Preclearance and farmer John

Old May 5th, 2014, 01:28 PM
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Preclearance and farmer John

I am just learning about preclearance Shannon to JFK and noticed you need to declare if you have been to a farm. We will have visited Kissane Sheep farm in Kerry with the kids. Do you suppose this will require a longer preflight lead time? Has anyone been through this? Is the usual 3 hours prior to international flights still appropriate?
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Old May 5th, 2014, 01:38 PM
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Naw. They will ask and then on you go. At least that was my experience time before last. Don't even remember it being mentioned this last time. But do give yourself the 3 hours just in case the lines are long or something.
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Old May 5th, 2014, 02:50 PM
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They may look at your shoes and nothing more!

Real agricultural checks I believe are done Stateside - I once was told I had to go thru such a check in the U.S. after arriving and they saw me eating a banana in the baggage room waiting for my bags - I wanted to get rid of it before Customs - a dog came up and put his head on my day pack on the ground and would not budge - the banana I had been eating had been in the bag and the dog smelt it.

I had to put all my bags thru some special machine that would detect any agricultural stuff.

Personally I would not tell Customs I had been to a farm at all and make sure your shoes don't have sheep dung on them!
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Old May 5th, 2014, 03:53 PM
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The more I think about it, the time they asked about farm visits we were put into a separate line but since we were the only ones in it, we got through faster than we would have had we fibbed.

Never had an agricultural check stateside, neither NY or NJ.
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Old May 6th, 2014, 05:51 PM
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we had to walk through some disinfectant one time coming into Ireland from England. Think the mad cow thing was going on.
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Old May 6th, 2014, 06:05 PM
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I just came back from doing preclearance in Dublin. I answered truthfully that I'd been on a farm, but not handled livestock. I check the boxes truthfully b/c I have absolutely no poker face capability.

The agent didn't like my farm B&Bs, but liked that I'd washed the boots before coming to the airport. He check them visually and gave me go ahead. He said washing them is what they would do if not liking the way they looked (any sign of dirt/muck).

Two previous experiences with preclearance had immigration in Ireland and customs at my home airport (we exited airplane and followed hallways to baggage carousels just in front of the customs check). This time the same agent in Ireland did both my immigration and customs checking, so after landing we exited straight into the international arrivals and out the door to go home.


I remember on my first trips 5+ years ago that the wording of the question was something about being on a farm in the past 2 weeks and I'd check yes .. my trip was less than 2 weeks and I live on a farm! The question's wording now is clearly meant for the trip
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Old May 6th, 2014, 07:57 PM
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To fib or not to fib, that is the question. Thank you for the heads up. I think we'll be fine as long as we have the standard 3 hours and take care of any dirty shoes. I just thought the farm visit might cause us to be singled out and add time to check in or require we go through the line with the usual suspects for bad behavior. When we went to Italy we had a salume issue and I'd hate to repeat it. It's still cause for petulance and a minor rant if mentioned to my DH. : )

Scotlib- I have a pretty pooroker face myself not to mention 2 teenagers who would never forget it if we were to fib.
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Old May 6th, 2014, 07:59 PM
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Hmm. That's poor poker face not pooroker. Didn't realize that was a word that could auto correct.
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Old May 7th, 2014, 12:34 AM
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The fear customs have is that you might go home and infect one of the many Chemical laden US farms with a bit of Irish semi if not wholly Organic dirt fragments..

I think this question was thrown onto the form back in the days of the Foot & Mouth epidemic which ravaged Ireland back in 2001 after Irish farms being clear of all nastiness for about 60 years. There will no doubt come a time when the question will be reviewed but then again I still have a set of old Inch sized spanners if I ever get a job back on the oil..
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Old May 7th, 2014, 02:23 AM
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It is irresponsible to lie about this issue, especially for the sake of saving a few minutes in line.

BSE (mad cow disease) required many thousands of cows to be uselessly slaughtered. The US has had very few cases, but bans on importing US beef cost more than $1 billion to US trade. And then there are plant diseases that have caused huge disruptions to the citrus industry, and on and on.

