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UK to EU rules for foods in hold luggage…

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Skiing for Easter with husband and the 2 and 6 year old. We’ll be getting to France the day before Easter Sunday and prob going to be getting to La Plagne pretty late in the day. Now given it’s Easter weekend, I had planned to take some chocolate for a little egg hunt and a few easy “storecupboard” bits for kids food because inevitably it’ll be late on arrival, we won’t have time to go and shop/ source anything appropriate for Easter bits, kids will want quick food etc.

My question is, having just thought about bloody brexit restrictions… will I be able to chuck a few bags of chocolate for the kids in the hold luggage or will it get pulled out? (Because of the no milk or meat product rules).
I assume that is the same for stuff like pasta n sauce (contains milk), chocolate biscuits, shelf stable chorizo etc. Or am I overthinking and they won’t really care/notice?? Thanks
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@FiFi_Trixibell, No ones cares less. Whilst in theory it is banned in practice not an issue. Yesterday I flew from London to Munich with a bunch of groceries in my hold luggage plus corned beef sandwiches in hand baggage. You might have an issue if you start trying to import bush meat, Christmas turkey etc.
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Yeah, I don't think there are really any rules enforced. People driving over to us (here and/or to our French house) often bring quite a lot of food products with them, and friends will bring us special UK products we miss like HP sauce, Heinz Salad Cream, Creme Eggs, English cheeses, CDM, shortbread biscuits, sometimes even ales if they're driving. Likewise on some recent trips to the UK we brought back quite a lot of those with no concerns. Chocolate in particular is not an issue.
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We drove to France in January with a car full of food (bottle of milk clearly on display in a bag on the back seat). No one cared.
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@FiFi_Trixibell, more reading of the rules is that dairy products is things like butter and cheese, not things which have a small percentage of milk in.

However, also took a load of things in car over XMas and no-one cared. Whether planes are more stringent I don't know
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Boris wrote:
@FiFi_Trixibell, more reading of the rules is that dairy products is things like butter and cheese, not things which have a small percentage of milk in.

However, also took a load of things in car over XMas and no-one cared. Whether planes are more stringent I don't know


I always bring some cheese back, either in hold or hand luggage, whenever I fly, which is probably around four or five times since Brexit, oh and one car trip over. Never been stopped on entry to France (always flown to Basel and used the French side exit) so can't be certain, but they certainly do not check on boarding.
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Is it against the rules? Generally, yes.
Will anyone on the border care about a couple of Easter eggs, etc? No, unless you do something else to pee them off - and even then they will just confiscate those items.
Will anyone case if you're driving a Transit stuffed with "items of animal origin" across the border every couple of days? Yes, now you're going to register on their radar.

Back when the rules came in there was the famous truck driver stopped from taking his cheese sandwich across the border into the Netherlands... But it was just the one driver, while a reporter and photographer were both there to report it, and to make the point that technically these were the rules we had voted for when we voted "Leave".
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FiFi_Trixibell wrote:
Or am I overthinking...?? Thanks


This!
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I wouldn't do meat or cheese etc. but have done jars of Marmite with no issues.
Realistically, who is going to check and where? At the UK airport, leaving, they are going to scan for anything dodgy rather than illegal exports. On arrival in EU, you go thru Schengen entry immigration first then collect bags and go thru the green channel. Do bags get scanned on arrival too before going on the baggage carousel?

If they do get removed, at least you know exactly who to blame.
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Take a truck load over and you'll have a nightmare.
Personal use in cars, much less so
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@andy,
Quote:

have done jars of Marmite with no issues

I should think not - it's vegetarian!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I'm sure I wouldn't have an issue with Bovril or Oxo or similar either.
Although technically, by bringing Marmite from UK to Germany, I am actually bringing it home. The guy that invented the process to make it was actually born right here, and there's a statue of him 2 min walk from my house.
I can buy it here, but I'm not paying €12 for a jar.
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@andy,
Quote:

The guy that invented the process to make it was actually born right here, and there's a statue of him 2 min walk from my house.
Wow. Every day's a school day.
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Hurtle wrote:
@andy,
Quote:

The guy that invented the process to make it was actually born right here, and there's a statue of him 2 min walk from my house.
Wow. Every day's a school day.


