US Customs and Border Safety Cracks Down on Egg Smugglers

United States Customs and Border Safety officers have been intercepting egg smugglers at a higher-than-normal price.

Due to an enormous egg scarcity in the USA, linked to the rise in chicken flu circumstances at farms nationwide, border brokers have seen a rise in individuals making an attempt to convey eggs throughout the border — usually cracking underneath strain alongside the way in which — notably on the nation’s southern border with Mexico.

In accordance with a information launch from the company, greater than 90 individuals tried to convey eggs throughout the border within the El Paso space in January alone, redefining the notion of free-range eggs. Sidney Aki, director of area operations for the San Diego workplace, posted on X that the workplace “has observed a rise within the variety of eggs intercepted at our ports of entry” lately.

The company stories a 29% rise in makes an attempt to convey eggs — a banned merchandise alongside poultry, meat, greens, and fruit — into the U.S. from Mexico between October 2024 and February 2025, in comparison with the identical interval the earlier 12 months. “As a reminder, uncooked eggs are prohibited entry from Mexico into the U.S.,” Aki states. “CBP encourages vacationers to declare all agriculture objects to keep away from penalties.”

Whereas most circumstances contain residents making an attempt to keep away from excessive egg costs within the U.S. by buying cheaper choices in Mexico, some people could knowingly bypass laws and smuggle the eggs throughout the border.

Penalties for failure to declare may be steep, reaching as much as $10,000 relying on the circumstances. Non-commercial civil penalties for a first-time offense may be as excessive as $1,000.

In January, CBP agricultural specialists in El Paso issued 16 civil penalties totaling practically $4,000, all linked to smuggling prohibited agricultural and meals merchandise, together with uncooked eggs. “Importation of uncooked/recent eggs into the USA is mostly prohibited resulting from considerations about ailments akin to Extremely Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and Virulent Newcastle illness (ND),” the company states. “Vacationers are prohibited from bringing in recent eggs, uncooked rooster, unprocessed avian merchandise, and dwell birds into the USA.”

Because the avian flu epidemic continues to devastate rooster populations, American farms are shedding vital numbers of birds. A report from the College of Minnesota signifies that greater than 156 million birds have been misplaced for the reason that outbreak started in 2022. Bernt Nelson, an economist for the Farm Bureau, says that 43 million birds had been misplaced in January and February of this 12 months alone — practically 25% of all birds affected by the outbreak.

The decline in chickens has pushed up egg costs resulting from supply-and-demand pressures. In an effort to fight the scarcity, the U.S. and Turkey have introduced a plan to import over 16,000 tons of eggs from Turkey via July. Not like the eggs being smuggled throughout the border, these government-sanctioned imports are legally permitted to assist stabilize the American market.