New zealand customs fine - advice

Emmia

lon_85 said:

Thanks for your input everyone - just to clarify why they had the onions in the first place - they were staying in an apartment in the previous city and had to clear it out before vacating it, hence they had leftover food items.

The left over food should have been binned when they left the previous place they were staying at, not packed in their hand luggage (an active decision was taken to do that).

It's not very MSE, but I expect the value of the fine probably exceeds the value of the food they were carrying.

la531983

Emmia said:

lon_85 said:

Thanks for your input everyone - just to clarify why they had the onions in the first place - they were staying in an apartment in the previous city and had to clear it out before vacating it, hence they had leftover food items.

The left over food should have been binned when they left the previous place they were staying at, not packed in their hand luggage (an active decision was taken to do that).

I assume they planned to remove them at home before the next trip, again whats the point of raking over the coals of it, the OP knows all of this, it happened and that cant be changed.

Hes asking can they get out of the fine or not.

jimi_man

Emmia said:

lon_85 said:

Thanks for your input everyone - just to clarify why they had the onions in the first place - they were staying in an apartment in the previous city and had to clear it out before vacating it, hence they had leftover food items.

The left over food should have been binned when they left the previous place they were staying at, not packed in their hand luggage (an active decision was taken to do that).

It's not very MSE, but I expect the value of the fine probably exceeds the value of the food they were carrying.

Yes it should have been but it wasn’t. Which is why this thread exists. I’m struggling to understand why so many people are queuing up to stick their oar into the OP saying that they should have dumped it? The OP is well aware of that as they’ve explained, more than once. It doesn’t matter how many different people say that they should have dumped the food, it’s too late as they didn’t!

I can’t speak for the OP but I’m guessing they saved them so as not to waste them, unaware that they weren’t allowed into NZ. Didn’t see or understand the signs and then it was too late. 

Yes, an expensive lesson, though if they are not going back and don’t bother to pay the fine then it doesn’t matter too much. 

Kim_13

The smaller the quantity of food, the more likely it is that it was a genuine mistake, either genuinely forgetting it was there or missing it when the case was emptied previously. When health issues are manifesting, people may also pack things that others would consider bizarre. So I’m not sure why there seem to be as many or more posts on why the onions were there as what might happen next, when OP hasn’t come here for help on crafting an appeal.

Will the fact that they gave a UK address but are now in India cause any additional issues if they do not pay, above not being able to go through or to NZ again? Presumably OP is in the UK and the parents are more likely to return here.

NoodleDoodleMan

Is it not the point that travellers coming into to NZ have to complete a customs declaration form which includes a section about carrying prohibited foodstuffs into the country, with a warning about failure to declare.

That's how in works in Australia and I assume it's the same in NZ ?

So if you don't act on the caution and fail to declare that's why fines are applied.

Pollycat

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Is it not the point that travellers coming into to NZ have to complete a customs declaration form which includes a section about carrying prohibited foodstuffs into the country, with a warning about failure to declare.

That's how in works in Australia and I assume it's the same in NZ ?

So if you don't act on the caution and fail to declare that's why fines are applied.

That's exactly the point.

When we fly anywhere, I make sure that I don't have any food with me as we disembark.
You even have to be careful entering EU countries.

Whether a mistake, forgetfulness or whatever, one of the OP's parent signed a declaration that was incorrect.
And they were issued with a fine as a result.

TELLIT01

Emmia said:

How do you "forget" you've packed two onions?!

If you watched any of the various border control programmes you wouldn't be in the least surprised that somebody has 'forgotton' they have packed prohibited food.  Generally far more than just a couple of onions.  Most then claim that their mother or granny packed their bags.

marcia_

la531983 said:

marcia_ said:

la531983 said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Apologies for stating the obvious - why not ditch the offending onions in a rubbish bin or similar ?

Because they didnt realise they were there until they got to Customs?
Also, airports are full of CCTV, they could have easily been spotted between the arrivals gate and the customs check on camera disposing of contraband, thats assuming there was even a bin to begin with, and also assuming they realised they were there, which they clearly didnt.

I dont think the OP came here asking for advice on how to deal with his parents who clearly are struggling with forgetfulness, it will no doubt happen to many of us when we get older.

 There are loads of signs and bins on the walk up to customs telling you to dispose of prohibited goods. 

Fair enough, the very first line of my post still stands though.  I dont really see the point of raking over the coals of the ifs and the whys of the incident tbf.

I went through security at an airport once and forgot I still had a can of deodorant in my carry on, I had it disposed of, people forget things, amazingly it happens.

 Yup i was stopped because i had scissors in my carry on. Totally forgot they were in there. 

NoodleDoodleMan

When I was a student, back in the Middle Ages, I got a job at a summer camp in the USA.

My mother gave me "emergency rations" for the flight - by the time we landed I had forgotten (genuinely) about a cheese roll that hadn't been scoffed.

The immigration agent at Boston asked if I had any prohibited foodstuffs, at that point I realised I had what might be classified as contraband - and readily confessed to my sins.

No big deal, the offending item was dumped and I got into the country without joining the FBI Most Wanted list !!!

The bottom line is that if you openly admit to having such stuff there is unlikely to be a big issue.

baser999

unforeseen said:

baser999 said:

Would they have got away with it had they been Swedes? 

Swedes, onions? No difference really, both are veg. 

Looks like my attempt at humour, linking vegetables and nationality, has been lost on you 😏