Delta Passenger Fined $500 for apple
 

Hard to feel sympathy as the dec. clearly asks if you are bring in any fruits / vegetables
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citize...laration-form\ Perhaps there needs to be a literacy test.

No sympathy whatsoever.

I’ve declared California oranges when crossing from Canada into the US and they’ve been confiscated.

I have noticed these forms are often handed out to pax mid flight or well before landing.

So it is possible that she is literate and filled the form in good faith and later was given the apple.


As a memory test and without checking what are the other items listed below a) on that link above.

Are apples handed out on aircraft different from normal apples? - cant say that I have ever noticed..

Somewhere tonight there's a US CBP official sleeping soundly in the knowledge that he single-handedly thwarted such an egregious act of Moral Turpitude....

Well, as SLF I've flown many times between NZ and the US. There always seem to be bins with large signs, in both directions, to dispose of fruit, etc. before getting to the gendarmes.

In the US recently, we seem to have spawned a fairly large cohort of folks who truly do NOT believe that 'rules' actually apply to THEM.

The repercussions and ramifications of said belief can be seen everywhere every day.

Had a CBP officer tell me to always check yes on that form, even if just a piece of candy, because those guys over there ( points to agriculture counter) love to fine people. If you check yes then it's declared and they can decide if it's forbidden or not.

I got pulled over with a corporate aircraft entering the US from Canada and was advised by Customs that I had two options with the contraband banana in the aircraft - eat it or surrender it to US Customs. So I ate it and disposed of the peel in the garbage can - which I assume stopped Banana blight or whatever horrifying disease it might carry, from entering the agricultural food supply in Alaska.

Thankfully there are some very practical people out there.

b) must trap a few.


Leather is an animal product so declare shoes, belts, wallets, gloves and bags. Wool and silk are also animal products.

In Australia and New Zealand we have had these rules for generations. They are always strictly enforced, so the travelling public of both nations is conditioned into always being especially careful.

watching the television show "Border Security", one might refute that statement...they catch people on that show all the time with banned substances

As BewareOfTheSharklets says, biosecurity rules are not trivial make-works for bureaucrats. In any region or country that depends on agricultural production, especially fruit, the introduction of a new pest can cost millions--perhaps billions--of dollars. And it's not just air travel: on the roads leading into Victoria in Australia, for tens of kilometres there are huge signs warning of the vegetation quarantine to keep out fruit fly, and the people at the border are serious about it. California is heavily dependent on its fruit and vege production. Perhaps they should publicise their biosecurity rules better, if they often have problems; the cute beagle puppies that ruthlessly find vegetable matter at Auckland Airport do double duty, by detecting and by being adorable about it. Fixes the rules in the mind of the traveler, in a pleasant way.

He didn't say that it was always effective, but it is strictly enforced.
Even state-to-state in Oz.

Isn't that enforcement at work, on TV?

I travelled into the US overland from Canada with a tour group of 12 people last autumn. Our Canadian tour leader was very experienced at taking people into the States. We all had picnic food with us. No problem provided it was 'processed'. Fruit is fine provided it is chopped up in a fruit salad. Tomatoes and meat - again no problem provided it has been sliced into a sandwich etc. Strange that the act of cutting something up makes it safe - but the border authorities were told about all our food and were perfectly happy. Shoes and wallets were never mentioned but they are certainly animal products.

It still took us over 2 hours because our tour leader had made sure we had applied for our ESTA and I94 forms in advance The latter form is normally completed at the border if arriving by air or sea but had just been introduced for advance completion online if arriving overland. Both forms ask where you are staying in the US. Two people had entered addresses which did not match on the two forms. They had a comma on one line of the address on one form which was missing on the other! The computer systems spotted the incompatibility and would not permit entry or editing of the forms. The entire staff of the border point got involved! After 2 hours the problem was resolved by deleting the ESTA and re-entering it to match the I94. Doesn't say much for pre release testing of the software.

I've been an infrequent visitor to the US over the years. I would always avoid a long distance route with a transfer in the US because my experience has invariably been one of difficulties at the border - even before 9/11.

I can remember the times in the 80s when one could just walk or driver over the border and nobody gave a hoot.

A plant I need to visit on business occasionally is about a 90 min drive from YUL, whereas the closest US airport is more like 2.5 hours and doesn't have direct flights from Europe. So flying itnto YUL is a no-brainer, one should think.

The first time I did this, the Canadian customs folks at the airport wouldn't believe I'd fly into Canada to do business in the US, and it took all three US folks at the border post about an hour to process me. I have to admit the land border has gotten a lot better since ESTA. The Canadians still ask a lot more questions than their US counterparts.

Ridiculous
 

They could have easily just told her to throw it away. Its not like she is importing apples of mass destruction. CBP are some of the biggest Aholes on the planet. I had a moron try to fine me 25,000 USD for a STICKER that wasn't on the plane. I had to get his superior involved to point out via email we had a conversation that we would be getting the sticker AFTER we arrived into the great land of the free(absolute BS)

Give some people power and it goes to their heads. The states is a hypocrisy at its finest.

Or, let someone think that they can get away with bringing in restricted goods by not declaring it and they will surely try.
And then what, just let them off scot-free?

In Oz, if Customs think that you've made a genuine mistake then they may generously just issue a written and recorded warning, first time anyway.

Trouble is, more often than not, it is not a genuine mistake. It is an attempt to deceive. A fair portion of the goods sold in Asian (and other exotic) groceries has entered the country in suitcases.

So, sorry. No sympathy.