customs

[tammij]

I searched for customs om the board but didn't find much so please humor me or redirect me if this has been asked before.

What can I bring back through customs? I've researched it and the answers are so general I'm having a hard time putting it in perspective.

I did find the foie gras and pate answer - it is a definite maybe depending on any swine/avian disease outbreaks in France at the time. Pate can contain even a small portion of pork so they error on the side of caution. Darn - I so want to bring foie gras back!

I do want to bring back absinthe (for a friend) and wine. Is it better to bring it back or ship it?

Is there anything else we should know about customs too?

Thanks - as always!

Tammi

[Jody]

I swear it sometimes depends on the agent you get. I had 8 cans of fois gras entier confiscated last year, but 6 months earlier they let it through. I've given up on bringing it back and just order here in the US from D'Artagnan.

I think it's either Becky or Annette that is the wine expert. I've brought back various liqueur's but not wine .

[geordy]

I've never had a problem bringing back pate in a jar or can..of course I never declare it. If i was pulled over and they asked I would say, truthfully and correctly, that it is tinned, so I thought it was okay.

I would not try to bring back something that was "fresh" like just wrapped from a charcuterie in paper, foil, bubble.

Otherwise it all depends on where you are coming in, the other flights at the time, and how much luggage you have. I travel light so rarely am checked even though I am generally a "One"..a red flag.

Trip before last the other flight picking up luggage was from Cairo..guess who got the most attention!

[Penny]

Everything you need to know, well not really(especially absinthe)

Check out these two sites.

www.howstuffworks.com/us-customs-service.htm/printable

www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/travel/

[greyghost1]

Hi and welcome to Our Paris.
Don't forget that you can't bring liquids back in your carry-on to the US unless they fit in a 1 qt baggie and are less than 3 oz. each.
I have mailed back to myself tinned meat etc and so far - fingers crossed here- have not had the package opened at US PO customs or where ever it comes into our postal system. But then I don't label it either.
I think it is sistereurope that packs wine into her checked luggage or maybe it is Annette. They pack it in a lot of packing stuff from my recollection.
You can have cheese vacu-packed when you purchase it and I have never had that confiscated. And of course you can bring back bread/candies/seasonings/suasage/etc. Raw meat is not allowed. I know raw unprocessed cheese isn't allowed but I have yet to encounter an ag customs officer that can tell the difference! So they always allow it. And you can bring back coffee too.
Have a good trip.

[holger]

I brought 3 tins of foie gras pate back from Sarlat last year. They were in my checked luggage and there were no problems.

Since the ban on liquids, have not tried to bring any back although I did the year before the ban went in to place.

Have brought chocolates and marzipan back as well without difficulty.

[annette]

I am hardly a wine expert! But Sis knows all about packing "olive oil" to bring back home--
www.ourparisforum.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=offtopic&thread=1474&page=1

[sistereurope]

OK, I must clarify here...I would NEVER encourage anyone to break any customs laws by bringing home too much "olive oil"...BUT, if you must, follow the packing tips in the thread Annette posted.
Yes, I know that we take many risks and that one of these days the party will be over and we'll pay for our life of crime, but in the meantime, I plan to take an extra suitcase on this trip...that chateauneuf de pape and beaumes de venise were SO worth it! ;D

[chicchantal]

Re liquid restrictions, can you not buy what you like in the duty free shop (within your dutyfree allowance, natch) and carry it on with you? You can when you travel back to the UK.

[greyghost1]

CC: You can but if you have to change planes once in the US you must either put it into the checked luggage or somehow transfer it into 3 oz bottles that fit within a 1 qt baggie.

[luvparis]

I brought back four bottles of wine to the US. I think the limit is 2 bottles per adult. I had wine carriers, the rubbery ones that hold 2 bottles each. Anyway I put them in that and then in a jumbo zip lock bag incase they broke. I just put them in between my clothes and they were just fine.

[sistereurope]

Hmmm, the limit is two bottles per adult...I'm thinking that if we get searched, we could say that we're traveling with a US baseball team and lost them on the way to the airport. What do you think?! ;D

[Sarastro]

I think the limit is 2 bottles per adult

There is no defined limit by US Customs as to the amount of still wine an individual may bring into the US.

From the February 2008, Classification and Entry Requirements of Alcoholic Beverages and Spirits, published by the US Department of Homeland Security:

Importations of alcoholic beverages for personal use do not require an Importer’s Basic Permit, Certificate of Label Approval, or a Certificate of Origin. It is noted that all duties and taxes must be paid. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and Customs and Border Protection both have jurisdiction in deciding whether a shipment is for personal use. There is no set quantity amount that determines if a shipment is for personal use. Shipments are evaluated on a case by case basis.

US Customs officials will enforce the liquor laws of the state through which you enter into the US. Furthermore, you may be technically subject to the liquor laws of: (1) any state through which you make connections en route to your home state while carrying said wine, and/or (2) the state of your residency if different than the state through which you cleared customs.

In addition to the Federal requirements, importers must be in compliance with the state laws into which the alcoholic beverage is being imported.

Many states are much more generous than a 2 bottle limit on wine though I earnestly challenge the sanity of anyone who packs his luggage full of wine just so he can impress his dinner guests with proof positive of his recent visit to France and offers the very bottles over which he developed a intimate relationship with a French vignoble all as a testament to a tourist's oenological acumen.

[sistereurope]

Many states are much more generous than a 2 bottle limit on wine though I earnestly challenge the sanity of anyone who packs his luggage full of wine just so he can impress his dinner guests with proof positive of his recent visit to France and offers the very bottles over which he developed a intimate relationship with a French vignoble all as a testament to his oenological acumen.

Yes, me too Sarastro...my husband and I pack OUR luggage full of wine so that we can drink it all by ourselves...

[Katharine]

We brought in two bottles of absinthe and two bottles of wine with no problem. Checked, of course. ;D

[luvparis]

Ohh I wish I knew that! Although I already had the "Heavy" labels on my bags. LOL