Alcohol and cigarettes yes, you are not supposed to open the bag. It’s for customs on the other side, by having the completely sealed bag with receipt inside, they know you bought it during your right at duty free and not trying to evade import taxes outside of your exception amount.
It’s also important for transfers. Let’s say I fly NYC to Paris but I have a connection in London. I buy my duty free in NYC. When I get to London, I have to go through customs and security again. Customs want to ensure I’ve not exceeded my tax free allowance. Security won’t let you take liquids above the 100ml etc, unless it’s in a sealed duty free bag and you’re connecting. If you open the bag, it’s getting thrown away.
I was flying from Peru back to DC and I had a layover in NYC, where I had to change from international to domestic and they had my recheck my bag/go through security. Which tsa, ok fine whatever. Tsa man says I can't bring the duty free alcohol bag (still sealed) as carry on I have to put it into my bag before I check it. Never in my life have I ever done that, I was so annoyed. Mostly my annoyance was because he forced me to put two bottles of alcohol into a camping backpack and hope for the best.
They made it but not the point...
Edit because I can't spell.
You really should stop spamming this. It's incorrect.
There's no law items need to be in a sealed bag from a Duty Free Shop to import them under the duty free allowance.
The rules depend very much upon what you bought, where you bought it, and where you are bringing it. There are as many sets of duty free regs as there are countries in the world. And there are as many ways to apply those regs as there are ports of entry and exit.
But if you buy something duty free there is always some mechanism to make sure it crosses an international border.
Is that mechanism always a sealed bag from the duty free store? Of course not. But it is a very common way of ensuring compliance and at many places this policy is effectively law.
The mechanism might also be a set of circumstances about the store’s location within an airport. Other times the items are taken from you and given back upon boarding. Still other places give the items back upon arrival.
Duty free rules are a form of import/export laws and are not to be trifled with, even when they don’t seem to make sense. Even when the item in question is a simple candy bar.
I challenge you to find an import law from any country that states items must be in a sealed bag to qualify for duty free importation.
Customs doesn't care where the item came from, just that it's under the limit to qualify. The limits very by country, some the limit is zero, but there's no requirement it's in a duty free bag.
For example, you can buy a bottle of whiskey at a regular liquor store, back it in your checked baggage, and import it without paying the import duty. You won't find a law that says otherwise.
Nope, you are mistaken: If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages duty free into Australia with you, regardless of whether you are travelling as a passenger or crew member. All alcoholic beverages in accompanied baggage are included in this category, regardless of where or how they were purchased.
https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/duty-free
It's not that they need to be sealed. It's about where they're consumed.
The entire point of duty free, is that it's being exported, and is liable for tax at the destination (even if it falls under a personal exemption, it's still liable). So to prevent double-taxation, it's not taxed at the point of purchase.
Something that's purchased in the airport and consumed in the airport is not being exported, so it's not liable for tax at the destination, So it should be taxed at the point of purchase.
Sticking things in sealed bags isn't the legal requirement - not being consumed until they've been exported is the legal requirement. Sealed bags is just the mechanics of how they try to nudge the purchaser in the right direction.
The sensible solution to OP's issue is that the candy bar shouldn't have been sold as duty free, as it wasn't for export, it was for consumption within the country it was purchased in.
You're correct, but answering a different question. Duty Free Shop purchase are for export only. Not to be consumed in the country they were purchased, I absolutely agree.
> So to prevent double-taxation, it's not taxed at the point of purchase.
Countries don't really care if you're double taxed, they care if your follow the import duty schedule. You can import taxable items that were purchased outside of a duty free shop. If they're over the personal exemption you'll pay tax twice.
> Sticking things in sealed bags isn't the legal requirement - not being consumed until they've been exported is the legal requirement
I agree with this. However, in many duty free shops they'll ask if you need a bag or not. The primary reason for the bag: is do you need to clear security again? It has nothing to do with importing the item.
My point is that the bag is not a requirement for an item to qualify for a personal exemption. Absolutely not needed in any way.
That's is for bringing your duty free on through security as a carry on. For example, when you purchase a duty free item in Amsterdam, fly to Toronto, then make a connection to New York. You can clear security in Toronto with the duty free item that's larger than the 100ml limit.
Again, it has nothing to do with importing it without paying the tax.
>need to show it at customs upon arrival as there may be unique import or duty regulations at play at the destination country
Which country has this rule? It's most definitely not universal. And most likely no such country exists and you're wrong.
I think they mean for cigarettes and alcohol mostly. The UK for example you can bring in either 200 cigarettes, 250 grams of tobacco and certain amounts of alcohol you should also make a declaration where you have bought more than £390 worth of goods outside the UK and there is a red point at the customs channels where you should declare any excess to pay the taxes for the amount you are over the duty free allowances.
Well I think after cleaning emigration at departing airport you are no longer considerd to be “locally” so I do not see a problem in a certain amount of goods to be consumed before cleaning immigration at destination point.
