Hey all. I was thinking of buying some bulk packages of Tim Horton's freeze dried soup ( I love the soups here), since I work here I can get it cheap, so I was going to send some of my favorite stuff to NC so I always have a bit of "home" with me down there.
I was hoping to send some Chicken Noodle and Potato with Bacon, and figured I'm probably better off avoiding anything with beef altogether.
Anyone know if Pork or Chicken is ok to send down there?

I always seem to reply to my own posts. Anyways, the CBP website wasn't really helpful since it said that chicken and pork are allowed, but sometimes soups are not. I'm not sure what the stipulation with the "sometimes" is, but they said my package could get denied entry, blah blah blah.
It's bad enough having to worry all the time about me being denied entry, nevermind my innocent packages of soup. I'm just going to try giving the CBP people a call tomorrow and see if they can give me a conclusive answer.

Can you give us the URL and phone number? Here's my main question so far. Or maybe someone here can answer it:

Can I bring canned tuna? I stocked up on tuna a while ago when it was on sale, and most tuna in the US is packed in that gucky oily stuff instead of in water like I can get here, so I'd really like to take those cans with me.

Thanks.

If you are going by land they ask about citrus and beef products... We have successfully gone grocery shopping a few times and brought a lot of groceries back with us without issue. They look in our coolers, but we've had fresh fish etc. in it and they have never said anything.

On the tuna note. I buy water packed tuna all the time here in CT. Aldi's sell it as well as Stop & Shop (just so you know).

Freeze dried soups aren't going to be a problem. Send as many as you like.

As an aside, I bring back tons of food items, both ways. Never had a problem yet. And neither have my family who bring me items also.

Vanee, where are you moving to where you can't get tuna packed in water?

Actually....I've had the same problem with the tuna situation. In NC so far, I've tried two different brands of tuna and both were immersed in that oily stuff. When I went to eat the tuna, there was sharp black pieces of god-knows-what in there. (Someone told me it may have been fish eyes...omg eww )

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But I'm pretty sure they weren't eyes so you're okay there, Misty. They don't come in "sharp".

You just can't ship beef or citrus to the USA. You should not have any problems at all!!!

As for the tuna....I just don't get why you can't find it immersed in water?

...eyeball...ewww!!! lol

Honest question: what citrus is in Canada that hasn't been shipped from somewhere more southerly (i.e., through the U.S. already)?

I think it's because the shipments go through agricultural inspections and they're just trying to prevent someone bringing in non-governmental inspected fruit which may be diseased.

Freeze dried is no problem!

All I know is that if you want a care package from home, homemade goodies are ok, but purchased goods are generally bad (especially if they are goods that you can get in the US). Oh, and packaged chocolates are definitely considered a no-no. Just my experience.

What's wrong with packaged chocolates?!!?

I need chocolate....

I'm not sure either.. I take LOADS of chocolate back from the US when i come back, and no one's said anything to me...

I've sent tons of care packages before to my friends in the US, and chocolate (with real sugar!) was always cleared through without a problem. Hell, I sent packaged udon and jam which I would consider much worse

like i said, it was my experience. When I went to send a care package to Jerry for Valentine's Day (before we were married), the lady at MailBoxes,etc. said to me "I hope you didn't put any packaged chocolates in there, they'll get confiscated." She said something about "that if you can get it in the US, you shouldn't be importing it in and chocolates are big on the no-no list". When my mom went to our local post office to ask if she could mail me jam and such, the postmistress confirmed that if it was homemade, there's not a problem. *dunno*

not sure what the deal would be with chocolates....unless they were "special brownies"....

I live on the border and when I could go back and forth (not now until my AOS goes thru) we bought all our groceries in Canada and brought them here. The only exception was beef and citrus. Oh and the Duty Free Shops at the border sell chocolate....so ?!?!?! sorry I just don't get that.

I was also told if you bring jerky/pet food/beef products that are clearly labed "MADE IN USA" you would not have any problems. Still that was 1 officers word....so I still wouldn't get any of that.

I wasn't allowed to bring in rabbit pellets once... rabbit pellets are made from alfalfa.... ?

Bugs in the alfalfa plants or something? But they were ground up and in pellet form!! Whateva....

