U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its officers working at the Quebec-New York border seized some 3,500 Christmas toys after they were found to lack proper documentation.

The agency says a commercial shipment of Elf Hatching Eggs from Canada was seized at the Champlain, N.Y. border crossing owing to the absence of tracking label information and a general certificate of conformity, as required by law.

Champlain Area port director Steven Bronson said in a statement that border agents and the Consumer Product Safety Commission worked together on the file to enforce safety laws and “keep potentially harmful toys out of the hands of children.”

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According to a website for toymaker Keycraft Global, the 10-centimetre, oval-shaped toys appear to hatch and reveal an elf when submerged and left in a glass of water.

The toy shipment was valued at about US$38,000.

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