Apparently, Americans near the southern border have been crossing into Mexico to smuggle eggs back into the U.S. rather than going to the local grocery store.
This is not legal and can prove rather costly. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) warned those traveling across the border that if they transport agricultural items, like raw eggs and poultry, they can be fined.
CBP has intercepted an increased amount of food goods at the border, which they expect to be linked to the avian flu outbreak, which resulted in rising egg prices.
Eggs in Mexico are significantly less expensive. CBP Public Affairs Specialist Roger Maier told FOX that they are “seeing an increase in people attempt[ing] to cross eggs from Juarez to El Paso.”
There was a 92% increase in travelers trying to carry eggs into the U.S. from November 1 to January 17 since the same time last year, according to the El Paso Field Office.
San Diego has seen even more of these incidents, with a total number of 1,077 incidents since last year, a 368% increase.
Most people have been claiming the foodstuff at the border, according to CBP, but if you are caught with prohibited undeclared food items, such as eggs, you can face a $300 fine, and the penalty can be even higher if the traveler is carrying a commercial-size amount of eggs.
Egg inventories in the U.S. have decreased by 29% from the beginning of 2022 to the last week of December 2022.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, outbreaks of avian flu have killed more than 40 million egg-laying hens since last year. This has led to sky-high prices for eggs across the U.S. North Texans have had to pay nearly double for their eggs since last month. At Walmart in Addison, a dozen eggs were recently priced at $5.12.
Across the U.S., the average price for a dozen Grade A eggs in December was $4.25. The year before, they were only $1.79, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor.
While there is considerable expense involved if caught with undeclared eggs at the border, those that are declared during the inspection are collected and destroyed.
Travelers should rely on the advice to always declare food products, just to be safe. If prohibited items are declared, the traveler will not be fined, but the goods will have to be abandoned.
California resident Jon Telander and his family own their own chickens, and they count themselves lucky during these times. For the most part, they have not been worried about their birds catching avian flu and have been able to rely on them for their eggs.
However, since it is now winter, “The chickens haven’t been laying as much,” Telander told The Dallas Express, and they have had to resort to buying eggs from the supermarket.
When asked about the egg crisis, Aida Ramos, an economics professor at the University of Dallas, stated that aside from chickens dying from the flu, chicken farmers are facing additional increases in costs.
“The poultry industry is facing the increases in costs for feed, packaging, and shipping, which are affecting other industries due to inflation and labor shortages — all of which create more inflationary pressure. Third, in some states like California and Colorado, legislatures have decreed that all eggs must come from cage-free chickens. Since the overall hen population has been reduced, the number of free-range chickens has also been reduced, creating a more severe shortage in these locations,” she stated.