Evening star., 1960-08-29

the force to 200. But the last
passenger, in this rare stu
alton. was not cleared until
seven hours later.
Each customs man spot
checked 1870 pieces of luggage,
compared with the 60 each
man inspects on normal day.
On the piers, this can be a
backbreaking job. There are no
convenient tables or counters
on which to place the luggage.
When a ship docks, the trav-
eler's luggage is carried off and
deposited on the pier floor in
alphabetical sections according
to name. He deserts his bag
gage to take his already
prepared declaration to a coun-
ter, where it is scanned by a
customs man. then handed to
an inspector who accompanies
the passenger back to his bag
bage for the inspection.
In the winter, the reception
can be a chilly one. The piers
are unheated, and the tempera-
ture inside the drafty sheds is
often as low as that outside.
Wratb NF;Sd;.ootoI
Much of the wrath of the re-
turning traveller who meets
with poor inspection facilities
is mistakenly directed at the
Bureau of Customs.
While Customs can, and
does, recommend certain IA
cillties. it is the responsibility
OF port authorities to provide
the facilities and of the car
rlers to maintain them through
a complex system of per-
passenger payment.
Some returning air travellers
from Montreal, Winnipeg,
Toronto and Nassau-are pre-
cleared" by Customs, Immigra-
ton, Health and Agriculture
before they step onto their
airplane. But Customs officials
point out it would be virtually
a physical imposSibility to make
inspections aboard transat-
lantic liner on the long voyage
home. Shipboard baggage of a
single passenger can be in
three different locations-in
the hold. the baggage room and
the passengers stateroom.
immigration and Health in
spectlons currently are made
smoothly on board. This leaves
only Customs and Agriculture
inspections to be made after the
passenger steps ashore.
Experiment on Duties
An experiment now in prog
resS seeks to ease some of
the burden. The experiment is
centered on ships passengers
who have made purchases
abroad in excess of their al
lowed 5000 or $500 exemption,
and therefore have duty to
pay.
Those passengers are ad-
vised that Customs inspectors
will board the ship as soon as
it docks to survey the merchan-
disc and collect the duty. This
can save the passenger IS to
20 minutes on the pier.
Complexities of United
States border formalities create
problems for both the traveller
and the Government.
' Much of the difficulty stems
from misunderstanding and
mlslnformation, and from the
natural growth of complexities
in any set of regulations.
Fruit Fly Invasion
A barrage of fruit aimed at
hapless Customs inspectors by
DR.. Barbara Moore, the British
hiker, focused attention on an
other problem for the return
ing traveler-the Agriculture
Departments insistence on in
Specting all fruit and plants
brought into the country.
AS Russia fears the Bible,
the United States fears the
fruit fly. This is one reason
Spot-checking of luggage-often
proposed as cure for GUS
toms bottlenecks-may never
become general.
When foreign travel began
to grow rapidly in the early
1950s-by as much as 20 per
cent a year-Spot-checking of
luggage was put into effect.
Instead of examining all pieces
of luggage carried by a pas
senger, the inspector peeked
into only one.
Then in came the Mediter-
raneon fruit fly in 1856, bring
ing in its wake millions of
dollars worth of damage to
-Florida's citrus and stone fruit
orchards.
The Agriculture Research
Service, which administers the
plant quarantine program, feels
passenger baggage is a major
source of entry for such pests
or for plant diseases. This is
borne out by the fact that the
majority Of unauthorized
plants and fruit seized has
been taken from passenger
baggage.
After the fruit fly incident,
full inspection of baggage was
resumed, and seizure of illegal
fruit and plants jumped 20
per cent.
Partial Spot Checking
The advent of the jets.
dumping nearly twice as many
passengers at one time as the
piston planes, and traffic jams
such as that which brought
6,267 ship passengers into New
York at one time, has brought
back limited spot checking.