Soup mix-up nets traveller $800 fine

NIAGARA FALLS• No soup for you, Raymond Kolochuk.

That’s because chicken soup mix that the St. Catharines, Ont., man and his wife purchased for about $ 39 while on vacation in Mexico two years ago never made it home—and he faces a $ 800 fine in the process.

The Kolochuks bought the Knorr Caldo de Pollo soup mix in 2014. Upon their return to Toronto Pearson International Airport however, the piece of luggage containing the soup mix was seized by customs.

According to documents from the Canada Border Services Agency ( CBSA), Kolochuk had violated regulations by attempting to import an item containing an animal byproduct.

Kolochuk said he was informed in a telephone call the next day that he could pay a $400 fine or contest it, but if he lost, the fine would become $800.

“I almost dropped the phone when I heard the amount of the fine,” he said. “This was such an innocent thing.”

“I thought I had a good case of protesting it because I was totally unaware that this product was prohibitive,” he added. “This was not going out to the public. It was going into our kitchen cupboard and used in a soup pot.”

In addition to CBSA, the case led to the involvement of the minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and a hearing before the Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal.

A tribunal hearing was held in St. Catharines earlier this month, but Kolochuk was not able to attend to give his side of the story because he didn’t know about it.

He said he had been away on vacation for the previous three months. He had asked his neighbour to pick up his mail, which did contain registered letters advising him of the date for the hearing, but by the time he read those notices, the hearing had already been held.

It wasn’t until Kolochuk received a call from a reporter asking about the decision — which was not in his favour — that he learned about the hearing.

“I don’t know why they made such a big issue out of it. The soup mix was in a hard plastic container and it was not opened,” he said. “Maybe the officer was having a bad day. It’s not like I was importing guns or drugs.”

A spokesperson for CBSA said in an email that officials seized several containers of undeclared chicken soup mix in Kolochuk’s luggage.

“Many travellers are unaware that all food products must be declared to CBSA officers. Certain food products can introduce harmful pests, viruses and diseases to Canada. When undeclared food products are found, they are seized and the traveller may have to pay a penalty.”

Kolochuk plans to appeal the ruling.