I think @andy was talking about the inventor of Marmite, but interestingly the inventor of the precursor to Oxo and other meat extracts was also German, the impressively named Justus Freiherr von Liebig. Madeye-Smiley
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Just avoid taking fresh veg. The farmers will be after you with pitchforks.
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We go to Europe for 6 weeks a couple of times a year in the motorhome. The freezer is full of bacon, chicken fillets, fish fillets and so on, fridge will contain the same as your fridge at home, ie lots of dairy and more meat. Cupboards will have some tinned meat and then there is 15kg of 70% meat content dog kibble.
Don't worry about it.
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At the departure airport all hold baggage is scanned for viable explosive devices, they are only concerned with security and a lot of the scanning is automatic.
I have not heard of scanning at the arrival airport which would be the customs/public health folks. They may use dogs to sniff round the arrival baggage’s but these will be looking for cocaine not Dairy Milk.
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Lovely, thanks all. In essence - don’t worry about it then and yes, definitely overthinking.

Like someone said which made me laugh, we’re not smuggling a Turkey in the ski bag and I’d hoped they wouldn’t do stupid stuff like rummage your bags over a few bits and bobs of cupboardy food. I was just curious really as it struck me when I was shoving a few things in the online shop to start prepping. ordinarily we wouldn’t bother taking anything at all when we fly but anyone who’s dealt with whingey small children after a long travel day will know that it’s not worth even trying to “pop out” to get a quick takeaway etc!

Appreciate all the responses Very Happy
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Chocolate is sold in duty free so is obvs allowed?
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I carried 8 bags of mini eggs into Switzerland - not quite on the scale of Pablo Escobar but its a slippery slope.

Your children will thank you - last easter we were in France and the shelves had been stripped bare of easter chocs - alot of desperate parents pacing the aisles and wondering if 10€ taped to a block of Milka would do Very Happy
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skimummk wrote:
Chocolate is sold in duty free so is obvs allowed?


Although it is sold it does not mean the corollary is that you are permitted to take it into any country in the world.

They sell alcohol, but you wouldn’t think that meant you could import it into certain Arab states.

Be aware that attempting to import food into the EU is a criminal offence and you could be fined or imprisoned. I’m not saying is likely, but it is possible.

You are permitted to bring in 10kg of non-meat non-dairy food, plus a very large fish. So if you want to stay within the rules, olive oil, onions, tomatoes, tuna, pasta all seem ok. And Marmite.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/carry/meat-dairy-animal/indexamp_en.htm

The Australians are very hot on not importing food and have sniffer beagles who will detect even an apple, let alone a Christmas turkey!
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I've just shoved a garlic bulb in my 'bag of stuff to take to Flachau on Friday'. You can only buy garlic in nets of about 7, I brought 6 home in early February and now taking one back for next week. They are big, fat and juicy and last ages. Tesco's are dried out, sprouting or mouldy messes after a week.
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Nadenoodlee wrote:
I carried 8 bags of mini eggs into Switzerland - not quite on the scale of Pablo Escobar but its a slippery slope.

Your children will thank you - last easter we were in France and the shelves had been stripped bare of easter chocs - alot of desperate parents pacing the aisles and wondering if 10€ taped to a block of Milka would do Very Happy



My dad told us that you got more chocolate if you got it as a bar rather than an egg....so we were always quite happy to get it in block form from our parents (although we did still get eggs from other rellies)
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BREXIT MEANS BREXIT!


…sorry what was the question?
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We took a whole bunch of frozen meats in our hold luggage last season to geneva airport. All was fine, although we were a little worried at the time what was going to happen with the hold luggage in question. Noone seemed to care though Very Happy
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I always stick a few dozen snickers bars in my hold luggage, plus some in hand luggage. Never been an issue.

