In the Courts

On Feb. 22, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the criminal convictions of food importers Yuri and Anneri Izurieta under 18 U.S.C. ' 545, known as the smuggling statute. United States v. Izurieta, 70 F. 3d. 1176 (2013). The Izurietas' convictions were based on violations of regulations enforced by Customs and Border Protection (Customs) which required the Izurietas to redeliver to Customs and destroy certain goods found in screening by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be contaminated with E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and/or Salmonella.

U.S. importation procedures require that all importation of food items undergo rigorous screening procedures involving screening of food products by Customs and the FDA. Id. at 1178. For practical reason, importers are permitted to take possession of such goods (for instance, to facilitate appropriate storage) pending the result of tests administered by the FDA. Under applicable regulations, the goods must be made available for further inspection upon demand and, ultimately, the importer may be ordered to “redeliver” the goods to Customs for exportation or supervised destruction if the goods are found to be “adulterated.” Id.