When Vincent Vega returned from Amsterdam to the United States, he probably didn't have to declare at customs either a Quarter Pounder or a ‘le Big Mac.’ However, more than three decades have passed since ‘Pulp Fiction’ hit the screens, and the rules for carrying luggage have changed a lot since then.
For example, the heroine of our story today, the TikToker @discoverwithdina, recently returning to the United States from Amsterdam as well, completely forgot that she had an apple in her suitcase, which crossed the ocean with her, and this almost caused her serious problems with the TSA. However, let's take things in order here.
More info: TikTok
The author of the video recently returned home from Europe, and she faced an unexpected problem at the airport
Image credits: discoverwithdina
The Customs & Border Control officer came up to her and told her that the K9 had smelled food in her luggage
In the description of her video, the original poster (OP) says that she was standing at the baggage claim at the airport and waiting for her suitcase when an officer approached her and told her that the K9 had smelled food in her luggage. At the same time, the author's declaration, which she had filled out at customs, didn’t mention any food products.
Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
It turned out that the author had simply forgotten to declare an apple bought somewhere in Amsterdam
It turned out that our heroine had just forgotten about the apple that she had bought in Amsterdam, and which traveled halfway around the world with her - only to cause problems on American land. Serious problems, by the way - according to the Customs & Border Control officer, failure to provide information about the import of food could’ve cost her a $300 fine.
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
To top it all off, the traveler could’ve received a $500 fine for actually having that hapless apple. Fortunately, given the fact that this violation was the first in the original poster's history of flights, and that she sincerely forgot to declare the apple, this time she got off with just a warning and nothing more.
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The traveler actually dodged a bullet here - since it was her first violation, she got a warning only
So the author reminded her followers once again that you should always declare: purchases over $800; cash, including travelers checks over $10K; and of course, all food, plants, and animal products. The full version of the restricted/prohibited list can be viewed on the CBP official website. However, the OP assures that just in case, it’s better to declare anyway to avoid any fines and confiscation...
You can watch the original video here
Yes, according to the rules, the author really should’ve declared the apple in her luggage, because, as the CBP website claims, "you must declare any fruits, vegetables, plants, insects, meats or meat products, dairy products, animals or animals/wildlife products, disease agents, cell cultures, snails, or soil." The thing is, fresh fruits and vegetables from other countries may contain pests and diseases, so it’s better to be vigilant.
Global Rescue also confirms that even if you simply forgot to declare fruits or vegetables at customs, this will entail a fine. And the items that caused this situation will, of course, be confiscated. By the way, this also applies to the goods purchased in duty-free shops, since some travelers believe that they don’t need to be declared. In fact, this is not true.
By the way, many travelers and tourists in the comments claimed that almost the same thing had happened to them. Someone, returning home from Hong Kong, forgot a banana in their suitcase, and another one even had a whole watermelon from Costa Rica. However, there are also reverse cases. Like one responder admitted that in order to avoid problems, they declared lamb jerky - and this only caused laughter from the customs officer.
In any case, it won’t be superfluous to be reminded about the need to declare any food - simply to avoid any further issues. If you overdid it - well, at least you'll have a funny story to tell your fam and friends later. By the way, if you have a similar tale too, then why not share it in the comments under this post of ours?
Many people in the comments apparently had similar cases, so they shared their experiences eagerly
