(CNN) – A passenger traveling from Bali, Indonesia to Australia pays a premium for a McDonald’s breakfast.
An unnamed traveler was fined A$2,664 (US$1,874) after two undeclared eggs and beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant were found in their luggage when they arrived at Darwin Airport in the country’s Northern Territory last week.
The incident comes days after Australian authorities imposed tough new biosecurity rules after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia spread to Bali, a popular destination for Australian tourists.
Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said a range of “undeclared risk products”, including fast food items, were detected in the passenger’s bag by a biosecurity detector dog named Zinta.
“This fine is twice the price of a plane ticket to Bali, but I have no sympathy for people who don’t comply with Australia’s strict biosecurity measures and recent revelations suggest you will be caught.”
Strict biosecurity measures
Australia has introduced a number of new biosecurity measures, including a detector dog at Darwin Airport in the country’s Northern Territory, in response to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Indonesia.
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
The statement further confirmed that the passenger had been issued with a “12-unit infringement notice for failure to declare potentially high biosecurity risk substances and for providing a false and misleading document”. Seized products must be inspected for foot-and-mouth disease before destruction.
“Australia is free of shibs and we want to keep it that way,” added Watt.
Last month, Australia’s federal executive announced a $9.8 million biosecurity package with new airport measures across the country’s borders, including sanitary foot mats at all international airports and biosecurity dogs deployed at Darwin and Cairns airports since the outbreak of the highly contagious disease. did Through cattle in Indonesia.
According to experts’ estimates, the epidemic in Australia could cause economic damage of up to 80 billion dollars.
“Failure to declare biosecurity risks is a breach of Australia’s biosecurity laws and anyone found in breach can be issued with an infringement notice of up to $2,664.
“Travellers entering Australia on temporary visas may have their visas revoked and, if so, will be refused entry to Australia.”
Although relatively harmless to humans, ungulates, such as cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and camels, cause painful blisters and sores in the mouths and feet, stop their food intake, and in some cases cause severe lameness and death.
The disease can be carried by live animals, in meat and dairy products, as well as on the clothes, shoes and even luggage of people who have been in contact with infected animals.
“But it’s not just about farmers. Taking $80 billion off Australia’s GDP would be an economic disaster for everyone.”
Top image: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
CNN’s Hilary Whiteman also contributed to this report.
