What to Declare at US Customs

Updated September 2026 · Vacation Checklists

Start with the sentence that fixes most of the anxiety: declaring something is not the same as paying for it. The declaration is a disclosure, not a bill. Most of what travelers bring home clears without anyone owing anything, and the trouble almost always comes from the opposite direction, from an item that was not mentioned rather than one that was.

Knowing what to declare at US customs comes down to two questions you answer honestly on arrival: everything you acquired abroad and still have with you, and anything that grew, was harvested, or came off an animal. Get those two right and the rest is paperwork.

Before you buy the thing, settle whether you can even fly with it using our can I bring it checker, which covers what US screening allows in a bag. Our guide to bringing food through airport security covers the checkpoint side of food, which is a separate question from customs.

Updated September 2026. Customs rules, prohibited item lists, and the declaration technology all change, and agricultural restrictions change with outbreaks and seasons. US Customs and Border Protection at cbp.gov is the authority for your arrival, and the officer in front of you applies it.

A note on numbers. This page gives you the rules, not the figures. Duty rates, personal exemption values, gift allowances, and the currency reporting threshold are set by CBP and by statute, they change, and a number printed here would eventually be wrong for somebody. Every one of them is published on cbp.gov, and the officer can tell you on the spot.

What to Declare at US Customs: The Full List

The declaration covers everything in checked bags, carry on bags, your pockets, and any vehicle you are crossing in. The categories below are the ones that actually matter.

The safest reading of the form is the broad one. If you are not sure a thing belongs on the list, put it on the list. Declaring an admissible item costs you nothing. Failing to declare an inadmissible one is where the penalties live.

How the Declaration Actually Happens Now

The paper form has not disappeared, but for most arriving travelers it is no longer the default. There are four routes, and which one you take depends on your status and your airport.

1. CBP Declaration Form 6059B, on paper. The classic blue and white card, handed out on the aircraft or available in the arrivals hall. It asks who you are, where you traveled, how long you were away, whether you are bringing agricultural or wildlife products, whether you were on a farm, whether you are carrying commercial merchandise, whether you are carrying currency over the reporting threshold, and the total value of everything you acquired abroad. One form covers a family traveling together.

2. Automated Passport Control kiosks. Available to many arriving travelers at airports that still have them. You scan your passport, answer the same declaration questions on the screen, have your photo taken, and take a printed receipt to an officer. It is the paper form with a touchscreen in front of it.

3. Global Entry portals and kiosks. Members make the declaration through the Global Entry process rather than on paper, answering the questions on screen where a kiosk asks them and telling the officer directly where a portal does not. The questions are the same questions, and the obligation is the same obligation. A membership speeds up the line, and it does not narrow what you have to disclose. It also gives CBP a much cleaner record of your answers, which is exactly why an undeclared item found in a member's bag is treated harshly. If your card is approaching its expiration, our guide to Global Entry renewal covers the window and the steps. Dual citizens should also read our guide on which passport to use, since a US citizen comes through this line on a US passport.

4. Mobile Passport Control. CBP's own free app, available to US citizens, lawful permanent residents, returning Visa Waiver Program travelers with an approved authorization, and Canadian visitors in certain categories. No pre approval and no interview. You build a profile, take a selfie on arrival, answer the declaration questions in the app, and submit while the aircraft is still taxiing or once you reach the terminal. The submission is time limited, so do it on arrival rather than the night before. Download it before you leave home, because the arrivals hall is the worst place to be installing an app.

Whichever route you take, you finish the process with a human being. The kiosk and the app sort the line, they do not replace the officer, and the officer can ask about anything on your declaration or anything in your bag.

Agricultural Items: The Most Common Way People Get Fined

If a returning traveler gets a penalty at a US border, it very often involves food, a plant, or something that came off an animal. Not smuggling. A sandwich.

The reason is that agricultural inspection is protecting an industry from pests and diseases, and the risk does not scale with the size of the item. One piece of fruit can carry a fruit fly. One link of cured sausage can carry a livestock disease. So the enforcement does not scale with size either.

