Kinder Surprise seized at border??

[FI-Z33]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/womans-cand...45449-459.html

A cross-border kerfuffle over a popular chocolate treat nearly cost a Winnipeg woman a $300 fine and saddled her with a bureaucratic headache.
Lind Bird was recently stopped at the U.S. border and selected for a random search of her vehicle. She was warned she could have faced a fine after the customs official found — and seized — her $2 Kinder Surprise egg as illegal contraband.
Bird learned U.S. authorities have banned the candy because they come with a plastic toy inside that could, if eaten, choke a small child.
"It's just a chocolate egg," Bird said. "And they were making a big deal. They said 'if you were caught with this across the border you would get charged a $300 fine,'" she said.
"It's ridiculous. It's so ridiculous," she added.
In Canada, however, officials said the eggs are so difficult to get into there's little chance they could harm anyone. As such, they are legal.
The U.S. takes catching illegal Kinder candy seriously, judging by the number of them they've confiscated in the last year. Officials said they've seized more than 25,000 of the treats in 2,000 separate seizures.
"They have been determined to present … a choking hazard to young children," said Mike Milne, a spokesman for the U.S. department of customs and border protection. Milne said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration supports the Kinder Surprise ban.
As trivial as the border seizure may seem, Bird said the U.S. government has sent her a seven-page letter asking her to formally authorize the destruction of her seized Kinder egg.
"I thought it was a joke. I had to read it twice. But they are serious," she said.
The letter states if Bird wishes to contest the seizure, she'll have to pay $250 for it to be stored as the two sides wrangle over it.
A comprehensive list of items Canadians can't import into the U.S. can be found here.

ooo...wiki'd this:

Prohibition on sale or import into the United States

While Kinder eggs have been available in Canada since 1975, the product has never been allowed into the US for at least several reasons. In 1993 the Ferrero Group (the maker of Kinder eggs) applied to have the eggs sold in the USA, but was turned down because of a prohibition against having an inedible item inside an edible object. More recently, the US Consumer Products Safety Commission determined in 2008 that the product did not meet the small-parts requirement for toys for children under the age of three, creating a choking and aspiration hazard in young children. US customs and border patrol agents on the US/Canada border go so far as to search for Kinder Eggs in the vehicles of Canadian citizens entering the US, and threaten them with $300 fines if found[3].

[TekDragon]

So... What they're really saying is that Americans are too stupid to understand that there is a toy inside the egg?

[FI-Z33]

Originally Posted by TekDragon

So... What they're really saying is that Americans are too stupid to understand that there is a toy inside the egg?

this:

U.S. authorities have banned the candy because they come with a plastic toy inside that could, if eaten, choke a small child.

[StylinRed]

its probably because its really susceptible to smuggle drugs with them and so they were banned, hence the serious endeavor in seizing them (or else there are a shit load of toys that are choking hazards that pass through and may or may not face recalls but they aren't sought after so heavily)


there's always story of drugs being seized with chocolate and a plastic egg is like perfect for smugglers to try and just put some heroin or something in there


just cant see them being so serious over personal chocolates otherwise

[Gumby]

Next time you're at the border, don't be surprised if the US border guard asks if you have any Kinder Surprises to declare...

[Gary Oak]

Wow, Americans are so stupid sometimes.

[adambomb]

Shit son, new business.


Selling Kinder surprises to the USA for guns and cocaine.

[b0unce. [?]]

so retarded

[shenmecar]

They're afraid that small children will eat the chocolate egg, open the obviously plastic orange shell (which is sometimes a feat in itself cuz its so tight, children will need the help of their parents to do this), then eat the toy too?

Are american children extra stupid?

Are they gonna ban that japanese fizzing pop with the marble inside because the marble will pose as a choking hazard? I'm gonna try to bring one of these across the border next time and see if i get in shit.

[bloodmack]

lmao. Kinder surpises are the best, the chocolate is soo good

[TOPEC]

Wow never knew kinder surprises were illegal in the states. Too bad I never ate enough to collect a set of toys.
Posted via RS Mobile

[J____]

lol wuuuuuut

[Jsunu]

Originally Posted by TOPEC

Wow never knew kinder surprises were illegal in the states. Too bad I never ate enough to collect a set of toys.
Posted via RS Mobile

Wow never knew either...

I used to eat them as a kid, most of the time I tore away the chocolate to get to the toy (since it tasted like plastic shit).

[Matlock]

Americans... I would be surprised if they even unwrapped the things before eating it.

[boatcaptain]

i guess i should start asking kids if they are american before purchasing kinder surprise

[urrh]

'Those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither'
-Benjamin Franklin

[alpinestars]

why are people quick to call americans stupid? there's plenty of logical reasons why this law came into existence. here's a few i can think of:

- smuggling contraband inside food to pass through borders
- sneaking objects of interest to inmates in prisons (eg, the ol' key inside the birthday cake trick)
- putting an object inside food in an attempt to kill someone (if it wasn't illegal, in court, the person being tried for murder can claim that s/he didn't intend to kill the other person, since the object inside the food wasn't meant to kill)

some of you guys are as bad as what you make americans out to be! sure, in this case, it was a genuine kinder surprise toy. but customs officials don't fuck around; for the wages that they get paid, there's no holds barred - they enforce regulations to the tee

[StylinRed]

ye the state of the usa is not a prison.. prisons have their own acceptable goods etc

and no... murder? really??? -_-


agreed with the first

[drunkrussian]

this part made me rofl:

As trivial as the border seizure may seem, Bird said the U.S. government has sent her a seven-page letter asking her to formally authorize the destruction of her seized Kinder egg.

[alpinestars]

Originally Posted by StylinRed

ye the state of the usa is not a prison.. prisons have their own acceptable goods etc

and no... murder? really??? -_-


agreed with the first

why wouldn't murder make this law feasible?

[FI-Z33]

Originally Posted by drunkrussian

this part made me rofl:

lol that's why i bolded it

[TOS'd]

Time to smuggle kinder eggs in to the states.

[FI-Z33]

Originally Posted by alpinestars

why are people quick to call americans stupid? there's plenty of logical reasons why this law came into existence. here's a few i can think of:

- smuggling contraband inside food to pass through borders
- sneaking objects of interest to inmates in prisons (eg, the ol' key inside the birthday cake trick)
- putting an object inside food in an attempt to kill someone (if it wasn't illegal, in court, the person being tried for murder can claim that s/he didn't intend to kill the other person, since the object inside the food wasn't meant to kill)

some of you guys are as bad as what you make americans out to be! sure, in this case, it was a genuine kinder surprise toy. but customs officials don't fuck around; for the wages that they get paid, there's no holds barred - they enforce regulations to the tee

but $300, really? and they can't possibly expect Canadians to know the US laws...confiscate it and that's it. why so serious?

[Euro7r]

Stupid americans

[corollagtSr5]

kinder surprise go for 10 dollars+ on the black market in the U.S.