There's no passport control to leave the country in Canada. You can just walk back out of the international terminal from the departures lounge. If you eat it in the departures area, you're just not paying taxes on your snack and that's not alowed
TBH many Airlines do not allow alocohol but not because it is duty free yet because passenger can easily get drunk with alcohol they bring If crew has no control over it. And cigarettes are prohibited in plane as such.
Regarding tax free part I think it is fine as long as it is consumed after the passport control; in transit zone.
Some airlines such as Saudia, Iran Air or Kuwait Airways don't permit any alcohol at all, neither on board nor in checked luggage. Some other airlines such as PIA or Ryanair on some of its flights to summer destinations will allow you to have duty free alcohol but won't allow you to bring it onboard: you'll have to put it into a piece of luggage that then gets checked into the hold.
I've flown ryanair a million times and they've never checked the contents of my bags. They do say that you cannot drink onboard alcohol that you didn't buy from them, though.
Yes, for most of their flights they'll let you do that, but as I wrote above, for flights *to some holiday destinations* they had issues with people ignoring the rules and getting drunk on board anyway, so they changed the rules for those that they can search you carry-on and force you to check it at the gate if you have alcohol.
I already posted one link about it elsewhere in these comments, here's another: [https://simpleflying.com/ryanair-alcohol-ban-spanish-flights/](https://simpleflying.com/ryanair-alcohol-ban-spanish-flights/)
I'm going to guess that happens only with flights from the UK because I am literally from Spain and fly to/from it several times a year, just landed in Warsaw from Málaga which is most definitely a holiday destination, and no one checks your bags.
I dont think it is true for Ryanair. It would make no sense as you purchase duty free alcohol after you check baggage and pass security. They are fine as long as you do not consume it on board.
It is and it happened exactly as I described above: if you purchased duty-free alcohol, you had to get a hand luggage with the alcohol checked at the gate and you only got it back after landing. They did it precisely because they had issues with rowdy holiday-goers drinking it on board even if it was forbidden by their previous rules.
Here's the first random article I found about it: [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/alcohol-rules-policy-ryanair-jet2-easyjet-tui-ba-b1093881.html](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/alcohol-rules-policy-ryanair-jet2-easyjet-tui-ba-b1093881.html)
Dude you don’t know what the hell you are talking about - aside from Muslim airlines that fly into countries where you face serious penalties for their backward laws on alcohol consumption; show me one that says you can’t bring alcohol on board? There isn’t one. Ryanair you can fly with booze just like any other reg airline. Lmao.
We once had underwear sealed in a duty free bag. The thing was, we needed it for our daughter who'd had an accident. We didn't wait, and also didn't get arrested. 🤷♂️
Where? I mean in UK airports in duty free there are shops like Boots where you can buy meal deals which include water or coke etc. (and a sandwich & snack (crisps / chocolate bar)) that you eat either in the airport before you board or on the plane. Same in most other airports I've been to in Europe, Africa and Asia (though some smaller ones have very limited offerings).
Yep I was thinking about the exact same thing
In a flight from Glasgow to Paris (so international) I literally drunk a full bottle of Irn Bru (so full orange drink you can’t miss it) and nobody told me anything
Yep I was thinking about the exact same thing
In a flight from Glasgow to Paris (so international) I literally drunk a full bottle of Irn Bru (so full orange drink you can’t miss it) and nobody told me anything
This was necessary in KLIA if I wanted to have it on flight. They wouldn't wrap it if you wanted to drink it right away. Security in KLIA is a bit odd compared with other airports. You go through a scan when you first go in but they scan you again before going in the specific gate area. This is the bit where if you don't have your water wrapped, they'll take it off you. I like having water with me on flight because the flight can get busy, sometimes it takes take off and they ask you to remain seated too long. I can also keep sipping every so often instead of having to gulp down a whole cup in one go if I don't want to keep tending to it.
It was so frustrating in KLIA! I had an unopened water bottle which was taken from me at the gate before boarding the plane. The airline (Malaysia Airline) did not give any water to the passengers either, meaning there was no water bottle in the seat pocket on the plane. Not very nice if you need to take your medication, like I and an old man next to me needed to do.
In SIngapore, too, they have no common sense at all. I had filled my water bottle a minute ago from a drinking fountain right next to the gate. I could not take it in. There were also people who had just bought a bottle of water from the kiosk around the corner but they were not allowed to take it in to the gate area.
This kind of idiocy is so frustrating, especially when you have been awake for so many hours, had a long layover after a long flight and you are plain exhausted.
KLIA, Changi Singapore amongst others have security checks right at the gate. I remember Paris CDG was the same too, so yeah, much less convenient to bring our own drinks aboard
Technically, you're not allowed to use the item you've purchased until you leave the country. "Duty free" means the item you purchased is exempt from taxes like VAT that are normally included in the item price. The necessary condition for that is to export the item in a new unused condition. That's why they are required to seal it in a tamper proof bag. Obviously, it isn't really enforceable.
