US customs question. How do you declare allowable food products.

[shuconn]

I plan on purchasing prepackaged food such as candy and snacks to bring back to US from Canada. I believe I have to declare it and show it to customs for final approval. Has anyone ever done this? Is it time consuming?

[Charles4515]

13 minutes ago, shuconn said:

I plan on purchasing prepackaged food such as candy and snacks to bring back to US from Canada. I believe I have to declare it and show it to customs for final approval. Has anyone ever done this? Is it time consuming?

On the customs form say yes to the question if you are bringing back food. They might ask you what you are bringing back. They might want to look at it. They might not. What you don’t want is to be inspected and they find something prohibited and you declared no. If it turns out to be prohibited and you declared yes you will be okay, confiscate the item is all because you are not expected to be an expert. It can be complicated. For example I bought spices in Turkey but since they were vacuum packed they passed them through. If you don’t declare you could be fined if it is a prohibited item. 

[Gigi1977]

I just write candy/prepackaged food.  They are not interested in it.   I’m in US though - not Canada.   
 

Just be sure to declare it on your form - paper or digital.

[Charles4515]

17 minutes ago, Gigi1977 said:

I just write candy/prepackaged food.  They are not interested in it.   I’m in US though - not Canada.   
 

Just be sure to declare it on your form - paper or digital.

Declaring on the form is the key. They probably won't be interested in looking at itvif it is prepackaged. 

[Torquer]

Are these forms still used when entering the US?  I know the paper forms have not been used for several years, then it was digital screens, and now nothing that I can remember.  We have flown back to NYC from foreign cruises 3 times since 2023 and we did not fill out any forms and the customs people did not ask us what we were bringing back to the US.  As you left baggage claim you could go through either of two lines depending on if you had anything to declare.  They did randomly ask a few people questions who went through the nothing to declare line.  Perhaps things are different if you arrive directly to the US via a cruise ship.  Or perhaps it is different for non-US citizens coming into the US (legally).

[kochleffel]

Some cruise terminals in the US don't require forms, in particular where there are facial recognition systems. At these, there will be a customs officer standing next to the machine. Say "I have some food that I may need declare." The customs officer will usually ask what it is, and then either wave you through or direct you to agricultural inspection.

[atexsix]

I used to get so confused on this question, since government anything is always written as vague as possible.  On one cruise we discarded everything before we left the ship, even gum, didn't want to chance it. 

[jlawrence01]

When I lives in Detroit, I would go to Windsor, ON every week to shop.  I would bring pack fresh meats, fruits and vegetables.  The critical thing is to be honest and declare ALL foods you are bringing back.  Occasionally, they will confiscate something you brought back.  Generally, there is no fine if you declare it.

 

One warning.  The US and Canada are pretty easy to deal with.  Australia is extremely aggressive and will fine you as much as A$400 for bringing in an apple you were served on Qantas.

[shuconn]

Thanks for the advice. I have watched the Australian you tube videos about customs and learned about importance of declaring all food. I was unsure if you had to go through a different customs queue as you exit cruise port.  I want to bring fun snacks for family from Canada that they don't have in US

[Djb4CC]

9 minutes ago, shuconn said:

 I want to bring fun snacks for family from Canada that they don't have in US

One thing I know has caused issue with US Customs (not related to cruising tho) was the chocolate Kinder Eggs.  Apparently, it is not the chocolate but the toy inside (and more specifically, the plastic container the toy is in).

 

I grew up with them and was travelling with a friend who had them confiscated from his carryon.  Later research showed it was a fairly regular occurrence.

[albingirl]

My best friend is from the Phillippines, and when she comes back here, she brings dried fish in her suitcase.  The dogs at the airport cause a commotion every single time, but it ends up being no big deal.  Makes me laugh though.  Every single time.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, shuconn said:

Thanks for the advice. I have watched the Australian you tube videos about customs and learned about importance of declaring all food. I was unsure if you had to go through a different customs queue as you exit cruise port.  I want to bring fun snacks for family from Canada that they don't have in US

Australia will have dogs sniffing out food...even something like a banana taken from the airplane food. Us and another (unrelated) couple attracted the attention of a dog our last flight into Australia, and were briefly held until the dog focused on the other couple. The people still didn't get it until the officer directed them to start opening pockets of their carry ons. We were not the problem, but initially the officer didn't know who the dog was focused on.

[highscar]

Officer opened the freezer in our RV and immediately she said oh you can’t take that. what?  A beef roast. Whoa. It was a pumpernickel loaf of bread.  We all laughed about that.  

[Wehwalt]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Australia will have dogs sniffing out food...even something like a banana taken from the airplane food. Us and another (unrelated) couple attracted the attention of a dog our last flight into Australia, and were briefly held until the dog focused on the other couple. The people still didn't get it until the officer directed them to start opening pockets of their carry ons. We were not the problem, but initially the officer didn't know who the dog was focused on.

I brought roasted and salted pistachios on a cruise that terminated in Australia, and had about half a pound left over. Knowing the country's reputation, I was very proactive in declaring it and had it ready to show. They waved me by.

 

As for the US, they mostly don't care. I bring cheese in. I just tell them that. They've never asked to look at it. I think meat products are an issue. The Washington post had an article a few years back about all the crazy stuff they've confiscated out at Dulles.

