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?
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
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?
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.
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But that was not the main point of my posting. I’ll paraphrase:
What law are the customs actions based on?
What is considered a choking hazard? Size ?
How can “Kinder Surprise” be modded to fit the law? (Design centric context)
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.