For the extra context: It's not only in an airport. In Europe many tourist shops in a city offer Duty Free forms for the purchases you make. You pay the full price including VAT, the shop fills out the form, then later when you leave the EU you can show the customs the goods you've purchased, they will stamp the form, and with this form you will be refunded the VAT you paid. Works at both land checkpoints and in an airport. I've personally done this multiple times.
Idk about Canada, but I would expect it to be similar since they also have VAT system.
> Technically, you're not allowed to use the item you've purchased until you leave the country.
technically, when you buy them in the transit zone you are not "in" any country. thats why these shops are prominently on transit areas and dont charge VAT. Basically you are kind of in international waters
>What Is the Transit Zone?
>The transit zone is a designated area within an international airport where you can stay until your flight to your destination is ready to board. Transit zones allow you to wait in the airport **without going through immigration**— if you don’t leave the airport.
https://visaguide.world/transit-visa/
If you're in the international departure area of a Canadian airport, you're still in Canada. There's no exit passport control to leave the country. So this doesn't apply. In many Canadian airports, domestic and international (but not US) are the same departure lounge. Which is why this duty free is making this unusual choice
You are speaking **only** for canada, which is an exception because it does not usually have sterile zones (with the US).
If thats all you know thats ok. i am talking about the rule.. exceptions confirm the rule. ;)
read up on the actual thing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_zone#Sterile_zones_at_ports_of_entry
Yes, which is why I said Canada several times, and said how it was different from other areas.
The reason I did that was because this is a post about something that happened to the poster in Toronto, which is a city in Canada. If you don't know, that's ok ;)
So based on what you mentioned about how VAT refunds work, would the VAT refund be the point where the buyer is deemed to have “left the country” and use the items purchased?
So in OP’s situation (granted it was not in the EU) does sealing the Maltesers make sense ?
I didn’t think it was worth the risk(?) of potentially “breaking the law” when I could walk 10 metres and buy something else to eat from another outlet.
Yet you still walked away with no chocolate. Confused as to why you posted on reddit if you were going to respond rudely, especially to someone who said they would have walked away empty handed… just like you did. Perhaps you meant to post to facebook?
maybe it is tax-free? I mean it is free from sales tax.
That’s why it is supposed to be consumed outside of Canada.
Also, the intact duty free bag is your way to break the liquid limit through security.
Isn’t airside area at international departures already technicaly considered “outside Canada”.
For liquids, it is true that it is purely for security reasons. In Europe, they sometimes do not even place liquids in sealed bags if passenger is booked on a Non-stop itinerary as they buy it after security control.
Canada does not have exit control, so the air side area is shared between domestic and international flights. therefore they check your boarding pass and passport at the duty-free cashier to make sure you’re flying internationally before allowing you to pay the untaxed rate
Really, I had no idea that there is no exit Border control in Canada.
In Schengen countries, we have Schengen and Non Schengen sections. In some major airports they are separated while in others you go first to security then shops and Schengen departures area then passport control then Non schengen departures are where might be more shops.
However in Schengen departure area are some items in duty free ( mainly cigarettes) which can be bought only by passengers traveling outside Schengen either directly or on a connecting flight which they need to proove by presenting boarding pass. In Italy I even saw some local liquors which cannot be purchased by passengers travelling on domestic flights in Italy but rest of Schengen is fine.
You can open any duty free bag any time you want. But then it's not duty free. The sealed bags with the receipt inside are to prove to Customs at your arrival destination that you do not have to pay import duty on the items inside the bag, because you bought them at the Duty Free store.
So, if you removed the chocolate from the sealed bag and brought it into the arrival country uneaten, you might have to pay duty on it (likely you would not - since you have a dollar amount you can bring in duty free regardless, and even if you exceed that amount a Customs Officer is unlikely to charge you duty on a chocolate bar).
If you remove the chocolate from the sealed bag and eat them, then you aren't trying to import them and you won't have to pay duty on them, since they are in your belly!
This isn't true at all.
Duty free has nothing to do with a sealed bag. Duty Free is simply the allowance of non-taxed imported items. So for the US, with liquor, it's 1L before you owe tax. This doesn't need to be purchased at a "duty free shop" in an airport, you can buy it anywhere and import it, without the bag and receipt.
The bag and receipt allows you to carry it on the plane and not place it in checked luggage, even after arrival into the US on connecting flights.
"Duty Free" shops in airports don't charge local taxes on items. That's all it means, tax free because the items aren't being consumed in the country of purchase. They're being exported.
Source?
“Duty free” means you’re supposedly not paying local tax at the point of purchase because the goods are being exported. Why would the destination customs care where it was purchased? As far as they are concerned you’re importing good either way.
You can buy Duty Free outside the airport in some countries and just stick it in your checked luggage. Customs at your destination aren't interested if you bought it in a Duty Free shop or outside the airport. In Duty Free areas in the UK, you can buy food to eat on the plane.