Edited Friday at 08:05 PM by Wehwalt

[jlawrence01]

If you take the ferry from Washington State to BC, they are very particular about apples and soft fruit and do ask about it.

 

The key part is being honest and straightforward as customs has heard every lie in the book.

[kochleffel]

2 hours ago, jlawrence01 said:

If you take the ferry from Washington State to BC, they are very particular about apples and soft fruit and do ask about it.

 

Once I drove with a friend from Oregon to Port Angeles to get the ferry to Vancouver Island. The friend wasn't quite vegetarian, but at every stop she bought fruit. By the time we reached B.C. she had eaten all of it except one Yakima peach that had gotten lost in the car. I declared it and the agent asked us to find it. Friend was furious.

[kochleffel]

3 hours ago, Wehwalt said:

I bring cheese in. I just tell them that. They've never asked to look at it

 

Do you remember the episode of I Love Lucy in which the Ricardos and Mertzes are flying back from Europe, Lucy and Ethel want to smuggle in a large cheese, so Lucy holds it in a blanket and insists that it's a baby?

 

[Wehwalt]

1 hour ago, kochleffel said:

 

Do you remember the episode of I Love Lucy in which the Ricardos and Mertzes are flying back from Europe, Lucy and Ethel want to smuggle in a large cheese, so Lucy holds it in a blanket and insists that it's a baby?

 

Yes, now that you mention it. I have an insulated bag that was a giveaway at a hockey game almost thirty years ago that has done the trick so far.

[sandiego1]

On our 1st trip to New Zealand, we brought sandwiches, snacks, and fruit on the plane in a small insulated bag. We ate everything expect some chocolates.

 

My DH was waiting for the bags to arrive. I was standing nearby with the nearly empty insulated bag on top of a luggage cart. A dog and its handler came right up to me. I was stunned when the handler asked me if I had any fruit or meat. I looked at her, pointed to my stomach and said “I ate it.” Then I realized the dog had smelled the bag, not my digestive tract 🤣 

 

I opened the little bag and showed her the chocolates. We had a laugh together. 
 

I was amazed at how far away the dog was when it smelled the odor left in my bag from food we had eaten hours earlier.

[Rubyfisch]

In both Boston (in 2019) and Baltimore (2022 and 2023), when I've gotten off a ship I wasn't ask anything about declarations one way or another. I'm not even sure where you would declare something if you needed to pay a duty (which has never come up for me). They just looked at my passport and waved me through. I normally use the Mobile Passport App at airports, and it's wording is much narrower - it's not all food, it's fruit, meat, etc.

[erewhon]

2 hours ago, sandiego1 said:

On our 1st trip to New Zealand, we brought sandwiches, snacks, and fruit on the plane in a small insulated bag. We ate everything expect some chocolates.

 

My DH was waiting for the bags to arrive. I was standing nearby with the nearly empty insulated bag on top of a luggage cart. A dog and its handler came right up to me. I was stunned when the handler asked me if I had any fruit or meat. I looked at her, pointed to my stomach and said “I ate it.” Then I realized the dog had smelled the bag, not my digestive tract 🤣 

 

I opened the little bag and showed her the chocolates. We had a laugh together. 
 

I was amazed at how far away the dog was when it smelled the odor left in my bag from food we had eaten hours earlier.

 

Several years ago, returning home to Christchurch (NZ) from Melbourne (Aus) , while waiting for our bags to arrive, the detector dog came over to me and sat down, I knew I had no food in my bag, but 2 days prior had had a banana in the bag, the handler said that the dogs can track the residual fruit smell.  Those dogs are very clever!

 

[ExArkie]

4 hours ago, erewhon said:

 

Several years ago, returning home to Christchurch (NZ) from Melbourne (Aus) , while waiting for our bags to arrive, the detector dog came over to me and sat down, I knew I had no food in my bag, but 2 days prior had had a banana in the bag, the handler said that the dogs can track the residual fruit smell.  Those dogs are very clever!

 

My wife had placed an orange in her jacket pocket on leaving our hotel to go to the airport. She ate it on the way, discarding the rind in a bin at the airport. Arriving at US baggage claim nine hours (or more) later, the Customs dog expressed an intense interest in her now-empty jacket pocket. The handler said it happens frequently.

[OBX-Cruisers]

Declare anything you aren't sure of.  I still can't forget the time we went from Maine to Campobello Island............we didn't even know it was a Canadian island until we got there and customs asks questions at entry.  Of all things, we were camping and had some oranges............forbidden for entry into Canada and they were confiscated.

   WHO knew that oranges were contraband into Canada?

Edited 8 hours ago by OBX-Cruisers
spelling

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, OBX-Cruisers said:

Declare anything you aren't sure of.  I still can't forget the time we went from Maine to Campobello Island............we didn't even know it was a Canadian island until we got there and customs asks questions at entry.  Of all things, we were camping and had some oranges............forbidden for entry into Canada and they were confiscated.

   WHO knew that oranges were contraband into Canada?

Oranges and other fruits are contraband almost everywhere. 

[CruiserBruce]

34 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Oranges and other fruits are contraband almost everywhere. 

At least uninspected ones are.