US Customs returning ENTIRE Shipment of Christmas gifts I sent from Thailand because one item was "lemongrass". Can I do anything to prevent this?

[WaveHunter]

I sent a shipment of Xmas gifts to family worth about 8000 THB and because one bag of lemongrass worth about 100 THB was not allowed (even though shipping company cleared it as acceptable), Customs is saying that the ENTIRE shipment will be returned to Thailand.  Is there anything I can do to prevent this?  I have checked import regulations and see that lemongrass is often imported into the US by commercial importers so I really don't understand this, and the shipping company that arranged the shipment went through my package thoroughly, removing 1 tems that they said was not allowed, but said that all other items were OK !  Any advice would be appreciated.

[kingstonkid]

Nothing you can really do and do not think it wise to offer a bribe.

 

All you can do is learn from this and resend the package.

 

Commercial companies go through a lot to be authorized to send items personal amounts tend to not be screened as well for bacteria or pests.

[Joe Farang]

Every single plant or plant product including handicraft items made with straw, must be declared to the CBP officer and must be presented for CBP inspection, no matter how free of pests it appears to be. For information on importing plants or plant products visit the Plant, Organism and Soil Permits page.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go/prohibited-and-restricted-items

[new2here]

The shipment is one single entity and in most cases, customs can’t/won’t “split” an inbound shipment to remove any prohibited items .. commonly it will be allowed in, as one whole shipment… or refused as one whole shipment.

 

As far as the legality to import lemon grass goes, there can often be different rules for commercial importers of X product compared to a private party importing the exact same commodity… sometimes it’s the quantity being imported, how it’s labeled/packaged, required paperwork required etc. 

[vandeventer]

14 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

Nothing you can really do and do not think it wise to offer a bribe.

 

All you can do is learn from this and resend the package.

 

Commercial companies go through a lot to be authorized to send items personal amounts tend to not be screened as well for bacteria or pests.

Send it via Mexico, I hear a lot of things comes through the border I'm sure lemongrass would be no problem down there.

[MasterBaker]

in most countries, you cannot return partial shippment if one item didn't pass the customs clearance, Thailand is one of those

[Crazy Noobie]

I have had the same issue. I have learned over time, not to include any type of a food product, as there is a good chance it might not make it. I notice if you send a package to the USA and they find something they don't approve or, they send the entire package back to sender. Whereas, a package coming from the USA to Thailand, if customs finds something they do not approve of, they do not send the package back to the sender. You have to make arrangements, which will cost you a ton of fees, just to get your package out of Thai customs. But if you refuse to pay all of their fees and jump through their hoops, then they classify it as abandoned package. Good luck..

[lopburi3]

26 minutes ago, MasterBaker said:

in most countries, you cannot return partial shippment if one item didn't pass the customs clearance, Thailand is one of those

The country is USA - and as it is an agriculture pest issue the entire package would be considered suspect in any case and would consider return best result - would have not been surprised if shipment had been incinerated myself.  Even transport between States can be checked/stopped.  

[placnx]

1 hour ago, Joe Farang said:

Every single plant or plant product including handicraft items made with straw, must be declared to the CBP officer and must be presented for CBP inspection, no matter how free of pests it appears to be. For information on importing plants or plant products visit the Plant, Organism and Soil Permits page.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go/prohibited-and-restricted-items

Back in 1989 I went camping in Mexico and flew back to LAX. I had bought vacuum packed spicy beek jerky in California beforehand and had some left over - unopened. It could not be brought back in US except in my stomach!

[swm59nj]

Yes it deals with contamination that’s why there are controls.  And all countries have individual custom rules, not just America. 

I just love when people make anti American comments in the forums that have nothing to do with the topics.  
I find that the majority of the people dislike their own and other countries because they could barely cut it there.  So they blame the country.  Not themselves.  Then they move to Thailand and can barely cut it here.

But I bet some of these people ran to get the Pfizer vaccine when America donated it. 

[Jai Dee]

An anti-American troll post has been removed.

[ifmu]

talk to the shipping company to get a refund      hey you asked 

 

and the shipping company that arranged the shipment went through my package thoroughly, removing 1 tems that they said was not allowed, but said that all other items were OK ! 

[Iron Tongue]

If you mean "green" lemongrass, not dried tea, etc., the US won't let you send or bring any agricultural products into the country.  Commercial importers follow different regulations so don't bother with that argument.

Besides, lemongrass is common in the US anyways and can be bought in many Asian markets so it isn't a rarity anymore.   

[worgeordie]

Thai Post would not let me send some Cashew nuts, Dried fruit to UK,

before you could send anything without check , now you even have to

show ID to post a Christmas card.....rules ,they are getting more and more

all the time.

regards worgeordie

[The Hammer2021]

2 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Nothing you can really do and do not think it wise to offer a bribe.

 

All you can do is learn from this and resend the package.

 

Commercial companies go through a lot to be authorized to send items personal amounts tend to not be screened as well for bacteria or pests.

How would he offer  a bribe  to US customs?

[The Hammer2021]

5 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Thai Post would not let me send some Cashew nuts, Dried fruit to UK,

before you could send anything without check , now you even have to

show ID to post a Christmas card.....rules ,they are getting more and more

all the time.

regards worgeordie

Since the growth  of Islamic terror the postal system is much stricter. However, my PO has dried fruits and tidbits for sale and I was informed they could be sent to UK. They also accept  my miniature  cc size PP copy so I dont need the original.

