micah202
Super Nomad
Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline
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...STICKS,,,STONES,,,BONES......AND us CUSTOMS......
...and feathers too!!.............
.......being a beachcomber,,I have a handsome collection of these,,,and a nice lady said us customs won't let them into stateside!!??
.............I've never had issues like this with us customs before,,,is there any concern here??
....can't they try more on cocaine heads than sticks and feathers!?!!
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irenemm
Senior Nomad
Posts: 623
Registered: 7-16-2009
Location: vicente guerrero, baja
Member Is Offline
Mood: relaxed
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They can turn you around if your vehicle is to dirty too. They say it is because it could carry bacteria or diseases that could effect the plants in
the states. Bones are not allowed because it could be from something endangered.
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KurtG
Super Nomad
Posts: 1211
Registered: 1-27-2004
Location: California Central Coast
Member Is Offline
Mood: Press On Regardless!!
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Quotes below are from the Pacific NorthWest Wildlife Center website. It is illegal in the US as stated below to possess the feathers or remains of
any migratory bird without a special Federal permit to do so. There have been prosecutions in my area of people who have picked up Sea Gull feathers
on the beach. Our local game wardens enforce this law and I'm sure that the Customs folk at the border do as well. Note in the first paragraph the
terms that apply here are "possess" and "import."
Kurt
"Anyone desiring to possess migratory birds or their parts or products should be aware that all of these are covered under the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act (16U.S.C. 703-712), which implements a series of international treaties designed to protect migratory birds.
Some key provisions of the Act are worth keeping in mind:
•Wording of the Act makes it very clear that most actions that result in "taking" or possession of a protected species or its parts or products is a
violation of the Act. Specifically, the Act states:
"Unless and except as permitted by regulations, …it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means, or in any manner…to pursue, hunt, take, capture,
kill, …possess, offer for sale, sell, …purchase, import…any migratory bird, any part, nest, or eggs of any such bird…"
•It is a "strict-liability" law, meaning that there is no requirement for law enforcement agencies to prove "intent" to violate the law. That is, if
you are found in possession of a protected species or its parts or products, you are automatically in violation of the law.
•The provisions of the Act are nearly absolute; "...except as permitted by regulations ..." is the only exception. Some examples of permitted
activities that do not violate the law are legal hunting of specific game birds, legitimate research activities, display in licensed zoological
gardens, and bird banding under an appropriate permit.
•The Act covers the great majority (83%) of all native birds found in the U.S. Many of the species not covered by the Act are covered by the
Endangered Species Act , other Federal laws, or state laws, many of which are as stringent as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act . In the lower 48 states,
all species except the house sparrow, feral pigeon, common starling, and non-migratory game birds like pheasants, gray partridge, and sage grouse, are
protected.
•Penalties upon conviction can be severe. Even if a sympathetic jury finds that you meant no harm in trying to rear an abandoned nestling or in
picking a hawk feather, legal defense costs are clearly not worth the risk."
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dtbushpilot
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3296
Registered: 1-11-2007
Location: Buena Vista BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Tranquilo
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Last time I crossed North I had forgotten that I had an orange. When asked about fruits etc. I remembered it and told the officer that I had one. He
scolded me for knowing better as often as I cross the border and told me he has no way of taking it from me....guess where I got to go......dt
"Life is tough".....It's even tougher if you're stupid.....
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jeremias
Nomad
Posts: 218
Registered: 12-11-2009
Location: Huntington Beach, El Sauzal, BCN
Member Is Offline
Mood: Muy Tranquilo
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| Quote: | Originally posted by irenemm
They can turn you around if your vehicle is to dirty too. They say it is because it could carry bacteria or diseases that could effect the plants in
the states. Bones are not allowed because it could be from something endangered. |
The last time I went though, some dirt flew off of my filthy truck and got stuck in the agents eye-she was peeed! I was promptly sent to secondary .
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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I don't believe there's any reliable method to take the upper hand at the border. What works for me is, when I pull up to the secondary inspection
officer, I immediatly hand her a handful of receipts. It occupies her mind right from the start and she'll be less apt to wonder what the load is
worth because the answer is in her hand....if she wants to calculate it.......which she normally won't.
I don't think I've ever been through the border without having way over the limit and I've never had to pay for an excess. I'm not trying to be
tricky. It's just the way I do it.
I'm just babbling. I don't even think I'm on subject. Oh well.....
.
[Edited on 2-9-2011 by DENNIS]
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Taco de Baja
Super Nomad
Posts: 1913
Registered: 4-14-2004
Location: Behind the Orange Curtain, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Dreamin' of Baja
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As a geologist, I often find cool rocks to bring rocks back, and always declare them. Sometimes they want to see the rocks, but they have always let
me keep them.
Maybe when they hear "rocks" they immediately think of little white ones some people smoke.......
Truth generally lies in the coordination of antagonistic opinions
-Herbert Spencer
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
Member Is Offline
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Bringing seashells into US.
This a couple years ago: we were carrying boxes of stuff in through Tecate for friends who vacationed and flew back. Not my boxes, not my stuff.
They looked through each and every box which included several boxes of seashells which our friends had scavenged. The shells were weighed and came in
over 25 kilos total.
We were informed bringing in shells in excess of that amount was considered importing for commercial purposes. This is not illegal. However, import
duties are required to be paid which can only be done at Otay Mesa.
We were given the option of keeping the shells, turning around and heading back through Baja to exit again in Otay Mesa to declare and pay import on
the shells or forfeit the shells to the Tecate customs.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15940
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
Member Is Offline
Mood: Everchangin'
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once at TKT the guy iasked if i had any firewood. i told him no. when i got home there was a stunning example of "driftwood" right there on top that
we were bringing home. i'd forgotten all about it.......
[Edited on 2-9-2011 by woody with a view]
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micah202
Super Nomad
Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline
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..fun stories!.......looks like I'll have t'make some tough choices!....not t'mention whut t'do with the FULL dolphin sceleton!!
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mulegemichael
Super Nomad
Posts: 2310
Registered: 12-24-2007
Location: sequim,wa. and mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: up on step
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we've brought just about anything and everything back in clear view and never have had a problem...stopped at el marmol and filled the car with onyx;
no questions asked..never..
dyslexia is never having to say you\'re yrros.
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RnR
Senior Nomad
Posts: 839
Registered: 5-1-2010
Member Is Offline
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You never know what the border guys are going to key in on. Last year at Otay it was PINE NEEDLES!
There were some pine needles on the cargo platform on the back of my trailer. They came down with me from the northern sierra but there was no way
they were going back into the US.
The inspections guy came over with an incinerator disposal bag and the two of us hand picked the pine needles and put them in the bag for disposal.
 
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