Is coffee considered food on declaration card?

[Mrs. Wilburforce]

It's now t-eight days and counting.

A few years ago I brought some Cadbury Crunch bars back from the U.K. and checked the box on the declaration form that I was bringing food into the United States. Long story short, I ended up in the agricultural inspection line for an hour at O'Hare airport along with about 30 other poor sods that declared their candy bars.

My husband said I was crazy for declaring a few....okay, a whole bunch of candy bars, but I'm scrupulously honest when it comes to this sort of thing. I have no desire to tussle with immigration officials.

So, for those of you who bring coffee back, do you declare? Considering that coffee really is an agricultural product it's only logical that I'll end up in that line and my travel mates will really love me for that...not!

I'm trying to rationalize this by placing coffee in a non-food category :o

[Pam in CA]

It's agricultural, no way around it. And, if you don't declare it and it's found, you could be in deep doo-doo. However, if it's packaged and sealed, you should be OK. I've seen people taken away for having food in their carry-on or luggage. I don't know what happened to them but the men in uniform didn't look too happy, nor did the people being taken away.

[Mrs. Wilburforce]

Thanks Pam. Good information. So as long as I'm not carrying loose coffee beans in a cloth sack tied with a piece of string, I don't have to declare? They just have to be packaged in the traditional Maxwell House or Starbucks packaging? Just want to be sure.

[2little time]

It's now t-eight days and counting.

A few years ago I brought some Cadbury Crunch bars back from the U.K. and checked the box on the declaration form that I was bringing food into the United States. Long story short, I ended up in the agricultural inspection line for an hour at O'Hare airport along with about 30 other poor sods that declared their candy bars.

My husband said I was crazy for declaring a few....okay, a whole bunch of candy bars, but I'm scrupulously honest when it comes to this sort of thing. I have no desire to tussle with immigration officials.

So, for those of you who bring coffee back, do you declare? Considering that coffee really is an agricultural product it's only logical that I'll end up in that line and my travel mates will really love me for that...not!

I'm trying to rationalize this by placing coffee in a non-food category :o

Oh no! Don't do that. Continue to be honest and declare it.

[Mrs. Wilburforce]

Oh no! Don't do that. Continue to be honest and declare it.

 

It isn't worth the risk. I'm a rule-follower and not checking that box will probably keep me up all night, so I'll err on the side of caution and declare.

I just won't tell my travel mates what we're in for ;)

[jerwick]

When bringing chocolate(from the pillow on princess), coffee or any other type of edible items I always have checked yes. Agent looks and asks what it is that I have. Perhaps lucky, they just pass me on. Knowing full well no fruits or meats.

[argenta01]

When I went to the Panama Canal I bought coffee in every country we visited. I had it all packed in my checked luggage and declared no to food on the customs form. I consider agricultural products to be live plants or flowers, something that could bring insects or disease into the country. I don't think factory packed items pose any threat. :)

[TravlGrl]

When I went to the Panama Canal I bought coffee in every country we visited. I had it all packed in my checked luggage and declared no to food on the customs form. I consider agricultural products to be live plants or flowers, something that could bring insects or disease into the country. I don't think factory packed items pose any threat. :)

 

Funny, I follow that same line of thinking. When I itemize my items I include coffee on the list, but I check that box that says NO when asked if I have food items.

[Nomsayin]

DW was once questioned in the baggage claim area at LAX when a sniffer dog started smelling her carry on bag. Turned out it was trained to smell apples, of all things, and had detected traces of one she'd previously had in the bag. Fortunately, it was not a problem, but just goes to show how serious the USDA is about agricultural products coming in.

[WpgCruise]

My DW tells me that drug mules will often hide cocaine in coffee as the coffee covers up the smell of the drug. (I don't know how she knows this stuff and am afraid to ask) Hence the dogs are trained to react to the scent of the coffee. I always make sure when we bring coffee back that it's packed in my wifes suitcase.

[ziggy666]

Roasted Coffee is on the "approved products" list posted on the CBP website:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/clearing/agri_prod_inus.xml

 

I often buy coffee to bring home while traveling. I answer "no" to the food question, but I list it, along with other items purchased, on the other side of the customs form.

[cherylandtk]

Well...some of you may not like this answer, but the correct process is to declare any and all foodstuffs, be it coffee, candy, tea or any other product you put in your mouth and swallow. The correct place to declare it is line 11, by checking yes. The reverse of the declaration form is a valuation/description page, not a yes/no declaration, and while I sincerely doubt anyone will give you a hard time if you continue to list food in one place and fail to check the yes box, they could. You can rationalize what is and is not a food all you want, but the regulations are pretty clear already. The link above gives a very good summary of how to fill in the form correctly.

[MSN-Travelers]

. . . .

 

I have no desire to tussle with immigration officials.