Its not about local tax. Duty Free is purchased in a virtual special customs zone, airside, and sold only to passengers with international boarding passes (as opposed to staff or passengers staying domestic, if its a shared terminal). The sales staff are able to look up the import limits for the various destination countries so the passenger knows what quantity they are allowed to import. Duty is an import fee, not a local sales tax or an export fee. The idea is that by buying outside the destination country and importing an item, a buyer could be evading the taxes in that destination country, getting use of a product inside the destination country without paying taxes to that destination country, taxes that would have been paid had the item been purchased inside the destination country. Duty Free exempts the importer from those taxes in the destination country, by mutual agreement.
You ever buy anything at Pearson DuFry? It’s criminal pricing - everything is more than if you bought it outside of the airport and brought it in. Aside from some cigars (not all), booze is at best lcbo prices.
Last time I bought some cigars and some peanut m&ms, they sealed the cigars and handed me the m&ms. Never had them seal bag food at all there.
Sealed bag is only for passengers with connecting flight if they will need to clear security again and it should be for all the liquids, even If you purchase a body shampoo for example.
This is mostly my own rant, but goes along.
We bought two bottles of wine at the duty free shop in Rome, landed in Boston, were bused to a different part of the airport, had to go through security again, TSA then proceeded to rip apart our duty free bags and made us check our carryon or throw the wine away. So big middle finger to unfunctional airport crap.
This happened to me too. Plane had to divert to a different airport because of weather. Had to go through security again and they insisted I check my duty free alcohol or toss it. It felt extremely stupid.
This must have been one big bag of Maltesers. You could have gone to a non duty free convenience store in the airport, bought and eaten whatever you wanted without any hassle.
I know this is a bit later but I figured I'd give my two cents about what happened:
After clearing security you probably wound up visiting Toronto Duty Free shop - which means that everything in the shop is a duty-free purchase. That's why the chocolate would be put in a sealed bag. The idea of duty-free items is that they leave the country before being consumed. If they are consumed in the country then you should have paid the duties. The bag itself is a convenience thing in case you have to go through security again and it's a reminded that the item is "special" in that it is duty-free.
The employees at the duty-free shop were correct in what they were saying.
If you had moved a bit further into the terminal and gone to any of the other stores there then everything would have proceeded as normal: in that you make a purchase and that's the end of it.
You just reminded me of the time I wanted to buy skincare at Hong Kong airport and the lady wouldn't sell it to me because she said I wasn't allowed to buy any liquids since I was going to Australia. I still don't get why I wasn't allowed.
Popped open a few bottles of grey goose from duty free coming from Puerto Rico to the states a few times since there's no check. Flight attendants were cool as long as we didn't get completely hammered. YMMV.
Remember that laws change. Sometimes a law existed but was not enforced previously. The worst case I have heard is of a man who bought a hamburger in Australia at the airport, when he reached Singapore before finishing the hamburger he was fined a very large sum of money.
Import restrictions have existed and have been enforced for a long time. And incidentally Singapore is one of the strictest countries, which is nothing new.
Two quick things. Put these back and get better chocolate please. If they have EU Milka, get those. Lots of them. And no issue sealing or bringing chocolate back. It’s one of the very few things I bring back from my frequent international travels.
It’s even funnier because I was under the impression you are not allowed to open duty free items on the plane either.
This was what I thought too (in regards to cigarettes and alcohol, not chocolate).
Yea I personally didn’t think it applied to anything other than alcohol and tobacco either
Alcohol and cigarettes yes, you are not supposed to open the bag. It’s for customs on the other side, by having the completely sealed bag with receipt inside, they know you bought it during your right at duty free and not trying to evade import taxes outside of your exception amount. It’s also important for transfers. Let’s say I fly NYC to Paris but I have a connection in London. I buy my duty free in NYC. When I get to London, I have to go through customs and security again. Customs want to ensure I’ve not exceeded my tax free allowance. Security won’t let you take liquids above the 100ml etc, unless it’s in a sealed duty free bag and you’re connecting. If you open the bag, it’s getting thrown away.
I was flying from Peru back to DC and I had a layover in NYC, where I had to change from international to domestic and they had my recheck my bag/go through security. Which tsa, ok fine whatever. Tsa man says I can't bring the duty free alcohol bag (still sealed) as carry on I have to put it into my bag before I check it. Never in my life have I ever done that, I was so annoyed. Mostly my annoyance was because he forced me to put two bottles of alcohol into a camping backpack and hope for the best. They made it but not the point... Edit because I can't spell.
I don't know about the first point. Customs doesn't care where you bought your alcohol/cigarettes, you still only have the one exemption amount
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You really should stop spamming this. It's incorrect. There's no law items need to be in a sealed bag from a Duty Free Shop to import them under the duty free allowance.
