616143 Thu Apr 30 09:40:45 -0700 2009 15 58 Italy 0 4642347 What's up CHOWHOUNDers? I'm new here, but with all you foodnuts just cold trolling this site, I think I feel right at home. So, I am an exchange student in Italy for the semester (and possibly for the summer, if I end up finding work on an organic farm or vineyard. Jealous, are you?) and I'm planning a trip to Parma and Modena this weekend. I want to bring back some fancy balsamic and maybe a nice fat wedge of Parm. My question is, aren't there all these laws on what you can/cant bring back to the United States? Will I be able to stuff my suitcase with blocks of hard cheeses and get by? Or will cruel airport security wrest them from this passionate, young cheeseholic? The real pity is that I am going to still be underage when I come back to the U.S. (that is, I will be 20 years old and 11.5 months. No. Joke.) Is airport security going to snatch my wine bottles from me if I bring some back from Italy and put it in my check-in baggage? THANKS MUCH 4 UR SAGE ADVICEZ! Thu Apr 30 09:40:45 -0700 2009 286257 jamminlikebob 1 4642368 Can you stay a little longer until you turned 21? LOL. Sorry can't help on that question. Regarding cheese. It is not an issue as long as it is vaccum packed. Most supermarkets in Italy sells them packed this way. US Customs in my experience generally just waves you through when you say you have cheese in the suitcase. Thu Apr 30 09:46:51 -0700 2009 4642347 276975 ms. chow 1 4642378 You can bring back balsamic vinegar in your checked luggage as well as shrink-wrapped Parmesan cheese, but I doubt the wisdom of buying Parmesan this weekend to bring back at the end of the semester or the summer. Every city in Italy has at least one excellent cheese shop where you can buy Parmesan just before your trip home. Frankly, I don't know what the rules are for importing wine, but I doubt that US Customs would be much fussed by a few months. Thu Apr 30 09:49:39 -0700 2009 4642347 120888 zerlina 1 4642403 Have you check the official US customs site? When you're asking legal questions, you should start at the source. And of course, we would never advise you to do anything illegal. ;-) It is widely believed that cheeses are not allowed, but this is not true. Cheeses under 60 days are not allowed. Aged cheeses (like Parm) are allowed -- no need to smuggle. What's not allowed are meat products. No prosciutto for you! From an FAQ: "What about taking food with me to the U.S.? U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations prohibit tourists from bringing fresh, dried, and canned meats and meat products from most foreign countries. If any meat is used in preparing a product, it is prohibited. Bakery items and all cured cheeses are admissible. Imported foods are also subject to requirements of the Food and Drug Administration and may be seized upon inspection if, in the opinion of the FDA, they pose any health risk of any kind. If you are not sure whether you can bring a certain product, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture will be able to assist you: www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/arriving_travelers.xml" Thu Apr 30 09:53:49 -0700 2009 4642347 10159 Ruth Lafler 2 4642768 Like above, learn the rules and follow them- you MAY be able to smuggle stuff in but if there is a sniffer dog or they search your bag you are toast. You will have to make a signed customs declaration Also like someone above says, you want to buy your parm right before you leave. You will be able to find great parm in any big city, ask for advice on good shopping sources once you know where you are flying out. Balsamic is a good souvenir of emilia-romagna - the good stuff costs at least 60 euros for a small bottle even there. do some research before you go on this product - the classic is Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale - it should have only must, not vinegar on the ingredient list. and be syrupy. you can also buy Condimenti from the major houses that is very good and costs less. Thu Apr 30 11:32:30 -0700 2009 4642403 11130 jen kalb 1 4643379 There was an amazing, very long thread here started by someone who I believe is a customs or USDA agent..I think he posted as "the man." If you can find it, you will have all of your questions answered and then some. Thu Apr 30 14:36:27 -0700 2009 4642347 12618 erica 1 4651004 From various places in Italy I have smuggled home the follow items: olive oil; whole wheel of pecorino toscano cheese; dried porcini mushrooms; olives of various sorts; honey; bottarga; smoked swordfish; salted capers; pickled caper berries; spicy anchovies in olive oil; packets of pizza yeast; porcini mushroom soup cubes; dried bay leaves; and, of course, wine. Here is my strategy - take from it what you will. When the customs inspector on the home end asks you what you are bringing in, begin to list the items - in explicit lengthy detail - beginning with the ones you KNOW for sure are ok. So let's say you start with the really delicious olive oil: which you bought from a small organic manufacturer in a little town in Sicily where they also run a bed and breakfast and it's properly sealed and everything so it's ok to bring in, right? And then you got some capers which are packed in salt - but they're vacuum packed - and they come in different sizes but you got the really tiny ones because they're not available where you live. And, oh yeah, there are the soup cubes which are made with real porcini mushroom powder which you've never seen anywhere so how could you resist, but anyway they're a commercial product all packaged and everything. And, you forgot to mention, also you got some caper berries but those are also vacuum packed in plastic and you got them from the same place as the capers. And so on and so on and so on...and as the customs person's eye's begin to glaze over, make sure you also list non-food items, like the cheap t-shirt that cost 3 euros and the socks you had to buy because you ran out of socks, but they were only 5 euros for a pack of 3 pairs. Eventually, before you get to the smoked swordfish and and anything else that might be kind of iffy, you'll get waved through. Works every time. Be friendly, cheerful