Hi All,
Great Site.
I am heading to Kandersteg Scout Centre this summer and will be driving over from the UK. We are a forward party bringing equipment and food before the Scouts arrive. My question, which i am sure has been asked before, is what are the chances of being stopped at the Basel border on our way from Calais to Kandersteg. I have looked at the allowances with regards to fresh meat and we would be over this if we plan to bring what we had intended. We did intend to bring a reasonable amount of food with us for the 17 people for the 10 days. In reality it is all going in a 4x4 car etc therefore it's not a forty footer truck!! I have looked at the forum pages that date back to similar queries in 2008/2009. If anyone could tell me the current situation is regarding border searches or would the officers look differently upon a traveling party going to a Scout Camp?? We are picking up another leader in Basel hence the route.

Any help greatly appreciated

regards

Chris

You are obliged to stop at the border and declare what you are bringing and pay the import duty on it. Bring your receipts it's easier that way.

I.E the receipts for the fresh meat are not over the max total allowance of 300CHF?

You have to pay import duty of around CHF 20/kg on any fresh meat over the 0.5kg per person limit, regardless of cost. The limit for poultry and game is much higher.

In the case of processed meats (hams, sausages, tinned, dried, etc.), it is 3.5 kg per person.

The CHF 300 is the tax free per person limit, but there are additional limits on quantity.

Tom

Lets say you are talking 200g per person per day = 34kg of meat. How are you moving that about while keeping it cool enough to stop killing half the troop with salmonella!!!

You can buy cheap (but edible) sausages in Switzerland - we're not that backwards - and it will save you a lot of hassle.

Yes & No. The receipts often have quantities listed, because you need to stay over CHF per person plus as GG said, the allowed quantity of certain products, meat, poultry, etc.

I was going to say the same thing (well, except for the sausage suggestion). But then I though "none of my business, none of my business".

Thanks!! I have access into a food retailer in NI (hence the cost savings) that will vaccum pack everything in cool/ice boxes that will last a lot longer than needed for the journey, then its straight into the fridge. We will be buying some stuff there but we have been 6 times to Kander before and with costs of travel now so high we are balancing a good program and savings on food. Does the KG allowance apply to the party total rather than the people in the car?

thanks

chris

It applies to the # of people in the car at the time you are traveling over the border. If possible you could split up the amounts in various cars. But then you'll need to split up the purchases (have separate receipts).

TBH, try to calculate the real cost of the meat, poultry including taxes and see if it's worth it, and/or change up your menus to reduce the amount of meat/poultry you bring. You can check prices on online shopping sites for CH like coop.ch and leshop.ch