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I'm traveling in Mexico and would love to take some papayas (2-3) and mangos (3-4) from Mexico on my flight from Cancun, Mexico to Düsseldorf, Germany to bring home.

On the customs page of Düsseldorf Airport I can't find anything specific about fruits and I know some countries don't allow fruits if you cross the border overland (sometimes even within the same country). The website states more of alcohol, cigarettes, meat, milk products and so on. I also have a transfer in Manchester and I will put these fruits in my carry-on.

Can anyone guarantee if I can or cannot bring the fruits in, since I don't want to buy them to have them throw away after the flight.

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From Germany's customs agency (emphasis added):

If you intend to bring living plants, parts of plants (cut flowers, for example), fruits, or seeds to Germany, or to order them from a non-EU country and receive them by post, you should observe the following notes and import restrictions. By doing so you will avoid endangering our Nature and our crops.

Import/Mail from Asian, American, or African states, or from Australia

Imports from these countries always require a phytosanitary certificate from the country of origin of the plants, parts of plants, or plant products.

That does say "by post" (though "Import/Mail" seems to cover all forms of imports) so it's possible more leniency could be offered at the airport, but there's no guarantee of that. Since you won't have a phytosanitary certificate for a handful of personal imports, this would indicate the fruits are prohibited. You could declare them and see whether they're allowed in anyway, but given that the website says paperwork is required that you won't have, that's far from a guarantee they won't be destroyed.

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  • Since I will have a transfer in Manchester. Doesn't it mean I will enter Germany from a European country regarding import laws, but I will have to look into the import laws of Manchester for importing from Mexico? Even though I don't exit the airport and only transit?
    – Lewis
    Commented Jul 14, 2018 at 12:50
  • @Lewis The import laws apply to the source of the product, not to the country you enter through. But you are right, you will probably go through costums in Manchester (which allow up to 2kg fruits). But due to the fact that you are only transiting, will the officers probably tell you to decleare them on arraival in Germany (where they get dumped).
    – Hyarus
    Commented Jul 16, 2018 at 6:19
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There is no explicit rule forbidding the private import of fruit in hand lugagge to the EU. There is no need to declare them either. To avoid misunderstandings carry them in your hand luggages.

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    Do you have a citation showing that there's no need to declare them?
    – Jim MacKenzie
    Commented Jul 13, 2018 at 21:47
  • @Jim MacKenzie I explicitely said "hand luggage" - By my personal experience and numerous other in "german" speaking discussion there are never any problems with common fruits in hand luggage.
    – Michael Renper
    Commented Jul 15, 2018 at 15:52
  • I'd still like to see a citation from an official site. Is it that officers rarely check, or that if they do check, it is never a problem? There is a huge difference between the two.
    – Jim MacKenzie
    Commented Jul 17, 2018 at 3:30
  • Hand luggage and carry on luggage are both carried through customs together. Therefor it does not matter where you carry your fruit, it will be in your possession when you go through customs.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Oct 31, 2018 at 17:47

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