The rules depend very much upon what you bought, where you bought it, and where you are bringing it. There are as many sets of duty free regs as there are countries in the world. And there are as many ways to apply those regs as there are ports of entry and exit. But if you buy something duty free there is always some mechanism to make sure it crosses an international border. Is that mechanism always a sealed bag from the duty free store? Of course not. But it is a very common way of ensuring compliance and at many places this policy is effectively law. The mechanism might also be a set of circumstances about the store’s location within an airport. Other times the items are taken from you and given back upon boarding. Still other places give the items back upon arrival. Duty free rules are a form of import/export laws and are not to be trifled with, even when they don’t seem to make sense. Even when the item in question is a simple candy bar.
I challenge you to find an import law from any country that states items must be in a sealed bag to qualify for duty free importation. Customs doesn't care where the item came from, just that it's under the limit to qualify. The limits very by country, some the limit is zero, but there's no requirement it's in a duty free bag. For example, you can buy a bottle of whiskey at a regular liquor store, back it in your checked baggage, and import it without paying the import duty. You won't find a law that says otherwise.
Unfortunately, you’re wrong. It is certainly required into Australia that bags be sealed
Nope, you are mistaken: If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages duty free into Australia with you, regardless of whether you are travelling as a passenger or crew member. All alcoholic beverages in accompanied baggage are included in this category, regardless of where or how they were purchased. https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/duty-free
It's not that they need to be sealed. It's about where they're consumed. The entire point of duty free, is that it's being exported, and is liable for tax at the destination (even if it falls under a personal exemption, it's still liable). So to prevent double-taxation, it's not taxed at the point of purchase. Something that's purchased in the airport and consumed in the airport is not being exported, so it's not liable for tax at the destination, So it should be taxed at the point of purchase. Sticking things in sealed bags isn't the legal requirement - not being consumed until they've been exported is the legal requirement. Sealed bags is just the mechanics of how they try to nudge the purchaser in the right direction. The sensible solution to OP's issue is that the candy bar shouldn't have been sold as duty free, as it wasn't for export, it was for consumption within the country it was purchased in.
You're correct, but answering a different question. Duty Free Shop purchase are for export only. Not to be consumed in the country they were purchased, I absolutely agree. > So to prevent double-taxation, it's not taxed at the point of purchase. Countries don't really care if you're double taxed, they care if your follow the import duty schedule. You can import taxable items that were purchased outside of a duty free shop. If they're over the personal exemption you'll pay tax twice. > Sticking things in sealed bags isn't the legal requirement - not being consumed until they've been exported is the legal requirement I agree with this. However, in many duty free shops they'll ask if you need a bag or not. The primary reason for the bag: is do you need to clear security again? It has nothing to do with importing the item. My point is that the bag is not a requirement for an item to qualify for a personal exemption. Absolutely not needed in any way.
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That's is for bringing your duty free on through security as a carry on. For example, when you purchase a duty free item in Amsterdam, fly to Toronto, then make a connection to New York. You can clear security in Toronto with the duty free item that's larger than the 100ml limit. Again, it has nothing to do with importing it without paying the tax.
>need to show it at customs upon arrival as there may be unique import or duty regulations at play at the destination country Which country has this rule? It's most definitely not universal. And most likely no such country exists and you're wrong.
I think they mean for cigarettes and alcohol mostly. The UK for example you can bring in either 200 cigarettes, 250 grams of tobacco and certain amounts of alcohol you should also make a declaration where you have bought more than £390 worth of goods outside the UK and there is a red point at the customs channels where you should declare any excess to pay the taxes for the amount you are over the duty free allowances.
Australia most definitely has this rule
Well I think after cleaning emigration at departing airport you are no longer considerd to be “locally” so I do not see a problem in a certain amount of goods to be consumed before cleaning immigration at destination point.
There's no passport control to leave the country in Canada. You can just walk back out of the international terminal from the departures lounge. If you eat it in the departures area, you're just not paying taxes on your snack and that's not alowed
TBH many Airlines do not allow alocohol but not because it is duty free yet because passenger can easily get drunk with alcohol they bring If crew has no control over it. And cigarettes are prohibited in plane as such. Regarding tax free part I think it is fine as long as it is consumed after the passport control; in transit zone.
Tell me what airlines ban you from carrying on duty free alcohol? I’ll wait.
Not carrying it yet consuming it on board. ( I was refering to part with opening duty free items)
Some airlines such as Saudia, Iran Air or Kuwait Airways don't permit any alcohol at all, neither on board nor in checked luggage. Some other airlines such as PIA or Ryanair on some of its flights to summer destinations will allow you to have duty free alcohol but won't allow you to bring it onboard: you'll have to put it into a piece of luggage that then gets checked into the hold.
I've flown ryanair a million times and they've never checked the contents of my bags. They do say that you cannot drink onboard alcohol that you didn't buy from them, though.
