US import of Spice Necklaces and other spices

From reading the forum it is clear that spices and spice necklasses are a popular thing to bring back from Granada. I am worried, though, whether they will be allowed through customs and agricultural inspections in San Juan and/or Florida. It would be a shame to have them confiscated.

Can anyone give me in idea on what to expect?

From reading the forum it is clear that spices and spice necklasses are a popular thing to bring back from Granada. I am worried, though, whether they will be allowed through customs and agricultural inspections in San Juan and/or Florida. It would be a shame to have them confiscated.

 

Can anyone give me in idea on what to expect?

I brought back a lot of spices on our last cruise to Grenada, and plan to buy more this time around. I fully declared it on the customs slip and had no problem at all.

We had a couple of gift baskets of spices in plastic bags (you could still smell them). Also declared them on the Customs form. No questions, no problem.

Art

Have brought home spices with no issues. My only recommendation is to bring a ziploc type bag from home to put them all in. They are very strong. I declared them as well. When he asked what food, I said spices and he had no problems with it. He said they were looking for things like fresh fruit.

Thanks for the replies. I also posted the query on the San Juan board, since that is where we will have the agricultural inspection. Ray was kind enough to send this information, which is spot on for what I was looking for. Hopefully it will help someone else also.

'This document on the USDA web site tells you _exactly_ what items are, and are not, permitted to be transported from Puerto Rico to the US mainland ... APHIS Predeparture Passenger Baggage Inspection Notice for Travelers From Puerto Rico to the US Mainland'

We have brought home spices from Grenada and never had any issue. We saw dozens of Americans buying them from the various shops and no one had any idea we could not legally bring them home.

We always declare everything so I'm sure we listed them if we had to make a detailed declaration.

I have heard a few people mention that we should only buy FDA approved spices. Really? How important is this and can we buy FDA approved spices at the market?

From reading the forum it is clear that spices and spice necklasses are a popular thing to bring back from Granada. I am worried, though, whether they will be allowed through customs and agricultural inspections in San Juan and/or Florida. It would be a shame to have them confiscated.

 

Can anyone give me in idea on what to expect?

I brought spices back from Grenada when I went there 2 years ago. No one stopped me! They were really good to use at home too. My mom and my FMIL loved them.

Just returned from our cruise and had purchased spices and spice necklaces in Grenada. Declared them on my US Customs form in Fort Lauderdale and on my Canadian Customs form when we reached Montreal. No problem either place. I asked the Canadian Border Services agent whether we had actually been required to declare it on our forms and he said it was the correct thing to do.

They are evidently considered a processed item and may be brought back into Canada & the USA.

Fantastic to see our spices reaching the rest of the world. :D A cautionary note though as I noted one poster make mention of ziploc bags. These will keep the strong smell of spices in that is true but do be careful as they also cause the spice necklaces to go mouldy very quickly. So if you buy them early on in your cruise I would recommend for the necklaces getting a brown paper bag (the good vendors should have these for you) to put them in as this allows them to breathe.

I also read a good tip from one poster that the vendors will tell you when the smell does finally fade (I'm a year on now ans they still smell lovely) to dip them in hot water and then air dry. The poster said to pop them in the microwave for a few seconds and it does work :D

Fantastic to see our spices reaching the rest of the world. :D A cautionary note though as I noted one poster make mention of ziploc bags. These will keep the strong smell of spices in that is true but do be careful as they also cause the spice necklaces to go mouldy very quickly. So if you buy them early on in your cruise I would recommend for the necklaces getting a brown paper bag (the good vendors should have these for you) to put them in as this allows them to breathe.

 

I also read a good tip from one poster that the vendors will tell you when the smell does finally fade (I'm a year on now ans they still smell lovely) to dip them in hot water and then air dry. The poster said to pop them in the microwave for a few seconds and it does work :D

Yep, mine went mouldy cos I didn't take them out of the little bag...