International Visitors
International Visitors
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulates the importation of alcohol into the United States. For more information please see the CBP web site at https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1395?language=en_US
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Veterinary Services (VS) regulates the importation of animals and animal-derived materials to ensure that exotic animal and poultry diseases are not introduced into the United States. For more information please see the APHIS web site at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/importexport
According to the US Department of Agriculture, the majority of milk products originating from countries affected with Foot and Mouth Diseases are prohibited; however, Plant Protection and Quarantine has been instructed to provide some exceptions including “Milk and milk products intended for use by infants or very young children are enterable (into the U.S.) if in a reasonable or small quantity for several days’ use”.
For more information on this topic please read Importations of Milk, Dairy and Egg Products on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service web site.
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection web site (www.cbp.gov), foreign visitors to the United States frequently confuse the state sales tax with value-added tax (VAT). The state sales tax is a small tax on purchases or services, calculated at the time of purchase, which the individual states assess and which the U.S. federal government neither determines nor receives. VAT, on the other hand, is a national tax commonly applied in foreign countries that is included in the actual sales price of an item. The United States does not have a VAT, and the federal government cannot refund state sales taxes. Some states do not charge tax on items shipped out of state, therefore please ask about sales-tax policies in the state where you make your purchases.