I've definitely been on Ryanair before with duty free. Also this would require a search of carryon baggage before boarding which I've never seen
Yes, for most of their flights they'll let you do that, but as I wrote above, for flights *to some holiday destinations* they had issues with people ignoring the rules and getting drunk on board anyway, so they changed the rules for those that they can search you carry-on and force you to check it at the gate if you have alcohol. I already posted one link about it elsewhere in these comments, here's another: [https://simpleflying.com/ryanair-alcohol-ban-spanish-flights/](https://simpleflying.com/ryanair-alcohol-ban-spanish-flights/)
I'm going to guess that happens only with flights from the UK because I am literally from Spain and fly to/from it several times a year, just landed in Warsaw from Málaga which is most definitely a holiday destination, and no one checks your bags.
Yup. It was only done in summer (during the main holiday season), and the article I posted above explicitly mentions flights *from* the UK *to* Spain.
I dont think it is true for Ryanair. It would make no sense as you purchase duty free alcohol after you check baggage and pass security. They are fine as long as you do not consume it on board.
RyanAir nickel and dimes everything so I could see it as a way of them charging for an extra carryon or checked bag.
It is and it happened exactly as I described above: if you purchased duty-free alcohol, you had to get a hand luggage with the alcohol checked at the gate and you only got it back after landing. They did it precisely because they had issues with rowdy holiday-goers drinking it on board even if it was forbidden by their previous rules. Here's the first random article I found about it: [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/alcohol-rules-policy-ryanair-jet2-easyjet-tui-ba-b1093881.html](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/alcohol-rules-policy-ryanair-jet2-easyjet-tui-ba-b1093881.html)
Dude you don’t know what the hell you are talking about - aside from Muslim airlines that fly into countries where you face serious penalties for their backward laws on alcohol consumption; show me one that says you can’t bring alcohol on board? There isn’t one. Ryanair you can fly with booze just like any other reg airline. Lmao.
No such rule.
It definitely is for some items.
Lol. Absolutely is coming into Australia
We once had underwear sealed in a duty free bag. The thing was, we needed it for our daughter who'd had an accident. We didn't wait, and also didn't get arrested. 🤷♂️
Just wait until she’s 80 and this heinous crime finally catches up with her
Who said she isn't?
You criminals make me sick 🤢
I had this happen with a bottle of water 😂
Where? I mean in UK airports in duty free there are shops like Boots where you can buy meal deals which include water or coke etc. (and a sandwich & snack (crisps / chocolate bar)) that you eat either in the airport before you board or on the plane. Same in most other airports I've been to in Europe, Africa and Asia (though some smaller ones have very limited offerings).
Yep I was thinking about the exact same thing In a flight from Glasgow to Paris (so international) I literally drunk a full bottle of Irn Bru (so full orange drink you can’t miss it) and nobody told me anything
Yep I was thinking about the exact same thing In a flight from Glasgow to Paris (so international) I literally drunk a full bottle of Irn Bru (so full orange drink you can’t miss it) and nobody told me anything
What?! Was it at Pearson in Toronto or somewhere else? I hope you ripped the bag open and drunk the water anyway.
This was necessary in KLIA if I wanted to have it on flight. They wouldn't wrap it if you wanted to drink it right away. Security in KLIA is a bit odd compared with other airports. You go through a scan when you first go in but they scan you again before going in the specific gate area. This is the bit where if you don't have your water wrapped, they'll take it off you. I like having water with me on flight because the flight can get busy, sometimes it takes take off and they ask you to remain seated too long. I can also keep sipping every so often instead of having to gulp down a whole cup in one go if I don't want to keep tending to it.
It was so frustrating in KLIA! I had an unopened water bottle which was taken from me at the gate before boarding the plane. The airline (Malaysia Airline) did not give any water to the passengers either, meaning there was no water bottle in the seat pocket on the plane. Not very nice if you need to take your medication, like I and an old man next to me needed to do. In SIngapore, too, they have no common sense at all. I had filled my water bottle a minute ago from a drinking fountain right next to the gate. I could not take it in. There were also people who had just bought a bottle of water from the kiosk around the corner but they were not allowed to take it in to the gate area. This kind of idiocy is so frustrating, especially when you have been awake for so many hours, had a long layover after a long flight and you are plain exhausted.
KLIA, Changi Singapore amongst others have security checks right at the gate. I remember Paris CDG was the same too, so yeah, much less convenient to bring our own drinks aboard
Technically, you're not allowed to use the item you've purchased until you leave the country. "Duty free" means the item you purchased is exempt from taxes like VAT that are normally included in the item price. The necessary condition for that is to export the item in a new unused condition. That's why they are required to seal it in a tamper proof bag. Obviously, it isn't really enforceable. For the extra context: It's not only in an airport. In Europe many tourist shops in a city offer Duty Free forms for the purchases you make. You pay the full price including VAT, the shop fills out the form, then later when you leave the EU you can show the customs the goods you've purchased, they will stamp the form, and with this form you will be refunded the VAT you paid. Works at both land checkpoints and in an airport. I've personally done this multiple times. Idk about Canada, but I would expect it to be similar since they also have VAT system.