The rules of thumb that keep people out of trouble:

• Fresh fruit and vegetables are heavily restricted. USDA APHIS, the agency that sets the agricultural import rules CBP enforces, says almost all fresh fruits and vegetables are prohibited, and admissibility depends on the specific item and the country you are arriving from. One change worth knowing: since June 17, 2024, tomatoes and peppers for personal use are allowed from most countries, though not from Canada in passenger baggage. Declare them either way.
• Meat and poultry products are broadly prohibited from most of the world, and that includes cured, dried, canned, and vacuum sealed products that feel shelf stable and safe. The famous cases are all jamon, salami, and biltong.
• Dairy and eggs depend on origin, and soft cheeses attract more attention than hard ones.
• Seeds, plants, cuttings, and bulbs need advance permits and phytosanitary paperwork for anything intended for growing.
• Soil is not admissible without a permit obtained in advance, and hiking boots carry soil.
• Baked goods, packaged snacks, roasted coffee, honey, and most candy are usually fine. Declare them anyway.
• The farm question is not a formality. If you visited a farm, a market with live animals, or a ranch, say so. An agriculture specialist may want to look at your shoes, which takes a few minutes and ends there.

The mechanic that matters: a prohibited item you declare, in a non commercial quantity, can generally be abandoned at the port of entry, and it is then destroyed. The same item found in your bag after you said you had nothing can bring a civil penalty, and repeat findings are treated more seriously. Declaring does not promise that nothing else will happen, but it puts you on the right side of the line.

Beekeepers, gardeners, and anyone who hunts or fishes abroad should look up their specific situation before departure rather than on arrival, because those cases involve permits that cannot be arranged at the border. Our travel document checklist covers the paperwork that has to exist before you fly.

Currency: A Reporting Rule, Not a Tax

There is no limit on how much money you may carry into or out of the United States. There is a requirement to report amounts above a threshold set in federal law, and the report is a separate form from the customs declaration.

Some specifics worth knowing:

• "Money" is broader than cash. It covers US and foreign currency, travelers checks, money orders, and negotiable instruments in bearer form.
• The threshold applies to the group, not just to you. A family traveling together cannot split the total among several people to stay under it. That splitting is itself treated as an attempt to evade the requirement.
• It applies leaving as well as arriving.
• Reporting costs you nothing. There is no tax, no duty, and no fee attached to filing it. The money is not seized because you reported it.
• Not reporting is the serious version. Failure to file, or filing something false, exposes the funds to seizure and forfeiture and carries civil and criminal penalties.

The current threshold and the form are both on cbp.gov. If you are anywhere near a large number, look it up before you pack the cash and ask an officer on arrival rather than guessing.

Declaring Versus Being Charged

These are different steps, and conflating them is what makes people nervous enough to stay quiet.

Step one is disclosure. You state what you acquired and what it is worth. Keep receipts, and keep them together rather than scattered through three bags.

Step two is assessment, and it happens only sometimes. Returning residents get a personal exemption, an amount of acquired goods that comes in free of duty. The size of that exemption depends on which countries you visited and how long you were gone, and it comes with conditions: a minimum length of stay abroad, goods that are with you rather than shipped, items for personal use or as gifts, and a waiting period before you can use a full exemption again. Above the exemption, an officer assesses duty, and the rate depends on the item.

The practical version for a normal vacation: most travelers do not come close, and the assessment step never happens. The declaration takes ten seconds and ends with the officer waving you through.

Two categories that fall outside the easy path:

Commercial merchandise and samples. Anything intended for resale, for a trade show, or for your business is not covered by a personal exemption and is treated as an import. Say so on the form. The rules are genuinely different and getting them wrong looks like an attempt to import commercially under a tourist label.

Alcohol and tobacco. Quantity limits apply on top of value, and the state you land in can be stricter than federal rules. Declare the bottles.

One more thing worth doing before you leave. If you are traveling with a valuable item you bought in the US, especially newer electronics, a camera body, or jewelry, carry the receipt or register it with CBP before departure. It prevents the awkward conversation where you have to prove the laptop was not acquired abroad. That registration is done before you go, not on the way back.

Secondary Inspection, and What It Is Not

Being sent to secondary inspection feels alarming and usually is not. It is a room, or a marked lane, where an officer has the time to do something the primary line cannot accommodate.

Common reasons it happens:

• Your declaration includes agricultural items that need an agriculture specialist to look at
• Your declared total is high enough to warrant assessing duty
• A random referral, which is exactly what it sounds like
• A name, a travel pattern, or a records question that needs resolving
• Something in a bag scan needs a closer look

How it goes if you are straightforward. Answer the questions directly, open the bag when asked, produce receipts, and let the item in question be examined. Inadmissible food that you declared is usually abandoned and destroyed, you may sign a form, and you leave. In the routine case it costs you time.

