US on guard against chocolate eggs from Canada

The United States takes its ban on chocolate eggs with toys inside very seriously, a Canadian woman discovered when she was threatened at the border with a 300-dollar fine over a Kinder Surprise, media said.

Public broadcaster CBC said Lind Bird was stopped at the US border last month and selected for a random search of her vehicle. Authorities found and seized a two-dollar Kinder Surprise as illegal contraband.

"It's just a chocolate egg," Bird told CBC. "And they were making a big deal. They said: 'If you were caught with this across the border you would get charged a 300-dollar fine.'"

"It's ridiculous," she added.

Ferrero first launched the confection in Italy in 1972, but has been denied access to the US market over concerns that tiny toys hidden inside the eggs pose a choking hazard to small children. The United States also prohibits embedding non-food items in confectionery.

They have been available in Canada since 1975, as well as several other countries, and are especially popular around Christian holidays.

Health Canada has determined that small children do not have the manual dexterity to crack open the eggs, and so are unlikely to inhale or choke on the trinkets inside that usually require assembly.

Mike Milne, a spokesman for US customs and border protection, said US authorities confiscated more than 25,000 of the treats in 2,000 separate seizures in 2009, the most recent year figures are available.

"It's mostly individuals that bring them across land borders and airports. They come around twice a year, at Christmas and Easter," he told AFP.

While it may seem trivial to some, US authorities followed up with a seven-page letter asking Bird to formally authorize the destruction of her seized Kinder egg, she told CBC.

"I thought it was a joke. I had to read it twice. But they are serious," she said.

The letter reportedly stated if Bird wished to contest the seizure, she would have to pay a minimum 250 US dollars for it to be stored as the two sides squabbled over the egg.

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Source: SMH