POP Airport

Am leaving next week for POP can you tell me if they are looking at luggage a little better because of the hoof and mouth disease scare. I'm planning, as always to bring plenty of Canadian beef for the barbeque but am a little concerned about fumigation reports, etc. Any info may help, thanks.

The process for me entering Brasil last week to prevent hoof-and-mouth disease was to just step on some spongy chemical coated mat as I exited immigration. No big deal.

I've brought beef into the DR many times, and many times they've seen it and let me pass. A few weeks ago, they confiscated my meatloaf! They told me it needs to be properly packaged and labeled. They seemed to have no problem with frozen beef marked USDA inspected, at least in the past. You'll find out when they look at it. You must declare food products. I've brought back food into the US from the DR many times too. Again, you have to declare it and they scan it but they've never confiscated it. Good luck.

Thanks for the tip Jim. For the past 10 years I have been flying back and forth every couple of months and have always brought frozen, labelled steaks. Never have they even tried to open or look at the luggage.

I wonder if anyone from Customs or any Dominican Government office reads this message board?

Imagine having a free holiday in a Dominican Jail for illegaly bringing meat into the country.

What some people will do to get around the law just to satisfy their own interests and flaunt those of the many in may hurt.

Linda, would you be proud to read of foot and mouth disease being discovered in the Dominican republic after you bring your "Can't live without" Canadian cow into this presently disease fee country.

Shame shame shame on your greed and disregard for others

Someone should alert Customs to Lori

"Linda" or Lorri," why would you wish to illegally bring beef products into a country that presently does not have this insidious disease just to impress a few friends or enjoy your "favorite" steak. If cholesterol and fat are that important to you, wait until this situation has resolved and enjoy your dead cow's muscle at home

The Dominican economy is hardly strong enough to withstand the complete eradication of all cattle, sheep etc. I agree the local steak is not Corn fed Nebraskan or Argentinean Beef, but one would think you could survive for a few weeks given the downside of the destruction of an industry.

Tom

To Jim & Lori...

This sounds very strange to me, and quite a hassle. Do others do this as well? How in the world do you keep the meat from going bad during your voyage? Often I leave the mid-west at 6am and don't arrive to my final destination until midnight. Is North American meat really that important to you and/or better than what the DR has to offer? If you don't like meat in the DR, why not just go vegetarian for a short time?

Signed, Really Curious

Re: Someone should alert Customs to Lori

Part of the reason we have Mad Cow disease is because of contaminated feed (you don't want to know what cows were fed in some so called industrialized countries). I agree that the US is probably the safest place to consume beef products at this point, but we also must be educated consumers and not just rely on a USDA stamp. The USDA is however, trying to do its job by having stiff bans on beef. DR customs should not be allowing travellers to bring meats into the country, regardless of country of origin.

Regards,
Natasha

Re: To Jim & Lori...

My flights are not as long as yours. During my first 5 years visiting the DR, my flight time was a non-stop 3.5 hr. flight out of NYC where I was living. The steaks I bring are either Omaha Steaks (flash frozen and shrink wrapped) or Angus aged. They are a cut above what is normally available even at a fine USA supermarket. Yes, there is a huge difference, even compared to USDA Choice graded steaks. If I knew where to get it in Santo Domingo, I'd gladly pay the premium to avoid the hassle of packaging and carrying the stuff.

I bring them frozen in a flexible cooler with ice, and they arrive, still frozen solid, often in a block of meat 10 or 12 inches long (uncut ribeye). I even checked them in my luggage once and the luggage didn't arrive until a day later. The beef was still frozen solid when I got my luggage. Properly packaged and packed well in an insulated container, beef will stay frozen for a week.

Beef is not illegal to import or even frowned upon, and my steaks are regularly inspected by customs officials. At least it wasn't until this foot-and-mouth issue and even just 3 weeks ago I was told by customs that I could still bring in meat if it is properly packaged and labeled as USDA Inspected (as they confiscated my improperly packaged meatloaf).

I always declare food products. The customs officials are usually more curious about the croissant rolls (in a can). By the way, Camp David in Santiago also serves Omaha Steaks.

They steaks are not for me. I can easily live without them. In fact, it IS a hassle. It is a hassle to bring them and a hassle to cook them. They are brought in as a treat at the request of Dominican friends. Half the neighborhood has been known to join in for a chunk of the freshly barbecued meat, seasoned as only I can season, and some even dance around and declare that the cows in America eat gold. One woman has gone as far as to claim that her baby is so beautiful and healthy as a result of having eaten some of the beef I brought, during her pregnancy.