What makes it worse. Arguing, changing your story, producing an item you previously said you did not have, or being caught in a contradiction between what you said at a kiosk and what is in your suitcase. The kiosk and app answers are a record, and a false statement to a federal officer is a separate problem from the undeclared apple.

You do not need a lawyer to get through a normal agricultural inspection, and you are not being accused of anything by being referred.

If You Forget Something

It happens. A friend slips a jar of honey into your bag. You find the orange from the plane in your coat pocket while standing in line.

Tell an officer, immediately, before your bags are searched. Voluntarily correcting a declaration before an inspection is a completely different situation from having the item found. In the ordinary case the item is surrendered, though the officer still decides how the matter is handled.

The order of operations matters more than the item does:

1. Speak up in the line, at the kiosk, or to the officer taking your declaration. Amending a declaration is normal and officers handle it every day.
2. If you are already at the exit and realize it, go back to an officer rather than walking out with it.
3. Do not hide it, and do not throw it in a trash can in the arrivals hall. Agricultural disposal bins before the checkpoint exist for exactly this and using one is fine. Dumping something after you have declared nothing is not.

What is actually at risk if you say nothing and it is found: the item is forfeited, a civil penalty can be issued, and repeat findings escalate. Trusted traveler members have an additional exposure, because an undeclared item is grounds for revoking a membership, and revocation is far harder to undo than a fine is to pay.

If this is your first trip abroad and the whole arrival sequence sounds intimidating, our guide to first international trip tips walks through the rest of the airport day in order.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to declare food at US customs?

Yes, all of it. Fresh, packaged, homemade, given to you, or bought at an airport shop, every food item goes on the declaration. Many packaged goods, baked items, and roasted coffee are admissible and you keep them. The point of declaring is that a prohibited item you disclosed can generally be abandoned at the port of entry, whereas an undeclared one found in your bag can mean a civil penalty.

What happens if I forget to declare something?

Tell an officer as soon as you realize, before your bags are inspected. A voluntarily corrected declaration is usually resolved by surrendering the item. An item found after you declared nothing can be forfeited and can carry a civil penalty, and for a trusted traveler it can cost the membership.

Do I have to declare gifts I am bringing home?

Yes. Gifts you bought for other people and gifts that were given to you both count as acquired abroad, and both go on the declaration at their value. The fact that no money changed hands for a gift you received does not exempt it. Gifts may fall within your personal exemption, which is a separate question from whether you disclose them.

Is there a limit on how much money I can bring into the US?

No limit, but there is a reporting requirement above a threshold set in federal law, and it applies to your traveling group as a whole and in both directions. Filing the report costs nothing and triggers no tax. Failing to file, or splitting the money among travelers to stay under the threshold, can lead to seizure of the funds and to civil and criminal penalties.

Does declaring something mean I have to pay duty?

Usually not. Returning residents get a personal exemption that covers a certain value of goods free of duty, and most vacation shopping falls under it. Duty applies above the exemption, and the rate depends on the item. Declaring is disclosure. Paying, if it happens at all, is a separate step the officer handles after you disclose.

Can I use Mobile Passport Control instead of the paper form?

Yes, if you are eligible, and it is free with no pre approval. US citizens, lawful permanent residents, returning Visa Waiver Program travelers with an approved authorization, and Canadian visitors in certain categories can use the app. You answer the same declaration questions on your phone on arrival, then see an officer. Install it before your trip, not in the arrivals hall.

What does customs do with food they take from me?

Prohibited agricultural items are taken and destroyed. When you declared the item and it was a non commercial quantity, you can generally abandon it at the port of entry, and you may be asked to sign a form acknowledging that. An undeclared item found in your bag is the version that can bring a civil penalty, which is why declaring a questionable item is always the safer choice.

Do I need to declare items I am carrying for someone else?

Yes, and you should think hard before agreeing to carry anything at all. Once a bag is in your possession, its contents are your declaration and your responsibility, and "a friend asked me to bring it" is not a defense. Never accept a sealed package from someone you do not know well.

Next step: check anything questionable against our can I bring it checker before you buy it abroad, keep your receipts in one envelope, and answer the two big questions honestly on arrival. Sort the rest of the paperwork with the travel document checklist, and if the airport day itself is the unfamiliar part, read first international trip tips.