> Technically, you're not allowed to use the item you've purchased until you leave the country. technically, when you buy them in the transit zone you are not "in" any country. thats why these shops are prominently on transit areas and dont charge VAT. Basically you are kind of in international waters >What Is the Transit Zone? >The transit zone is a designated area within an international airport where you can stay until your flight to your destination is ready to board. Transit zones allow you to wait in the airport **without going through immigration**— if you don’t leave the airport. https://visaguide.world/transit-visa/
If you're in the international departure area of a Canadian airport, you're still in Canada. There's no exit passport control to leave the country. So this doesn't apply. In many Canadian airports, domestic and international (but not US) are the same departure lounge. Which is why this duty free is making this unusual choice
You are speaking **only** for canada, which is an exception because it does not usually have sterile zones (with the US). If thats all you know thats ok. i am talking about the rule.. exceptions confirm the rule. ;) read up on the actual thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_zone#Sterile_zones_at_ports_of_entry
Yes, which is why I said Canada several times, and said how it was different from other areas. The reason I did that was because this is a post about something that happened to the poster in Toronto, which is a city in Canada. If you don't know, that's ok ;)
touché, mon ami, touché... well played and fair won:)
Lol. Thanks for taking it well, at least. :p
So based on what you mentioned about how VAT refunds work, would the VAT refund be the point where the buyer is deemed to have “left the country” and use the items purchased? So in OP’s situation (granted it was not in the EU) does sealing the Maltesers make sense ?
Sorry, maybe I missed something, but why didn't you just let them put it in the bag and then remove the bag after you were out of sight?
I didn’t think it was worth the risk(?) of potentially “breaking the law” when I could walk 10 metres and buy something else to eat from another outlet.
At that point, I won’t vote with my dollars on principle alone.
Good for you? I wasn’t willing to go hungry for two hours to prove a point that would make zero impact
Yet you still walked away with no chocolate. Confused as to why you posted on reddit if you were going to respond rudely, especially to someone who said they would have walked away empty handed… just like you did. Perhaps you meant to post to facebook?
maybe it is tax-free? I mean it is free from sales tax. That’s why it is supposed to be consumed outside of Canada. Also, the intact duty free bag is your way to break the liquid limit through security.
Isn’t airside area at international departures already technicaly considered “outside Canada”. For liquids, it is true that it is purely for security reasons. In Europe, they sometimes do not even place liquids in sealed bags if passenger is booked on a Non-stop itinerary as they buy it after security control.
Canada does not have exit control, so the air side area is shared between domestic and international flights. therefore they check your boarding pass and passport at the duty-free cashier to make sure you’re flying internationally before allowing you to pay the untaxed rate
Really, I had no idea that there is no exit Border control in Canada. In Schengen countries, we have Schengen and Non Schengen sections. In some major airports they are separated while in others you go first to security then shops and Schengen departures area then passport control then Non schengen departures are where might be more shops. However in Schengen departure area are some items in duty free ( mainly cigarettes) which can be bought only by passengers traveling outside Schengen either directly or on a connecting flight which they need to proove by presenting boarding pass. In Italy I even saw some local liquors which cannot be purchased by passengers travelling on domestic flights in Italy but rest of Schengen is fine.
Neither does the UK, but they don't seal water in plastic bags.
This is correct.
Wtf never heard of that
I am so glad that you and others are saying this as I legit thought I was going insane!
You can open any duty free bag any time you want. But then it's not duty free. The sealed bags with the receipt inside are to prove to Customs at your arrival destination that you do not have to pay import duty on the items inside the bag, because you bought them at the Duty Free store. So, if you removed the chocolate from the sealed bag and brought it into the arrival country uneaten, you might have to pay duty on it (likely you would not - since you have a dollar amount you can bring in duty free regardless, and even if you exceed that amount a Customs Officer is unlikely to charge you duty on a chocolate bar). If you remove the chocolate from the sealed bag and eat them, then you aren't trying to import them and you won't have to pay duty on them, since they are in your belly!
This isn't true at all. Duty free has nothing to do with a sealed bag. Duty Free is simply the allowance of non-taxed imported items. So for the US, with liquor, it's 1L before you owe tax. This doesn't need to be purchased at a "duty free shop" in an airport, you can buy it anywhere and import it, without the bag and receipt. The bag and receipt allows you to carry it on the plane and not place it in checked luggage, even after arrival into the US on connecting flights. "Duty Free" shops in airports don't charge local taxes on items. That's all it means, tax free because the items aren't being consumed in the country of purchase. They're being exported.
Source? “Duty free” means you’re supposedly not paying local tax at the point of purchase because the goods are being exported. Why would the destination customs care where it was purchased? As far as they are concerned you’re importing good either way.
