A Bali Indonesia traveler who was headed to Australia, is having to pay a very hefty price for having McDonald’s fast food in his luggage.
The fine is almost $2000 because the passenger had undeclared Egg and Sausage McMuffins along with a Ham Croissant in their luggage when they arrived at Darwin airport.
This incident happened just a few days after Australian authorities issued a tough biosecurity rule after a foot and mouth disease outbreak in Indonesia found its way to Bali which is a popular destination for tourists in Australia. Fast food items are considered risk products that must be declared according to Australia’s Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry.
The fine, unfortunately, is twice as much as the cost of the airfare to Bali but Murray Watt, the minister for agriculture, fisheries and forestry said in a statement “I have no sympathy for people who choose to disobey Australia strict biosecurity measures.
“Australia is FMD free, and we wanted to stay that way” he continued. Watt states Australia’s trying to avoid an outbreak which could bring about an economic hit that could exceed $80 billion, so travelers are under strict biosecurity scrutiny because of the foot and mouth disease in Indonesia. A disease that is relatively harmless to humans, but it causes painful lesions and bruises in the feet of animals can also be found in meat and dairy products.
Travelers arriving from Indonesia will be under much stricter scrutiny because of the presence of foot and mouth disease including the popular tourist destinations in Bali.
FMD is a highly contagious disease affecting many animals and Australia relies on for food, milk, and fiber such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and many more. The Australian government is working hard to keep the disease out of Australia as it could have a massive consequence on animal health, agricultural history and travel
Failure to declare biosecurity risk will lead to a breach of Australia’s biosecurity laws and anyone found in breach could be issued a fine up to $2664, even for an Egg McMuffin, they also could have their Visas canceled and/or will be refused to enter Australia. CNN
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