IN THE ERA OF BIRD FLU H1N5
Egg Smuggling Is on the Rise at the US Border as Prices Soar

Jelisa Castrodale
Fri, January 20, 2023 

U.S. Customs and Border Protections says it's experienced a 108% increase in the number of eggs and poultry products seized at U.S. ports of entry.

Nikada / Getty Images

The cost of eggs has steadily increased over the last year, to the point where all of us have probably stared at the price and thought, “that can’t be right.” But it’s true: The average cost for a dozen eggs hit $4.25 in December — and in some states, 12 eggs are selling for over $7.

But in Juarez, Mexico, shoppers can pick up a mega-carton of 30 eggs for the incredible-by-comparison price of $3.40. That kind of bargain seems to have prompted some U.S. citizens to travel across the border to buy eggs in Mexico, despite the fact that it’s against federal law to bring uncooked eggs or poultry products across the border.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), between October 1 and December 31, 2022, it saw a 108% increase in the number of eggs and poultry products seized at U.S. ports of entry.

“My advice is, don’t bring them over,” CBP Supervisory Agriculture Specialist Charles Payne told the online publication Border Report. “If you fail to declare them or try to smuggle them, you face civil penalties.”

Those penalties aren’t cheap, either. The fines for bringing undeclared raw eggs into the U.S. start at $300 and could increase to as much as $10,000. Before you get any ideas, no, you can’t just declare your egg haul to CBP officers and then drive home to make a less-expensive omelet. Even declared raw eggs will be seized and incinerated, but declaring that you’re transporting eggs will save you from any financial penalties.

“The advantage of declaring it is, we will pick it up with no penalty issued,” Payne said. “If you fail to declare it or if you attempt to smuggle it, there’s going to be a penalty.”

On Wednesday, Jennifer De La O, the Director of Field Operations at the CBP’s office in San Diego, tweeted that those ports of entry have also seen an uptick in egg smugglers.


“The San Diego Field Office has recently noticed an increase in the number of eggs intercepted at our ports of entry,” she wrote. “As a reminder, uncooked eggs are prohibited entry from Mexico into the U.S. Failure to declare agriculture items can result in penalties of up to $10,000.”

Specialist Payne did confirm to NBC San Diego that “personal meals” containing cooked eggs or cooked poultry would be allowed to cross the border. Sounds like you might want to get that omelet to go.

Customs officials are seizing eggs at the U.S.-Mexico border

Khristopher J. Brooks
Fri, January 20, 2023 

U.S. customs officials are cracking down on egg smugglers.

With egg prices soaring in the U.S. over the last year, more Americans are crossing into Mexico to buy the food item and trying to sneak cartons of raw eggs along some areas of the southern border, including California and Texas.

"We are seeing an increase in people attempting to cross eggs from Juarez to El Paso because they are significantly less expensive in Mexico than the U.S.," U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Roger Maier told CBS MoneyWatch. "This is also occurring with added frequency at other Southwest border locations."

Egg prices have soared 60% in a year. Here's why.

Jennifer De La O, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection field operations director in San Diego, said in a tweet this week that her office "has recently noticed an increase in the number of eggs intercepted at our ports." Failure to declare agricultural items while entering the U.S. can carry fines of up to $10,000, she added.

Federal law prohibits travelers from bringing certain agriculture products — including eggs, as well as live chickens and turkeys — into the U.S. "because they may carry plant pests and foreign animal diseases," according to customs rules. Eggs from Mexico have been banned from entering the U.S. since 2012, according to the USDA. Cooked eggs are allowable under USDA guidelines.

A 30-count carton of eggs confiscated in January at a El Paso, Texas, border checkpoint. / Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The number of incidents in which raw eggs were confiscated at U.S. borders jumped more than 100% during the final three months of 2022 compared to the same period a year ago, according to Border Report, an online news site focused on immigration issues. The price for a 30-count carton of eggs in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, is $3.40, according to Border Report.

Egg prices in the U.S. have surged to an average of $4.25 a dozen, up from roughly $1.79 a year ago, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The cost of processed eggs — used in liquid or powdered form in manufactured products including salad dressing, cake mix and chips — has also risen.

Those price increases are being driven by growing consumer demand along with a decrease in domestic egg supplies caused by an avian flu epidemic that has devastated U.S. poultry flocks.

Nearly 58 million birds have been infected with the disease, while more than 43 million egg-laying hens have been slaughtered, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making it the deadliest avian flu outbreak in American history. USDA officials are investigating what caused the outbreak.

People entering the U.S. must declare eggs at the border, Charles Payne, supervisory agriculture specialist at U.S. Customs in El Paso, Texas, told Border Report. A customs officer will still confiscate the eggs and have them destroyed, but will waive the penalty for the offender.

"We don't want to issue the penalties, but occasionally we have to," Payner told Border Report. "So if you declare what you've got, there won't be an issue."