INSIDE

Border agriculture rules clarified

After over a month of a vacillating message at the local border regarding rules for bringing groceries from Bellingham district managers have an answer: yes you can, if you do it right.

The All Point Bulletin first began receiving reports in August that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Point Roberts port of entry had been warning travelers that, even if it was acquired in Bellingham and they had not stopped in Canada, bringing in a prohibited item like citrus would cost them their NEXUS card.

A call to the port got a different version from supervisors. Mary Riddle said groceries from Bellingham were fine if there had been no stops in Canada and they came with a receipt. But a call to agriculture officials in Blaine got a different message: no items that would be prohibited from import from Canada could travel through Canada and re-enter Point Roberts.

Susan Spinella, agricultural programs manager for the CBP’s Seattle District said they had “discussions with the Blaine Service Area about it and they’ve relayed the understanding we’ve come to,” to insure travelers meet with a uniform policy no matter whom they talk to.

“If it’s a product purchased in the U.S. on the same day, it can re-enter the U.S. at the Point Roberts port of entry,” Spinella said. “They must have proof of purchase that lists the commodity – grocery receipts. We need to know what was purchased and that it was not in Canada.” A receipt that lists items only as “grocery” with no descriptions would not be sufficient, she said

The policy was the same for travelers using the NEXUS or the regular lanes, Spinalla said.

Asking for confirmation that groceries in transit to Point Roberts may use either lane and aren’t subject to import restrictions may have muddied the traditional practice. A Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) inspector in the booth at the Douglas crossing said as long as you live in Point Roberts and are headed there, it’s fine. CBSA spokesperson Paula Shore said either lane is fine as long as you make a declaration and follow the same rules as a Canadian importing the items: no potatoes, apples, plums or corn, limits on dairy and eggs. She suggested calling 1-800-462-9999 to make sure what you have is not prohibited.

Regarding goods from Canada, Spinella said that agriculture rules changed so frequently the best policy for travelers was to try and stay informed and always make a complete declaration of items acquired outside the U.S.

In the NEXUS lane, will that full declaration let you keep your card if one of the items you declare is not admissible? Spinella said part of the NEXUS privilege is that you have a “little higher responsibility as far as being expected to know what can come in.”

That said, if travelers didn’t have access to new information she said “it’s really the same” in either lane. “If something just changed it should be okay as long as they have declared the item.”