and full of details. Have a million receipts and ask if they want to see them. They probably won't. Skip the wine until you're of age or find someone who will bring it in for you. That's a red flag and will give them a good reason to get interested in your luggage. Sun May 03 17:14:24 -0700 2009 4642347 12383 Nyleve 2 4651863 Nyleve, interesting! But what about the actual form for US customs? Do you check "yes" when asked if you are bringing any meat or cheese, and then proceed to list on the reverse side? Mon May 04 05:02:50 -0700 2009 4651004 12618 erica 3 4652124 Ok, I'm in Canada so our form might be a bit different. But where it asks something about food: fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, dairy, animals, birds, insects, plants, etc., etc., I check yes. Which is why they will then ask me for details about these aforementioned food products. And then I begin to describe them ad nauseum. Of course, I will never bring in something that is specifically prohibited - like fresh fruit or vegetables or plants (well, I have, but that's another story) - so I don't just plain lie. And the fact is that I'm not entirely sure whether the things I'm bringing into the country are, in fact, ok or not. It may well be perfectly legal. I've just used this strategy to good effect and never had anything confiscated of had my luggage torn apart. On the other hand, I have had my luggage searched when I had absolutely NOTHING in it that was a problem. But I suspect they just like to pick someone out of a line from time to time and it makes no difference what you say on the form or to the agent. Mon May 04 07:16:25 -0700 2009 4651863 12383 Nyleve 3 4652132 I dont think you have to list in specifics. At least we never have. We just bite the bullet and fill out the form in a way we feel comfortable attesting to (flag the issue) and wait for them to ask . I didnt see anything on Nyleve's list that raised an issue unless her pecorino was less than 60 days old. so "smuggling" is a bit of a misnomer. Mon May 04 07:18:53 -0700 2009 4651863 11130 jen kalb 4 4652177 This is very interesting because I am always a bit worried about my foods. Recently, I checked the box (US forms) for meat and cheese, and listed on the back a few things, including "aged cheese" and 'dried beans." When they looked at the form, I was surprised to find that both the Immigration agent AND the customs person were far more interested in the beans; they both asked what kind of beans?, are they dried beans?, etc Not one mention of the cheese(s). Mon May 04 07:37:43 -0700 2009 4652132 12618 erica 5 4652268 possibly they are interested in things which might carry dirt? I have no idea. As I say, we have never listed. Mon May 04 07:58:35 -0700 2009 4652177 11130 jen kalb 6 4652321 The form we use has just check-boxes for general categories (food, for one). It is further described as I said above. You're not required to check individual items, just the general category. Then, when you meet up with the customs agent, they may or may not ask you what you mean by "food" - at which point you get to explain. Like I said, it's entirely possible that I've never actually smuggled anything illegal into the country. But I'm never quite sure, so I've been a bit cagey about it all. Mon May 04 08:16:35 -0700 2009 4652268 12383 Nyleve 5 4652306 This trip, we came home with balsamic vinegar. We checked "no" next to the entry for "meat, food, cheese" but added an arrow up to some blank space next to the word "food" and re-wrote the word followed by a question mark. Then, we wrote in the words balsamic vinegar. The immigration agent asked if we were bringing in any food other than the balsamic. When we truthfully answered "no" he didn't tell us to go for secondary inspection. Incidentally, in Washington's international airport, the Immigration agent seems to be involved with food/dutiable customs as a time-saving step. If he sees something on the form that will require secondary inspection, he vectors folks to the correct place instead of having them go to the final hand-in line only to be told they have to go for secondary inspection. Mon May 04 08:13:00 -0700 2009 4652177 61567 Indy 67 1 4652462 There is also a question on the entry form about "have you visited a farm while outside the US". If you get your summer job, you will have to check "yes" and I guess they will pay extra special attention to you. Of course they would probably never know if you just lied and checked "no", if you feel comfortable doing that. But where it asks if you have any food of any kind, you really have to say "yes". It's so easy for them to check and find out you made a false declaration, and depending on how badly you were lying, they can make it very expensive and unpleasant for you (probably for all your future trips, too). There is a list of foods that are generally OK on this page: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/clearing/agri_prod_inus.xml So your balsamic vinegar is fine. For anything else (particularly meats and cheeses) the rules are more complicated and subject to rapid changes. Have a look at the advice in these threads (among many others): http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/307230 http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/608964 http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/353902 The last one is the thread erica mentioned where "TheMan" answered a lot of people's questions. And you will see that it's not about cruel officials snatching away your belongings: this guy was sincerely sympathetic to people's distress and he understood the monetary and sentimental value attached to these items and took no pleasure in having to confiscate them. On the other hand, CBP officials seem to have very little patience and understanding for people who flat-out lie to them. Mon May 04 08:53:33 -0700 2009 4642347 149250 DeppityDawg 2 4652502 I actually knew my vinegar would be fine having gone through the drill returning from a previous trip to Italy. My confusion had much more to do with how to fill out the form. I truly don't consider vinegar to be food yet, I wanted to be both honest and cooperative. Mon May 04 09:05:15 -0700 2009 4652462 61567 Indy 67