I think they're just the same with food items as they are with people, it depends on the mood of the CBP.

When I come back from a visit home, I ALWAYS bring chocolate back with me, and sometimes ketchup and tea and other stuff. Never meat or cheese. One time I brought a jar of homemade jam, the person inspecting my bags said "mmmmm....jam..." that was it.

If you're MAILING stuff down however, there are lots more restrictions which are very very very confusing to postal workers, so you're probably better off just ordering from an internet shop and have it shipped, because all that stuff has already been approved by FDA and whatnot to enter the US via that vendor.

The few times that I did ship food items to the USA,the Cdn postal worker (with a wink in her eye) said to write homemade by any type of food item!!

I made little heart shaped cookies for Gene one Valentine's Day one year, and put them in a little heart shaped cookie tin. When filling out the customs forms, I put down that one of the items was cookies. I shipped it Fed-Ex. Well, when Gene got the box, there was a notice on it, that the box had been opened for inspection.

There were missing cookies!!

He didn't eat any. God knows if they ate them, threw them away, or if they washed their hands! haha

Anyway, I think it's all in the way you ship things. When travelling by plane, I would shove as many Canadian food items in my suitcase as possible. Sending by mail means you have to declare things.

Carla

Awwww. Well, aren't you just the sweetest thing.

Grumpy old customs inspectors.

I was talking about mailing the chocolate, I guess everyone else was talking about bringing it with them in person. Like Reba said, mailing stuff is a different ball of wax. As long as I get my mom's raspberry jam, I don't care!

Well, I can sort of relate. I brought a rubber chicken with me to Mexico as a weird sort of office joke. He was the mascot around the office, so I brought him with me and took pictures of him on the beach with margaritas, sitting on surfboards, etc. (You can only imagine the looks the other people on the beach were giving me...).
Anyways, when poor Carlos left Mexico, the customs guys had their way with him. I brought him out of my suitcase, and his throat was ripped open and his tongue was hanging out. I think they thought I must have been storing something illegal in him, since they couldn't really comprehend why someone would bring a rubber chicken on their travels.

poor chicken....sounds like someone "choked" him!!!

My sister and her husband "borrowed" their next door neighbour's garden troll and took him on vacation too. Hilarious.

The local grocery store only has tuna packed in oil. IIRC I saw tuna in water at the health food store across town, but it cost a lot more than the oily stuff, while in Canada, there's no price difference. I might have better luck at larger grocery stores, but they aren't close by.

I probably posted my question in the wrong thread. When I saw in the thread title "ship to the USA," I thought about what I can ship via U-Pack. I won't be with my belongings when they cross the border, and if canned tuna isn't allowed, I'll give it to the food bank here instead of the border guards confiscating it. But I'd really like to bring it with me.

To rephrase my question...can canned tuna be shipped across the border with all my other belongings when I move to the US? Also, where can I find detailed information about this online?

On the "Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles" form, there's a box to check for "Fish, wildlife, animal products thereof." But there's no explanation about what the restrictions are.

Thanks for your help.

I think you're right there. My Sister crossed the border in June with beef sausage rolls. She even told them about it. They said 'as long as it's already cooked, no problem'.

I had some questions about stuff I could and couldn't bring to the US (I had to leave behind my baby cactus! ), so I called CBP. The person I talked to was very nice and very helpful and very patient with all my questions, so you might be able to get some good information out of them over the phone

Oh, okay. That's an easy one. The broker handling my move told me that they cannot ship food items with my belongings. (I also had to give away my 3 new propane tanks for the bbq. ) All I did was pack what I wanted into my car and brought it here that way. I also did some shopping at Wegmans on my way through PA, because there were some things I wanted to pick up from there that I knew i couldn't get down south. If you are flying, maybe you could find a major grocery store near the airport and pick up some items before you head on to your destination. Just a thought.

Sorry. I should be a little clearer in that sentence. I meant you could look for a major grocery store by the US airport you are flying into..... not on the Canadian side. HOWEVER, you can also pack some cans into your checked luggage. Just don't bring too many, though, unless you want to pay extra for the added weight.... which would kinda defeat the purpose.