Regardless, I plan on using the current restrictions as a convenient excuse as to why I didn't bring the beef that my friends seem to like so much. Other things I've brought that people have liked, even though good substitutes are probably readily available, include sprial sliced Honey Baked Ham, Sarah Lee's New York style cheese cake, fresh H&H Bagels, and Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix. Some years back, it was very hard to find briquet style charcoal, so I used to bring that too. Now I just buy it in Santo Domingo.

FYI: Many of the better restaurants in Santo Domingo (and elsewhere) serve imported beef. But there is no comparison to a steak, seasoned they way I do it, and cooked over a charcoal grill. No comparison at all.

Re: To Jim & Lori...

OK Jim, good answer. I get it now! I'm sure some would wonder why in H-E-doublehockeysticks I would attempt to carry 70 lb plastic totes/tubs full of everything under the sun each time I go down...gifts for "family" and others, of course. Although I'm sad to leave each time, I actually look forward to not having to lug so much around Santo Domingo, and through three or four different airports. And I do long for the trip where I won't feel compelled to bring anything but my carry-on with me...ha, ha. Like that day will ever come!

I am advised that customs at Puerto Plata airport are now searchng by scanners for Meat & Dairy product goods on all incoming flights & when found, confiscated & incinerated.

To those of you who enjoy your steaks, the local Sirloin cuts make a wonderful mouthwatering barbeque meal if marrinaded for 24 hours (or more) prior to cooking. As there is virtually NO fat in the local meat, it should be cooked slowly in oil (stove cooking/frying pan) or "off" the flame when barbequed.

Smugguling Beef/Drugs..whats the difference?

When I was there (DR) last month, they were not allowing people to bring food in their luggage. It is those that wish to find out "how well is Customs searching luggage" where the problem arises.

What is the difference in bringing in prohibited food products and prohibited drugs?

If you wish to bring beef into the DR, simply declare it with the Customs or Agriculture inspector and there will be no problem and you will have a "clean conscience"

Flash Freezing

Jim

If I recall anything from my parisitology/histology classes (ECH, refresh my memory), the absolute zero of flash freezing will kiil bacteria and parasites that high temperatures won't even touch.

But the point of my post was "Why question if the DR Customs is searching" for this food if it is banned for a justifiable purpose such as Foot and Mouth or Mad Cow? It's not really that critical for anyone (As you well pointed out) to threaten the livestock industry of a country to satisfy your desire for a couple weeks.

If this proliferation of Mad Cow and Foot and Mouth continues, I think you will find stiffer penalties for smuggling food products than those for drugs.

Are you going to send me the picture of the endangered "Manatee" in the Dental chair? Trust your trip to Rio was all expected?

Tom

Re: Flash Freezing

The DR has always required agricultural products to be declared, hence, I've always declared them. I just mentioned the fact that my beef is usually brought over frozen because Sarah wanted to know how I kept it from spoiling.

The last time I brought meat into the DR was 3/8/1. Per the DR1-News (3/19/1), strict control measures are in now in affect at the airports and meat and dairy products are being confiscated but according to the report on 4/2/1, this only applies to products coming from Europe and South America.

Maybe someone who runs a restaurant and regularly imports their beef can comment. I was told on 3/8/1 by a customs agent that I COULD bring beef in from the USA, if it was properly packaged and labeled. This was told to me by the same customs agent that confiscated my meatloaf, which I had actually brought along with a loaf of bread to eat as sandwiches on the flight for myself and my friend, but we never ate more than half of it.

Believe it or not, I still haven't gotten around to those photos (sorting, cropping, adjusting resolution/contrast/etc.), so maybe this week. I'm still waiting for you to post your experience in the chair, here on the board.

Rio was fun, as always. My Portuguese is becoming rather fluent, and that makes all the difference in the world, just as Spanish makes all the difference in the world when in the Dominican Republic. I plan on continuing my regular rotation of Mexico, Brasil, and the DR while throwing in a new exploration here and there. In Brasil, they are also restricting meats. I both declared some ham that I brought and had the stuff X-rayed, but they did not confiscate it. I did have to walk the sponge matts to disinfect my shoes.

Re: POP Airport to Lori

Interesting that you would use a phony email address ( I'm sitting at home .com), You sound really legit and aboveboard.

You are absolutely right...why anybody should want to go on vacation and take half a butchered cow with them is beyond me..foot and mouth or not....Unless the seasoning is a very special recipe???????