Food in and out of Belgium.

Does anyone know of any regulations regarding taking food in and out of Belgium? I read something on a website earlier today which mentioned that you can%26#39;t take in/out fruit,veg or animal products. I%26#39;ve not seen anything else about it so if anyone can point me in the right direction it would be very useful. We are travelling in convoy with 5 babys and toddlers which contains plenty of these foods. Thanks.

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There are no (Belgian) rules on taking food OUT of Belgium, but all EU Member States (and particularly yours) have rules on what you can take IN, for reasons of protecting human/animal/plant health.

In Belgium the import of the following are prohibited:

- Agricultural items (without permit) and

- Unpreserved meat products.

Other UNPRESERVED foodstuffs (fresh fruit, vegetables..) are supposed to be declared to Customs.

Therefore, if you are bringing preserved baby-foods in jars and tins (and packets), there is no problem. Fresh meat on the other hand is banned, but not, say, corned beef in tins. I can see no reason why you would want to be carrying fresh meat, fruit and veg anyway.

As regards taking food OUT of Belgium, you need to check the rules of wherever you are taking it to, e.g. for the UK, see defra.gov.uk/animalh/illegali/topics/faq.htm

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Hmm. We were planning to take bananas/apples/tomatoes in terms of unpreserved items. I have also got butter, cheese and UHT milk. I wanted to take a little cheese for myself as well as the kiddies as I%26#39;m pregnant and have to avoid unpasturised products. We don%26#39;t intend on stopping at a supermarket on the way through as we have a very long journey ahead. Looks like I%26#39;m going to have to do a little more research on this. Thanks.

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you are traveling within the eu (not to outer mongolia) and can carry what you want...think sandwiches! You should see the eurostar and what people caryy on that every day

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I%26#39;m afraid Marmotte is wrong - there are numerous restrictions within the EU on the carriage of goods (weapons, drugs, pornography..) and these include certain animal and plant materials: for example, in the opposite direction, it is technically illegal to introduce fresh cream chocolates into the UK, without the appropriate permit! (Luckily not all Belgian chocolates are made with fresh cream.) The main problem tends to be fresh meat products, e.g. going to UK %26quot;filet américain%26quot; (raw meat) sandwiches and coming in this direction, raw poultry, pork products, etc., although sensitivities vary depending on whether there is an outbreak of foot-and-mouth somewhere.

Milk, as sold to the public, is processed - in fact you specifically say UHT which is (ultra-) heat-treated, and you also say you will be travelling with PASTEURIZED cheese, i.e. processed (restrictions apply only to UNprocessed products, e.g. UNpasteurized cheese!). Fresh fruit is not prohibited but you are supposed to declare it - however I have certainly taken a banana on the Eurostar before now, without problems, even if this would have been eaten well before arriving in UK. You can of course bring/take those baby pots of processed banana, apricot etc. without difficulty.

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