For people returning to the US from Canada - note on fruits and vegetables.
No root vegetables - onions, potatoes, green onions
No tomatoes, peppers
No apples, oranges, kiwi, grapefruit
When we cross into the US we hardly have anything with us. Our first stop is in Massena, NY at Hannafords and we load up there. Cheaper anyway.
My husband is Canadian, so we cross the border frequently. My MIL wasn't aware you couldn't bring apples over the border, so she had to toss hers and was NOT happy. On our next trip up, I had bought a large bag of grapes to snack on, and had sort of forgotten about them.
Well, we got about 10 minutes from the border and I remember we have this $8 bag of grapes...and I don't want to toss them, because I remember the apple incident. So I start stuffing grapes in my mouth like a chipmunk, trying to consume as many as I can before we get to the crossing.
We get to the booth, and the officer starts asking what we have to declare, and I pipe up with (through the mouthful of grapes, which I am now ready to barf all over) I have grapes sir...to which he replies "That's nice Ma'am, we have those in Canada too"! I wanted to throw them at him..or more likely my husband, who is ready to go into convulsions ;D
[quote author=Balisa1]... I have grapes sir...to which he replies "That's nice Ma'am, we have those in Canada too"! ;D
Snort laughing!
Between 2000-2003 I had apartments in both Trenton, ON and Watertown, NY. I would often travel between them with snacks. One such trip, after stopping off at the grocery store in ON I had 3 avocados that I bought a LOT cheaper than on the US side. At customs I said as much. She said, "I hope you're hungry, you're not bringing them in beside you." I pulled off to the side and asked, "Do you have any salt?" And proceeded to eat them all.
(Another time I declared, "I have a tankful of gas which cost way too much." to the US Customs agents - who laughed, loudly.)
[quote author=Steve A link=topic=1495.msg12110#msg12110 date=1333123216]
"I hope you're hungry, you're not bringing them in beside you." I pulled off to the side and asked, "Do you have any salt?" And proceeded to eat them all. Oh my gosh, I love avocados, I eat them straight from the peel with corn chips, but I don't know if I could eat three in one sitting! LOL. I still can't eat green seedless grapes to this day! My stomach just churns whenever I see them ;D
Crossing the border with fruits and vegetables is a crap shoot.
2 years ago we crossed from New Brunswick into Maine at Calais/St. Stephen. They cleaned us out, without any rhyme nor reason. We had 3 apples in the fridge - they took 2. Took the 2 kiwi, but left 3 oranges and the bag of grapes. Took the mushrooms but left the tomatoes. It was 4 PM so they must have been stocking up for supper.
Last summer crossing at Landsdown (Thousand Islands) everyone was being searched by department of Agriculture Inspectors, they didn't take or comment on anything, wished up a good trip and we were on our way. 2 weeks later, at the same border crossing, they (border guards) took everything - onions, green onions, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and some other minor things. I had checked the US border site the day before we left and none of this was listed as prohibited, so I asked the border guard howcome? He looked at me like a deer in the headlights and shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know what to tell you, we don't know what we are looking for until we report for shift and receive today's list of hot items." So, like I said in my post above, we don't cross with anything anymore.
[quote author=Retired Alex link=topic=1495.msg12114#msg12114 date=1333143618]
Crossing the border with fruits and vegetables is a crap shoot.
2 years ago we crossed from New Brunswick into Maine at Calais/St. Stephen. They cleaned us out, without any rhyme nor reason. We had 3 apples in the fridge - they took 2.
LOL, that's the crossing where the infamous apple and the gluttonous grape incidents took place! ;D
[quote author=MariskaHargitay link=topic=1495.msg12119#msg12119 date=1333206603]
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has had stupid things taken! about 12 years ago I was crossing the boarder while eating a Boston creme doughnut. They searched our car, and when I got it back, my doughnut was gone. I was really enjoying that too. >:(
We've been fortunate that in 12 years, we've never had our car tossed for contraband (knock wood, but we have been stopped once, and that turned into another funny family story LOL). My in-law's on the other hand, have been searched many times when trying to re-enter Canada. We figured out that it's because they are elderly well-to-do Canadians, and border services just assume they did some cross-border shopping LOL. As a matter of fact, they were just here a few weeks ago, and I told my MIL to make sure she bought a few items, so she would have something to pay duty on. Otherwise, they might get searched again! 😉
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