Bird gets egg seized at customs:

Lind Bird from Winnipeg Canada had her 2 dollar Kinder Surprise egg seized at the U.S. border after a random search of her car. The chocolate egg has a toy inside that the U.S. considers a choking hazard. However other countries such as Canada have concluded that it is not suffiiently dangerous to ban. The eggs are made by the famous Italian company Ferroro and are popular throughout Europe as well as Canada. There are many different toys inside the plastic capsule in different eggs.

Bird said:“It’s just a chocolate egg,” “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,’”

The U.S. border authorities take the evil eggs very seriously. Officals claim they have seized more than 25,000 of the eggs in 2,000 separate seizures. Maybe they keep a score card.

From outside the US look more and more like Russia 25 years ago. Lol.

The newspapers over here report this mishap as an example for unfair trade restrictions, that the US have adopted
from the Japanese. I can see both sides, though. Some of the “gifts” really are choking hazards. But are European
Kids so much more apt to deal with exciting risks?

Would there be workarounds to make the kinder surprise US save? Not fully encapsulate it?

mo-i

I’ve bought these here in the US a few months ago. It was at a French speciality shop. Maybe they slipped it through their regular shipments?

Wow just wow… that’s sad all the things considering.

“Hello kettle. Have you met pot?”

Silly laws are rampant worldwide. Here is some low-hanging fruit, http://www.1steuropetravelguide.com/2008/12/dumb-laws-in-europe/

Germany:

A pillow can be considered a “passive” weapon.

It is illegal for ones car to run out of gas on a highway.

It is illegal to wear a mask when going on strike.

Every office must have a view of the sky, however small.

Actually I dont think those are silly at all, except for the pillow and mask one maybe.

Germany has the autobahn. It would be extremely dangerous for a car to run out of gas on the highway.

The office one I think is great. One of my largest fears is working a desk job where I can’t see the sky.

I wish we had more laws in the states related to happiness and safety, not assumed safety.

Yeah, having lived outside I do find this country spiraling down.

I propose this new law for the USA:

no promoting food that kills people and then promoting drugs that un-kill you

…but now I’m officially off topic :confused:

Why hello pot. I see you have met kettle then.

iab - Why don’t you get a new schitck.

We are all woefully off target and if I could remember how I would move this discussion to Off Topic section.

we used to bring chocolate like that to the states when we went for a visit… i´ll probably check with my lawyer next time what presents the kids will get for christmas :smiley:

btw. the no masks law when strikes or demonstration are ongoing is to be able to identify people who are using this events to commit crimes, which i think is a well intended law.
and can´t everything be a passive weapon?

greetings

In an effort to create some smiles today

Yeah it is Immigration instead of Customs but still should put smiles on people’s faces :slight_smile:

Mo-i you see both sides?
Are you saying that the US has banned the sale of all choking hazards? So no bouncy balls? No Polly Pocket?

Really?

I don’t know if you noticed, but I responded to a direct quote of the OP. How is that off-topic?

iab: I wildly assume that you didn’t have the chance to visit eastern Europe or Russia 25 years ago. Did you?
Of course my claim, that was an “artistic exaggeration”. It is a complaint though, that can be widely heard
over here, as the treatment of forreigners by the US Customs and Police forces has become unbearably rough
for some time.

*

But that was not the main point of my posting. I’ll paraphrase:

  1. What law are the customs actions based on?
  2. What is considered a choking hazard? Size ?
  3. How can “Kinder Surprise” be modded to fit the law? (Design centric context)

mo-i

Make the Kinder Surprise an edible surprise :slight_smile:

The border fiasco does sound ridiculous, but in the big picture the law seems to have a relatively legitimate safety issue in mind. Some states in the US (and countries) allow fireworks and some don’t - but they seem a lot more dangerous than kinder eggs… who can explain it

Outside of the US, more sensationalist stories about the US seem to be good media fodder… while other countries have the same kinds ridiculous rules and news

I was in East Germany and Czechoslovakia in 1985 and 1990. I have more relatives in Germany than I do in the US. Why do you ask? And you are correct, your hyperbole was terrible. So are you saying your complaint is US customs seizes illegal goods? I may be mistaken, but I am willing to bet all countries in the world do the same.


  1. The law is based on the fact children have choked to death on toys in chocolate. Google is your friend, TREATS IN SWEETS THAT CAN CHOKE A CHILD TO DEATH; Mirror investigates. - Free Online Library

  2. I asked the same question 5 years ago, Choking Specifications

  3. Be in compliance with #2