[ThePipster]

It would appear that UK lorry drivers are having their cheese and ham sandwiches confiscated on arrival in Holland as the personal importation of Products of Animal Origin require a licence to import from outside of the EU.

Scenario:

I fly from England an land at an airport in France for a tech stop and remain airside and then depart for an airport in Spain where I pass through immigration and enter Spain. En route I enjoy some of Mrs Pipster's finest cheese and ham rolls, which I will have eaten by the time I get to Spain but not by the time I land in France.

Questions:

Does anybody at what point you are deemed to have entered the EU?

If banned products remain airside in your aircraft are they deemed to have been imported or are they still outside of the country you are visiting?

Pipster

[RisePilot]

Does this theoretical flight take place in the 1950's when one's wife would send them out with a sandwich in their pocket?

[Ben K]

I'd suggest destroying the evidence earlier on....

[romille]

I read that story, it is just a load of bo11ox, I think it is just jumped up officials trying to make a point about Brexit. Personally, I think the truck drivers should have scoffed the offending items rather than allow them to be confiscated.

[Full Metal Jackass]

It would appear that UK lorry drivers are having their cheese and ham sandwiches confiscated on arrival in Holland as the personal importation of Products of Animal Origin require a licence to import from outside of the EU.

Scenario:

I fly from England an land at an airport in France for a tech stop and remain airside and then depart for an airport in Spain where I pass through immigration and enter Spain. En route I enjoy some of Mrs Pipster's finest cheese and ham rolls, which I will have eaten by the time I get to Spain but not by the time I land in France.

Questions:

Does anybody at what point you are deemed to have entered the EU?

If banned products remain airside in your aircraft are they deemed to have been imported or are they still outside of the country you are visiting?

Pipster

Where do you clear customs & immigration? Imagine you fly from US to France and then on to Spain. You would clear customs and immigration in France, hence I would assume it is the same here. The point that you or the product remain 'airside' is of little relevance.

The only thing is not point out that you have such delicacies on board and hope no-one looks. Although with the animosity surrounding Brexit, I'm not holding out too much hope that some overzealous official won't decide to turn your aircraft inside out.

As others have said - destroy the evidence....

[Bill McCarthy]

It’s the same on commercial flights into Aus or NZ - if you get fruit during the flight and don’t consume it, you will get done for “importing” it when you land.

[Tall_Guy_In_a_PA28]

I read that story, it is just a load of bo11ox, I think it is just jumped up officials trying to make a point about Brexit. Personally, I think the truck drivers should have scoffed the offending items rather than allow them to be confiscated.

Not bo11ox at all. These are the rules for anyone entering the EU and they have been in place and enforced for years.

It is the same between US and Canada (slightly different rules in each direction) as anyone who has watched "Border security: Canada's Front Line" on TV will know. I have observed that for most food items other than meat and dairy, if you declare the goods you get to keep them but if they are found then they are confiscated.

[IMCR]

I read that story, it is just a load of bo11ox, I think it is just jumped up officials trying to make a point about Brexit. Personally, I think the truck drivers should have scoffed the offending items rather than allow them to be confiscated.

Not bo11ox at all. These are the rules for anyone entering the EU and they have been in place and enforced for years.

It is the same between US and Canada (slightly different rules in each direction) as anyone who has watched "Border security: Canada's Front Line" on TV will know. I have observed that for most food items other than meat and dairy, if you declare the goods you get to keep them but if they are found then they are confiscated.

I think it is bo11ox - but I know what you mean.

I can fully understand countries like Australia and America taking this action for goods that represent a bio hazard - and well done them. We on the other hand have moved these type of products between us and Europe for how many years, and it has suddenly become a problem!

Where is the logic for the action taken?

[Full Metal Jackass]

I think it is bo11ox - but I know what you mean.

I can fully understand countries like Australia and America taking this action for goods that represent a bio hazard - and well done them. We on the other hand have moved these type of products between us and Europe for how many years, and it has suddenly become a problem!

Where is the logic for the action taken?

No logic, it just has to be shown that Brexit has consequences, even if these actions in themselves are petty and demeaning. Just imagine though it's a Romanian driver returning to the continent with his lunch and it's confiscated by an officious french or dutch official, that will really enhance his belief that the EU is a force for good, huh?

[Tall_Guy_In_a_PA28]

But that is the whole point of a single market. If you are on the inside then you get all the benefits (and drawbacks of having to maintain common standards), if you are outside then you do not. It is a binary system. It could not be more logical.

[lobstaboy]

I once tried to import a tin of Birds custard powder into the US as hand luggage.
That nearly ended in tears - I had to open tin, pop the internal seal, let them taste it and so on...
I said no on a later trip when the same recipient asked for Marmite.

[ls8pilot]

But that is the whole point of a single market. If you are on the inside then you get all the benefits (and drawbacks of having to maintain common standards), if you are outside then you do not. It is a binary system. It could not be more logical.

Yes indeed; Perhaps Boris should have said "you can have your ham sandwich and eat it, provided you do so before you cross into the EU"......

[Colonel Panic]

But that is the whole point of a single market. If you are on the inside then you get all the benefits (and drawbacks of having to maintain common standards), if you are outside then you do not. It is a binary system. It could not be more logical.

I disagree; the rules could just as easily be "no (food) products coming from high risk areas" as "no (food) products coming from outside our club". This is just interventionism at it's best, and I commend the EU for being so good at it.

[seanxair]

If only they were so diligent with people smuggling...

[Morten]

I can fully understand countries like Australia and America taking this action for goods that represent a bio hazard - and well done them. We on the other hand have moved these type of products between us and Europe for how many years, and it has suddenly become a problem!

Where is the logic for the action taken?

I believe that the logic is that when there was as single market, everyone followed the same standards for making sure that bio hazards (as you put it) were not produced anywhere within that market and flow could be free. Now that the EU and the UK can do what they want, there is no longer any guarantee that stuff crossing the border is not a bio hazard and therefore it cannot flow freely.

Here's another example of how things can diverge (bio hazards can arise...) after brexit which will lead to arguments to restrict the free flow. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/1 ... mpaigning/ or, depending on your political views here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... eu-farmers .