[Golden Triangle]

Many many years ago in my distant married past we had an English female friend married to an American & living in Colorado, we were going to visit them, she wanted whole nutmegs which were apparently hard to find in the USA at the time, we bought some of the Swarz (spl) bottled brand but contacted the US customs before we packed it in our luggage, we were told if it's sold commercially and in a sealed pack it was okay.

 

And it was.

[The Hammer2021]

36 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

Yes it deals with contamination that’s why there are controls.  And all countries have individual custom rules, not just America. 

I just love when people make anti American comments in the forums that have nothing to do with the topics.  
I find that the majority of the people dislike their own and other countries because they could barely cut it there.  So they blame the country.  Not themselves.  Then they move to Thailand and can barely cut it here.

But I bet some of these people ran to get the Pfizer vaccine when America donated it. 

When I lived in Libya the most enthusiastic  followers of the USA green  card lottery where Palestinians, Libyans and Iraqis all of whom hated the USA with a vengeance yet they  were desperate  to get there..Down Amerikia indeed! lol

[The Hammer2021]

1 minute ago, Golden Triangle said:

Many many years ago in my distant married past we had an English female friend married to an American & living in Colorado, we were going to visit them, she wanted whole nutmegs which were apparently hard to find in the USA at the time, we bought some of the Swarz (spl) bottled brand but contacted the US customs before we packed it in our luggage, we were told if it's sold commercially and in a sealed pack it was okay.

 

And it was.

What a roller coaster life!  BTW Nutmeg is psychoactive

[ThailandRyan]

24 minutes ago, Iron Tongue said:

If you mean "green" lemongrass, not dried tea, etc., the US won't let you send or bring any agricultural products into the country.  Commercial importers follow different regulations so don't bother with that argument.

Besides, lemongrass is common in the US anyways and can be bought in many Asian markets so it isn't a rarity anymore.   

Only OTOP goods sealed and labeled as such.  

[WaveHunter]

I appreciate all the feedback and I suppose it makes sense BUT:

 

1) All the food items were in separate airtight vacuum packed packages so contamination with anything else in the box was impossible.  The shipping agent even mentioned that.

 

2) The shipping company opened my box before turning it over to Fedex for inspection and refused to ship one item (Chinese New Years Cookie in hermetically sealed packaging) claiming it violated US Customs because one f the ingredients was egg yolk, bu then assured me that everything else in my shipment met US Customs standards.

 

Oh well...that's life I suppose ????

 

[ThaiFelix]

1 hour ago, The Hammer2021 said:

When I lived in Libya the most enthusiastic  followers of the USA green  card lottery where Palestinians, Libyans and Iraqis all of whom hated the USA with a vengeance yet they  were desperate  to get there..Down Amerikia indeed! lol

Whats that got to do with lemongrass??

 

[DJ54]

Ask the courier or customs to throw out lemon grass and clear customs.

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/customer-service

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/customer-service/professionalism-service-manager

[KannikaP]

2 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

What a roller coaster life!  BTW Nutmeg is psychoactive

Is that why my Mum put it on top of rice pudding?   LOL

[MrJ2U]

5 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

bacteria or pests.

Thats the reason.

 

 

[sirineou]

9 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

I sent a shipment of Xmas gifts to family worth about 8000 THB and because one bag of lemongrass worth about 100 THB was not allowed

From the US customs website

"Spices - most dried spices are allowed except for orange, lemon, lime and other citrus leaves and seeds, lemongrass, and many vegetable and fruit seeds "

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-3619?language=en_US

[unblocktheplanet]

I once had my airport orchids confiscated!

[arithai12]

8 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

When I lived in Libya the most enthusiastic  followers of the USA green  card lottery where Palestinians, Libyans and Iraqis all of whom hated the USA with a vengeance yet they  were desperate  to get there..Down Amerikia indeed! lol

Just as you, obviously anti-Islamic, were desperate to work in Lybia.

[kingstonkid]

15 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

How would he offer  a bribe  to US customs?

lol not sure but previous poster suggested it

[WaveHunter]

Just an update; I actually spoke on the phone with the US Customs officer charged with inspecting my package at the entry point in Anchorage Alaska earlier today.  He told me that he had no idea where FedEx got the idea that my package had been refused by Customs, claiming that they were seriously backlogged with holiday packages and had not even gotten to packages with my arrival date yet, and that HE was the officer that would be inspecting my package once they got to it

 

This officer was kind enough to look over shipping manifest which listed all the items in my shipment (including both the DRIED lemongrass and the kaffir lime leaves) and he told me he saw no reason that my shipment would not pass inspection.  Even though the regulations, as pointed out by @sirineou in his previous post exist, this officer said not to be concerned since he was the one who would be inspecting the package and making the decision, and if the items contained in my shipment matched the list, it would pass.

 

So, I'm still concerned since the regulations do specifically mention lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves as not being allowed.  I guess I'll find out soon enough though so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago importing something into Thailand; one low-value prohibited item in a shipment containing over 20 items, and Thai Customs informed me that I would not only NOT receive shipment, but the entire shipment would be destroyed (not even returned to sender).  About a month later I received the entire shipment including the prohibited item!

 

Bottom line, Customs seems to work in strange and mysterious ways ????

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by WaveHunter