Walked through security in Geneva with some ham sandwiches (for the transfer as tight schedule) in my hand luggage a couple of years ago. Never even thought about the post Brexit rules.

Tbf, they are probably only looking for dodgy electronic items or flamables.
Actually surprised they don't make a bigger issue about batteries in hold luggage.
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Not food related but they wouldn't let me take my leatherman through Bristol security the other week even though blade was under 60mm as requested. When I pointed that out to them they said it was because it was a tool not the blade. They then let my crankbrothers multitool, a victorinox credit card tool set, 88 file guide, spring clamp and diamond file set in the same bag through Puzzled I usually put them in hold luggage but only had cabin bags this time, gave them to someone with hold bags to take on the way home. So they are definitely looking for things other than flammables and batteries. Got the leatherman back now.
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I flew into GVA from the U.K. the other day with 4 x Fair Isle lamb chops, 7 hand made sausage rolls (all of these were frozen), and also some locally made chorizo and sobrasada that needed eating. All of which I then took into France. Nobody gave a toss.

Edit: I also took loads of chocolatey/nut bars.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I don't think it matters whether you put food in hold luggage or carry on; baggage scanning is only concerned about security (e.g. explosives).

The only people who could potentially care about enforcing Brexit rules would be customs on arrival, which you go through after picking up your hold baggage
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@Glosterwolf, In hand baggage they are looking for anything that could be used as a weapon to hijack the flight. This might even be something that resembles part of a pistol that could then be assembled with other parts of a pistol concealed in other passengers bags. The continual testing of hand baggage screening operatives is very thorough. Through image injection to their display overlaying the image of your bag they are expected to pick out suspicious items from a library of thousands. They will be tested on every session they are on the scanner. Too many fails and they’ll be out on the ramp in the rain loading bags. They do not care about illicit goods, that’s somebody else’s job. That said cheeses can look like explosives, fluids like fuel so those get pulled, less so now with the new generation of scanners.

CAA guidance here:

https://www.caa.co.uk/publication/download/16116

In practice the implementation of this guidance varies!

Hold baggage screening is looking for a viable explosive device that can be triggered in the hold via timer, altitude etc. That means it needs to see explosives with a trigger mechanism.


Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Wed 28-02-24 23:17; edited 1 time in total
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I think you would be really unlucky if they confiscated pre-packed chocolate confectionary, even if technically illegal.

But any form of raw meat or unprocessed dairy may be rather different, as EU will see it as far more likely to be bringing in diseases.
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chocksaway wrote:
@Glosterwolf, In hand baggage they are looking for anything that could be used as a weapon to hijack the flight. This might even be something that resembles part of a pistol that could then be assembled with other parts of a pistol concealed in other passengers bags. The continual testing of hand baggage screening operatives is very thorough. Through image injection to their display overlaying the image of your bag they are expected to pick out suspicious items from a library of thousands. They will be tested on every session they are on the scanner. Too many fails and they’ll be out on the ramp in the rain loading bags. They do not care about illicit goods, that’s somebody else’s job. That said cheeses can look like explosives, fluids like fuel so those get pulled, less so now with the new generation of scanners.
......

Hold baggage screening is looking for a viable explosive device that can be triggered in the hold via timer, altitude etc. That means it needs to see explosives with a trigger mechanism.


As an aside, this is one area where you might expect that AI could make a contribution in the near future to image evaluation.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
A little bit of smuggling appears to be OK...
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Just a note about Geneva airport and 'not caring'.......I travel through Geneva on average once a month and while I'm rarely stopped, I have been and been quizzed on what I have in my luggage, and I know others have been fined and taxed for bringing too much bacon & other meats through - there has always been a limit of 1kg of meat tax free, although now, from the UK, it is zero.

I do still often bring some M&S goodies through but I'm a bit nervous as I was stopped twice in a week over Christmas, although on both occasions I was coming from an EU country and within the limits
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