In grocery stores across the US, egg shelves sitting empty and desolate have become a sign of the times. A surging bird flu outbreak affected nearly 19 million birds in January alone, wiping out supply and sending prices soaring.
Officials forecast a 41% increase in egg prices this year in what some are calling “eggflation”. Where eggs are available, consumers are often limited in the number they can purchase at a time. Breakfast chains from Waffle House to Denny’s have added a surcharge of $0.50 for each egg served up.
The situation is driving some people to new places to source their eggs: over the southern border. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has intercepted an increasing number of eggs from Mexico, where a carton of a dozen costs about $2. For comparison, the cost in many parts of California is just under $10 per dozen, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Nationally, there has been a 48% increase in eggs being detained at ports of entry this fiscal year compared with the same time last fiscal year, according to CBP. In San Diego, these “egg interception” cases have increased by a whopping 158%.
Every day, more than 200,000 cars cross the border from Mexico to the United States. Some of those cars carry groceries, medications and other goods that are less expensive over the southern border.
“It’s very common for people to shop for their groceries on the Mexican side and bring them across,” said Joaquin Luken, executive director of the Smart Border Coalition, a group that helps facilitate cross-border mobility. “So a lot of them bring dry produce materials that they buy on the Mexican side.”
But the problems start with fresh items – especially eggs. Importing raw or fresh eggs into the US from Mexico is prohibited due to concerns about diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza – also known as bird flu – and another highly contagious avian illness called virulent Newcastle disease, said Roger Maier, a public affairs specialist with CBP.
And it’s not just eggs. Travelers are prohibited from bringing raw chicken, unprocessed avian products and live birds into the United States, Maier said. Even used egg cartons can spread the same diseases. There are some exceptions for fully cooked egg products.
That’s why anyone with agricultural products has to declare them to border officers and agriculture specialists. “Failure to declare may lead to potential fines and penalties,” said Maier. He added that most of the eggs being confiscated by border agriculture specialists are from travelers who declared the product and then abandoned them without consequence.
“There have been very few cases of people purposefully evading the inspection process/failing to declare the product,” he said. “When that happens, a $300 civil penalty is applied, and the eggs are seized.”
Once confiscated, the eggs are destroyed by officials in oven-sized incinerators. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $10,000.
Luken advises shoppers to always check the CBP’s social media sites, because items that are allowed at one time may change and be prohibited when conditions such as disease outbreaks occur in the US.
Other countries are stepping up to help the egg shortage: Turkey has agreed to sell 15,000 tons of eggs to the US through July. South Korea has also signed on to sell eggs to the US, but the myriad laws and regulations in each country around eggs makes it complicated. The USDA secretary, Brooke Rollins, said she was talking to other countries. “We continue to work on that issue very, very aggressively in the short term,” she said in a press conference on Thursday, “to keep getting the price of eggs down.”
That leaves Americans still struggling for their egg fix, making the southern border an attractive option.
Most people are not trying to skirt the laws, Maier said. But they may not know the requirements: always let the officials know whether you have fresh items, he advised. “The vast majority of egg intercepts are from travelers who declare them when asked,” he said.
