Beef jerky thru customs....a problem?

[DougH]

Was talking to a friend and had casually mentioned that I had just bought some beef jerky to snack on the plane and pre cruise and she said I might have a problem at customs? Is she right, can I bring this thru customs at Heathrow and aboard the ship? Any difference if the bag is still vacuum sealed or opened? Not a big loss if they confiscated it but would hate to be fined.

[coxswain]

There are special rules on bringing in meat, most food products and plants into the UK. These rules are essential to reduce the risk of animal and plant diseases and to protect the environment.

 

Meat, milk and other animal products (such as fish, eggs and honey) from outside the EU are banned completely from entering the UK. The only exceptions to this are:

 

powdered infant milk, infant food and special foods required for medical reasons which do not need to be refrigerated and are proprietary branded products, with packaging intact unless in current use.

 

meat, meat products, milk or milk products for your own consumption from Andorra, Norway, San Marino, the Canary Islands and the Channel Islands

meat, meat products, milk or milk products for your own consumption from Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, with a combined total weight of not more than 5kg and from some other countries you are allowed to bring in up to 1kg of food not containing meat or milk derivatives eg fish, eggs and honey. For advice call the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), 08459 335577 or visit http://www.defra.gov.uk.

 

 

 

 

jj......

[davejohn]

When we arrived at Heathrow in May, after clearing immigration and picking up our luggage, there where 2 exits to the terminal. One for those with items to declare and one for nothing to declare. We had nothing to declare and just walked out into the terminal and outside. No guards, no turnstiles, no nothing. I was surprised.

[Wilbo]

They do have dogs looking for meat and restricted items. No worth the worry trying to get meat into the country.

[Globaliser]

When we arrived at Heathrow in May, after clearing immigration and picking up our luggage, there where 2 exits to the terminal. One for those with items to declare and one for nothing to declare. We had nothing to declare and just walked out into the terminal and outside. No guards, no turnstiles, no nothing. I was surprised.

Most of the work of UK Customs is done behind the scenes, or before or after the formal customs checkpoing. A small part of the work is the random deterrent of never knowing whether you will encounter Customs officers as you leave, or whether you will be selected for questioning and searching. So game the system at your own risk!

[DougH]

OK you've convinced me. I really hadn't even though about it until the friend mentioned it, figured that since it was already processd and sealed that it wouldn't be a problem. Guess that's not the case.