Two South Africans who tried to smuggle fresh and dried fruit into Australia in their luggage have been fined nearly 10 000 Australian dollars ($5 600), the government said on Tuesday.
The fine is the biggest ever handed out for an infringement of Australia’s tough quarantine laws, Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said in a statement.
The couple, whose identities were not released, had just arrived at Perth airport from South Africa when their fruit was detected during an X-ray examination of luggage.
”(They) made no effort to declare three apples, two pears and more than eight-and-a-half kilograms of dried apple, plums and grapes,” Truss said.
A court in Brisbane handed out the fine on Friday.
”The couple claimed they did not think the items qualified as food, even though one of them is a supermarket manager,” he added.
Because of its geographic isolation, Australia has remained largely free of many plant and animal diseases that have ravaged farms in other parts of the world. The government now imposes strict quarantine conditions in an attempt to keep such pests out. – Sapa-AP