Wash your shoes, don't bring back fresh vegetables or fruit, be honest with the agricultural inspectors. You are paying them to protect you.
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Old May 7th, 2014, 04:04 AM
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That question has always been on the customs form in the US for as long as I've been traveling internationally, which is quite a long time. There's a valid scientific reason why the US is so cautious about fruits, vegetables, and farm visits. The Americas are even more vulnerable to exotic pests than other continents because of their isolation from widescale intercontinental migration for millennia.

Just think of the devastation in both North America and Europe caused by Dutch Elm disease, which actually originated in Asia.

The state of Hawaii is even more vulnerable to foreign pests than the rest of the US. They have their own rigid controls even for visitors from the mainland US.

I would never knowingly violate any agricultural ban when traveling. It's a totally irresponsible thing to do or to encourage. Some of the bans may be silly, but nearly everyone who has introduced a foreign pest somewhere has been convinced that whatever they were bringing in was innocuous.

I live in a rural part of Italy, and have sometimes checked off the box on the US customs form that asks about farm visits. I've never had any consequences on arrival in the US other than a few questions.
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Old May 7th, 2014, 06:14 AM
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Back in 2000 or 2001 (in my younger, more sarcastic days), I remember being asked if we had visited any farms during our trip.
I looked at the fellow and asked him, "Have you ever BEEN to Ireland?"
He was NOT amused . . .
Nor was he with my Second answer: "No. We were in West Cork".

The point was, that during the Hoof and Mouth Outbreak, you couldn't enter ANY Public Building (Shop, Church, Petrol Station, airport) without walking over a spongy mat, laden with Disinfectant -- as simply walking over the same ground as someone who HAD been on a farm was deemed as potentially contagion-spreading!
All those 'Clever' photos of herds of sheep or cows blocking the road labeled, "Irish Traffic Jam" PROVE my point.
The 'Visiting A Farm' question is Ludacris, Overly Simplistic and Valueless.
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Old May 7th, 2014, 07:17 AM
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I'd stfu. Why bother with the extra hassle?
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Old May 7th, 2014, 07:18 AM
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Ackislander - it was never my intention to lie merely to ensure we gave sufficient time for the screening or to pass on the farm visit altogether depending on how much additional time might be needed. Not only would lying be unethical , it would set a terrible example for our children.
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Old May 7th, 2014, 10:13 AM
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Well with kids in tow I agree with Cjar!
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Old May 7th, 2014, 10:36 AM
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Char, I was not referring to you. Your question was indeed responsible. Some of the responders were not.
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Old May 7th, 2014, 11:02 AM
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Unless there is a SPECIFIC 'threat' -- another outbreak of 'Mad Cow' or Hoof and Mouth, or such -- It is likely a 'Non-Issue' and shouldn't have any significant impact on transit times.
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Old May 7th, 2014, 11:13 AM
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Mad Cow... I knew there was a reason I wasn't quite normal eating offal from cows that had "Staggers" back in the 60's pity nobody gave it a name until the 90's
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Old May 8th, 2014, 11:01 AM
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Thank you everyone. I am sure we'll be fine with 3 hours. It sounds like a non issue. If it were, do you think they'd take our shoes the way they confiscated our Barolo soaked salume? : )

Tony2Phones- I've known a few people prone to the "staggers" , but I am pretty sure it wasn't from eating beef.
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Old May 8th, 2014, 12:35 PM
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hi Cjar, my agent made it sound like my boots would have been washed and returned, mostly by omission - he mentioned washing, but no word or hint of keeping.

I arrived at DUB 4 hours before my flight (it was when the most convenient bus time arrived). My sister and I had time to use the facilities, check in, go through the terminal security, eat something and shop for a while, all before our flight was listed as go to pre-clearance (about 2 hours before the flight time).

Going through preclearance is considered arriving home. Fresh foods, meats, etc, must stay behind. To eat a meat sandwich while waiting in the terminal is fine, but it has to be finished before going through preclearance.

Cheers.
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