The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Discussions about rations from other countries - IMPs, EPAs, RCIRs, etc.
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carlosflar
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by carlosflar » Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:04 am

mikeoverhere wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 1:12 pm
Has anyone even heard of a case of contaminated or diseased sealed and sterilized military rations causing an illness? I know there was a recall of milkshakes from a batch of US MRE's quite a few years ago but I've never heard of anyone getting sick. I'm not counting food that has spoiled due to age or poor storage conditions. This is all so ridiculous. Military food rations are inspected by inspectors no matter the country, just because it's not USDA shouldn't matter.
I recall that Steve got sick from a within date ration, but I dont know if maybe the container wasn't in proper conditions
I have Spanish rations permanently, feel free to ask :!:
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mikeoverhere
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by mikeoverhere » Fri Jun 07, 2019 2:37 pm

carlosflar wrote:
Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:04 am

I recall that Steve got sick from a within date ration, but I dont know if maybe the container wasn't in proper conditions
I think it was a Chinese ration that got Steve but I'm not counting spoiled rations, that happens however I've never heard of any illness causing rations that were contaminated with parasites or disease.
Socrate's last words: "I drank what?"

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Joey61301
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by Joey61301 » Sun Jun 16, 2019 4:11 pm

I believe Steve got really sick from a within date Ukrainian Ration, I don't think it was spoiled.

CakeZ
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by CakeZ » Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:53 pm

Hey everyone,

I just got hit with a notice for being sent a Menu 12 British ORP from a very popular vendor. Says the importation of 0.3kg of Avian product from the UK may subject me to criminal or civil penalties.

Not only am I pissed off that MREMountain didn't indicate that their products ship from outside the USA (they indicate an Idaho address for the company and quote shipping duration similar to USPS Parcel Select at 2-10 days), but of course, that I was hit with a notice that I'm potentially criminally liable for a product that was removed and destroyed before I ever touched it. I'm only 23. I'm not into this kind of thing, man.

The Mail Interception Notice says that any animal or meat product is subject to this. Avian, swine, ruminants - including dried soup pouches. So yeah, its not just beef.

So, what kind of court battle am I looking at?

OtisRNeedleman
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by OtisRNeedleman » Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:23 pm

CakeZ wrote:
Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:53 pm
Hey everyone,

I just got hit with a notice for being sent a Menu 12 British ORP from a very popular vendor. Says the importation of 0.3kg of Avian product from the UK may subject me to criminal or civil penalties.

Not only am I pissed off that MREMountain didn't indicate that their products ship from outside the USA (they indicate an Idaho address for the company and quote shipping duration similar to USPS Parcel Select at 2-10 days), but of course, that I was hit with a notice that I'm potentially criminally liable for a product that was removed and destroyed before I ever touched it. I'm only 23. I'm not into this kind of thing, man.

The Mail Interception Notice says that any animal or meat product is subject to this. Avian, swine, ruminants - including dried soup pouches. So yeah, its not just beef.

So, what kind of court battle am I looking at?
I'd just contact them and tell them what you just told us. Since you never actually got the item in question, and were buying in good faith, believe they'll work with you. If they start really hassling you and become unreasonable contact your Congressperson.

CakeZ
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by CakeZ » Tue Jun 18, 2019 2:08 am

OtisRNeedleman wrote:
Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:23 pm
CakeZ wrote:
Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:53 pm
Hey everyone,

I just got hit with a notice for being sent a Menu 12 British ORP from a very popular vendor. Says the importation of 0.3kg of Avian product from the UK may subject me to criminal or civil penalties.

Not only am I pissed off that MREMountain didn't indicate that their products ship from outside the USA (they indicate an Idaho address for the company and quote shipping duration similar to USPS Parcel Select at 2-10 days), but of course, that I was hit with a notice that I'm potentially criminally liable for a product that was removed and destroyed before I ever touched it. I'm only 23. I'm not into this kind of thing, man.

The Mail Interception Notice says that any animal or meat product is subject to this. Avian, swine, ruminants - including dried soup pouches. So yeah, its not just beef.

So, what kind of court battle am I looking at?
I'd just contact them and tell them what you just told us. Since you never actually got the item in question, and were buying in good faith, believe they'll work with you. If they start really hassling you and become unreasonable contact your Congressperson.

I sent a message to MREMountain and they immediately refunded me, and provided me with quotes and locations for the legal reasons why the USDA should not have confiscated any of our items.
According to MREMountain, imported meat products for personal use under 50lbs do not need a permit. There is also a specific clause stating that shelf-stable and hermetically sealed, cooked meat products do not qualify as needing permit for import. I attached a screenshot of the message I got from MREMountain.
I am no lawyer. I would assume MREMountain knows the laws well enough to keep selling. I cannot find any record of 9500.6, but I did find the info on the shelf-stable bit from Cornell.

Anyone got law buddies?

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SNiiP3R
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by SNiiP3R » Tue Jun 18, 2019 5:29 am

According to MREMountain, imported meat products for personal use under 50lbs do not need a permit. There is also a specific clause stating that shelf-stable and hermetically sealed, cooked meat products do not qualify as needing permit for import.

No that’s wrong. You can only import so called shelf stable meat products for personal use and without any permits, if a foreign facility has been certified by the USDA. In order for that to happen, a foreign manufacturer has to allow USDA agents to inspect their facilities, chances of that happening are zero to none.

Here is the list of United Kingdom facilities that are allowed to export meat products into the US,
Image

You can clearly see that Vestey Foods, UK army ration producer
is not listed there. And that is why your ration was opened and meat products were confiscated.

Also, large number of UK menus are actually produced in Asia and not in the UK. You can open almost any UK ration, and the label on the pouch will say made in Thailand or something.

and here is the complete list, you must click on the country name to see which establishment in that country is certified https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fs ... blishments

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Sailswish
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by Sailswish » Tue Jun 18, 2019 7:12 am

This happened to me with mremountain. I thought I was purchasing an item already in the States (Idaho), but is coming from Europe and is right now hung up in NYC customs. I purchased this on 5-31-19 and it took multiple emails with no replies and finally had to Facebook Messenger someone who then replied that they would get back to me, but never did. Bad business practices to say the least and bad business practices to say the most!!

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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by Pod » Tue Jun 18, 2019 1:51 pm

Yeah they need to make it clear that items may not be shipped from the US at the very least.

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mikeoverhere
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Re: The USDA is after me for ordering French Rations - NEW 5/21 UPDATES! This is happening! To everybody :-(

Post by mikeoverhere » Tue Jun 18, 2019 2:46 pm

Here is the problem. USDA considers ANY shipment using the USPS as a "Commercial Shipment" and this not for private consumption. The rules for private consumption no longer apply. If you want this explained, contact the USDA APHIS agent in charge of your region/state. If you read the earlier posts, you would see that I already challenged the USDA based on 9CFR 94.11.(b) and they told me why it does not apply. I disagree with their reasoning to consider all USPS foreign food shipments as commercial but to change it, it would take legislation.
Last edited by mikeoverhere on Tue Jun 18, 2019 3:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Socrate's last words: "I drank what?"

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