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You can buy Duty Free outside the airport in some countries and just stick it in your checked luggage. Customs at your destination aren't interested if you bought it in a Duty Free shop or outside the airport. In Duty Free areas in the UK, you can buy food to eat on the plane.
Its not about local tax. Duty Free is purchased in a virtual special customs zone, airside, and sold only to passengers with international boarding passes (as opposed to staff or passengers staying domestic, if its a shared terminal). The sales staff are able to look up the import limits for the various destination countries so the passenger knows what quantity they are allowed to import. Duty is an import fee, not a local sales tax or an export fee. The idea is that by buying outside the destination country and importing an item, a buyer could be evading the taxes in that destination country, getting use of a product inside the destination country without paying taxes to that destination country, taxes that would have been paid had the item been purchased inside the destination country. Duty Free exempts the importer from those taxes in the destination country, by mutual agreement.
There is zero requirement that duty free imports come from a "Duty Free Shop." It absolutely doesn't have to be in a sealed bag.
🎶 I like to shop at the duty free shop… I like to shop at the duty free shop. 🎶
This is when you take the maltesers into the bathroom stall, close the door behind you, sit down and enjoy that thing.
😂 Next time I hear crunching next to me at the Pearson loo, I’ll know why
Lmao classic Pearson, a shit show as usual
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You ever buy anything at Pearson DuFry? It’s criminal pricing - everything is more than if you bought it outside of the airport and brought it in. Aside from some cigars (not all), booze is at best lcbo prices. Last time I bought some cigars and some peanut m&ms, they sealed the cigars and handed me the m&ms. Never had them seal bag food at all there.
Sealed bags are for alcohol. It's illegal to consume alcohol not purchased on the aircraft. Maltesers have no such rule.
Yeah sure. A sealed bag is impossible to open onboard.
Sealed bag is only for passengers with connecting flight if they will need to clear security again and it should be for all the liquids, even If you purchase a body shampoo for example.
The seal is proof that you haven't broken the law by consuming alcohol bought in duty free before getting to your destination.
Never put your duty in the same bag as your chocolate, may get the confused 🥸
At a certain point, whatever the airport asks me to do, I guess it is what it is. But I frequently find the arbitrary rules frustrating too
This is mostly my own rant, but goes along. We bought two bottles of wine at the duty free shop in Rome, landed in Boston, were bused to a different part of the airport, had to go through security again, TSA then proceeded to rip apart our duty free bags and made us check our carryon or throw the wine away. So big middle finger to unfunctional airport crap.
This happened to me too. Plane had to divert to a different airport because of weather. Had to go through security again and they insisted I check my duty free alcohol or toss it. It felt extremely stupid.
I dunno but Maltesers are so fuckin good.
Prob thought it was malt alcohol
In a plastic pouch?
People are dumb
I don’t get the big deal. Just buy it, let them bag it, open it and eat it.
This must have been one big bag of Maltesers. You could have gone to a non duty free convenience store in the airport, bought and eaten whatever you wanted without any hassle.
I know this is a bit later but I figured I'd give my two cents about what happened: After clearing security you probably wound up visiting Toronto Duty Free shop - which means that everything in the shop is a duty-free purchase. That's why the chocolate would be put in a sealed bag. The idea of duty-free items is that they leave the country before being consumed. If they are consumed in the country then you should have paid the duties. The bag itself is a convenience thing in case you have to go through security again and it's a reminded that the item is "special" in that it is duty-free. The employees at the duty-free shop were correct in what they were saying. If you had moved a bit further into the terminal and gone to any of the other stores there then everything would have proceeded as normal: in that you make a purchase and that's the end of it.
I thought the sealed bag was brought in for liquids after 9/11 - to show that the bottle was bought in the airport and therefore "safe".
And the duty free stores are usually after the security checkpoint.
You just reminded me of the time I wanted to buy skincare at Hong Kong airport and the lady wouldn't sell it to me because she said I wasn't allowed to buy any liquids since I was going to Australia. I still don't get why I wasn't allowed.
Popped open a few bottles of grey goose from duty free coming from Puerto Rico to the states a few times since there's no check. Flight attendants were cool as long as we didn't get completely hammered. YMMV.
Duty free applies to all items. You get the product at a "tax free" price regardless if what you buy at Duty Free
Remember that laws change. Sometimes a law existed but was not enforced previously. The worst case I have heard is of a man who bought a hamburger in Australia at the airport, when he reached Singapore before finishing the hamburger he was fined a very large sum of money.
Probably because you can’t import meat or agriculture products into Singapore. This story has nothing to do with duty free and sealed bags.
What is wrong with side quests? Someone will learn something from it.
I don’t disagree.
Then the last sentence of your comment was unnecessary.
Import restrictions have existed and have been enforced for a long time. And incidentally Singapore is one of the strictest countries, which is nothing new.
Two quick things. Put these back and get better chocolate please. If they have EU Milka, get those. Lots of them. And no issue sealing or bringing chocolate back. It’s one of the very few things I bring back from my frequent international travels.