no idea why. Finally they just let us go. It was super weird and she was really freaked out by the whole thing. "What did we do wrong? Am I in trouble?"

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We got detained in Vancouver at passport control for awhile after our Alaskan cruise. (US Customs and Border security does US passport control before you get on the plane to the US) and my daughter was 8 at the time and they were quizzing her like crazy. We were there for almost 45 minutes. I have no idea why. Finally they just let us go. It was super weird and she was really freaked out by the whole thing. "What did we do wrong? Am I in trouble?"

That sounds awful. It has to be random because we are not exciting looking at all. And our kids look like us and each other. People ask a lot if the youngest two are twins. It did make me feel like an awful parent though- my child was not able to produce his middle name on the spot.

 

[unrequited23]

If you are ever coming into an airport or cruise port and see the beagles with green jackets, they are Dept of Ag. They are not interested in weapons or drugs. They are smelling for food.

This made me laugh, as I have a beagle who is not interested in anything other than food.

 

[tvguy]

We got detained in Vancouver at passport control for awhile after our Alaskan cruise. (US Customs and Border security does US passport control before you get on the plane to the US) and my daughter was 8 at the time and they were quizzing her like crazy. We were there for almost 45 minutes. I have no idea why. Finally they just let us go. It was super weird and she was really freaked out by the whole thing. "What did we do wrong? Am I in trouble?"

We had that issue in Calgary with our then 3 year old. Except they were questioning us because we were traveling with just his birth certificate and a letter from the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco confirming all we needed was the birth certificate. Their issue was, without a photo, they had no idea if he was actually the child listed on the birth certificate. We never traveled again with our kids with out a Passport.

 

[dcassetta]

This made me laugh, as I have a beagle who is not interested in anything other than food.

I had a friend that worked for CBP as the liaison between their agency and the department of agriculture. He said beagles were chosen purposely, because they are non-threatening, and so many of them are food oriented.

 

[soniam]

I had an open box of cookies from a bakery in France. Flew from degaulle to Detroit. US customs laughed at me when I guiltily produced them to “declare” and said we don’t care about cookies lol. I was so relieved. I didn’t even think about the cookies until I was walking off the plane and for a moment I was actually scared. It can be a real crap shot with coming back into the country though. Some of those agents are insane. Once dh and I were coming back into the US with our kids and the agent decided to quiz our youngest on his middle name. He was paralyzed with fear. He was only 5 or 6 and I guess it’s funny but we just didn’t use his middle name with him much. I don’t even know if he knew it. He couldn’t answer. It was a weird situation. Lots more questions after that. Nightmare. Make sure your kids know their middle names.

We got detained in Vancouver at passport control for awhile after our Alaskan cruise. (US Customs and Border security does US passport control before you get on the plane to the US) and my daughter was 8 at the time and they were quizzing her like crazy. We were there for almost 45 minutes. I have no idea why. Finally they just let us go. It was super weird and she was really freaked out by the whole thing. "What did we do wrong? Am I in trouble?"

These are usually situations where they are looking for kidnapped/smuggled children. Not saying either of you looked like you were doing that, it was probably just random. German customs were bears with our son. They were mad that his passport photo didn't have glasses. We explained that US passport photos are not allowed to have glasses. Ours didn't have them either, but he didn't say anything. Then he said the child shouldn't go through customs with the glasses on. We said he could fall if he couldn't see. I don't mind being asked to remove my glasses for the customs agent, but this guy was in a mood.

 

[bakerworld]

Other reason maybe because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory.

She said she would've taken it if it wasn't purchased at PHL.

 

[mab2012]

I had a narrow miss last summer when we landed in Halifax with some leftover food we'd bought for breakfast that morning. I made a kind of vague declaration about the food we had, but didn't specifically mention the two slices of ham that nobody got around to eating. I knew I had it, but giving a complete itemized list seemed too complicated, and the tiny bit of ham didn't seem important enough to explicitly mention. A dog picked it up at baggage claim. My husband told them we'd mentioned it at immigration, which wasn't strictly true but also wasn't quite a lie. I don't think they believed him, but they just warned us of the fine for failure to declare, which IIRC was several thousand dollars, and of course took the ham.

On another occasion, years ago, we were driving across the border and when I declared my half-eaten sandwich from Subway (which also contained sandwich meat), the agent literally laughed at me. So apparently the importance of this varies depending on the day.