 

So, for those of you who bring coffee back, do you declare? Considering that coffee really is an agricultural product it's only logical that I'll end up in that line and my travel mates will really love me for that...not!

 

I'm trying to rationalize this by placing coffee in a non-food category :o

 

Processed, packaged "food" items do not fall into the same "food" category that they are looking for. They don't want raw fruits, vegetables, meats and the like being brought in.

 

It's the same rules that apply when you arrive in a port. Snack bars and bottled water is ok, an apple and a sandwich from the buffett is not.

 

Remember that the bottle of adult beverage you have in your luggage is the same class of "food" as your packaged coffee. It is still an item purchased and must be declared in the area.

 

Enjoy!!

[cherylandtk]

The processing or pre-packaging of a food does not necessarily make it OK to bring in. PLEASE declare all foods and let the CBP officials do their job of sorting it into acceptable and not acceptable categories.

[itzmered]

When I went to the Panama Canal I bought coffee in every country we visited. I had it all packed in my checked luggage and declared no to food on the customs form. I consider agricultural products to be live plants or flowers, something that could bring insects or disease into the country. I don't think factory packed items pose any threat. :)

 

 

I did the same thing on our Panama Canal cruise although I had it in my carry on and I wasnt trying to be dishonest I just never thought of it that way. The customs official even looked through my bag and he commented on the good choices of coffee I brought back. So it must have been fine. Now we did have a had time getting through the FLL airport security with it. They must have wiped the bags down with their little testing pads about 10 times each and ran them through the scanner several times :rolleyes:

[jdvmd]

When I went to the Panama Canal I bought coffee in every country we visited. I had it all packed in my checked luggage and declared no to food on the customs form. I consider agricultural products to be live plants or flowers, something that could bring insects or disease into the country. I don't think factory packed items pose any threat. :)

This is exactly correct.

[Vanilla]

In June brought coffee home from Jamaica. Declared it on the form no one said anything.

[Astro Flyer]

Here's what the posted like said was allowed...

 

General List of Approved Products

Aloe Vera (above ground parts)

Bat nut or devil pod (Trapa bicornis)

Breads, cakes, cookies, and other bakery goods

Candies

Cannonball fruit

Chinese water chestnut

Coffee (roasted beans only)

Fish

* Flower bulbs

Fruits, canned

Garlic cloves (peeled)

Lily bulbs (Lilium spp.) for planting

Maguey leaf

Matsutake

Mushrooms

Nuts (roasted only)

Palm hearts (peeled)

Sauces, canned or processed

Seaweed

* Seeds for planting or consumption

Shamrocks leaves without roots or soil

St. John's Bread

Singhara nut (Trapa bispinosa)

Tamarind bean pod

Truffles

Vegetables, canned or processed

Water chestnut (Trapa natans)

[Loonbeam]

By law, you have to declare it. Being on the 'approved' list does not exempt from declaration.

 

It's like so many other things on here, its a risk/reward scenario. If you declare it, you may be delayed for an ag check for a short time but will get the product through. If you don't declare it and you get someone who is strict, the product may be taken and you may be fined, but if you get a routine check you may sail through.

 

I've had decent success by checking the box and writing 'roasted vacuum packed coffee.' The first agent looked at it, said, is the coffee the only thing, I said yes, no ag check.

[tiggerrr]

Roasted Coffee is on the "approved products" list posted on the CBP website:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/clearing/agri_prod_inus.xml

 

I often buy coffee to bring home while traveling. I answer "no" to the food question, but I list it, along with other items purchased, on the other side of the customs form.

 

A quote from that link:

 

"Even though an item may be listed as “permitted” from a particular country, it is always best to DECLARE the item by checking “Yes” on Question 11 of the CBP Declaration Form 6059B."

 

So "permitted" still means "declare."

[monkeybench]

Coffee is an agricultural item. From USDA, "It's regulated to prevent the entry of the Mediterranean fruit fly, coffee berry borers, and Hemilela vastatrix

which is an injurious rust disease of coffee." You can see the admissibility requirements on page 3-43 here for guidance. Declaring your food items is safest. If you declare an inadmissible item, it's seized and you'll be sent on your way. If you don't declare an inadmissible item, it's seized and you'll be fined.

[caribill]

I've had decent success by checking the box and writing 'roasted vacuum packed coffee.' The first agent looked at it, said, is the coffee the only thing, I said yes, no ag check.

 

Exactly. Besides checking the box, I always write the types of food on that line (candy, coffree, or whatever). 98% of the time that satisifes the agent looking at the card. 2% of the time I get sent to the ag inspection line.

[Mrs. Wilburforce]

I went looking for my thread so I could thank everyone for responding. I will be checking both boxes just to be safe.

I was under the covers with a wicked migraine yesterday :( Hate those things!

I do wonder if roasted beans move out of agriculture and into food??