Tourists get border surprise on trip home from Vancouver

The National Post ^ | July 18 2012 | Canadian Press

[xp38]

VANCOUVER — Chris Sweeney and his husband were driving home to Seattle after a recent trip to Vancouver when they were stopped at the border for more than two hours and threatened with thousands of dollars in fines for dangerous contraband in the trunk of their car.

Their suspicious cargo? Half a dozen Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs, each filled with a tiny plastic toy — a childhood favourite in Canada but an illegal choking hazard in the United States.

“I thought (the American border guard) had done his search and hadn’t found anything, and he was joking with us,” Sweeney, 35, told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday.

“He wasn’t joking.”

The popular German chocolate eggs are not sold in the U.S. because they are considered a choking hazard. They are also banned because the treats are considered adulterated food by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Sweeney said a border guard told him and his husband that they could be fined $2,500 per egg, and then ordered them to head to the port of entry, where they waited for more than two hours.

[af_vet_rr]

Not in this case. They are illegal in the US for the very reason mentioned. Dumping the packaging is the best move.

They are illegal because we are living in a nanny state. My house is full of "choking hazards".

When this country falls to socialism/marxism/whatever, it's not going to be because somebody in the White House said so, it's going to be at the hands of a thousand stupid little pieces of legislation and bureaucracy.

[Not A Snowbird]

I know they’re illegal in the US. I was referring to the sob story they’re weaving about how long they were at the port.

[Not A Snowbird]

Seattle.....is gay marriage legal in Washington state?

Not yet.

[PLMerite]

“Him and his husband?”

Yeah, so the guy says, “I got yer choking hazard, right...here.”

[BfloGuy]

Don’t believe everything you read. There’s always more to the story.

From the article:

Mike Milne with U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the movement of Kinder eggs across the border into the United States has been “an ongoing problem for years,” particularly during the Easter holidays.

Milne said officers do not usually fine travellers for carrying the chocolates, but they do normally confiscate them. Roughly 60,000 Kinder eggs were seized last year.

“Kinder eggs are prohibited just like narcotics are prohibited,” he said. “Our officers, if they encounter prohibited stuff, they’re subject to seizure.”

Seems fairly well reported to me. Why do you think there's more?

[Not A Snowbird]

Mr. Milne’s statements are accurate.

The travelers’ statements... not so much.

[Vendome]

I know! I get that same response from anyone who loves chocolate. LOL