A passenger attempting to board an aircraft from Bali, Indonesia to Australia, was fined about $1,900 for failing to declare two egg and beef sausage McDonald’s McMuffins and a ham croissant in her luggage at the Darwin Airport in Australia.
The breakfast cost her more than the flight.
The items were detected by a biosecurity detector dog named Zinta.
The Australian crackdown on food items is due to a new policy by Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) in Bali, which is a popular tourist attraction for Australians.
A statement by the department said that the passenger was issued with “a 12-unit infringement notice for failing to declare potential high biosecurity risk items and providing a false and misleading document.” The seized foods will be tested for FMD before being destroyed.
“Australia is FMD-free, and we want it to stay that way,” added the department spokesman.
To counter the FMD threat, which has been spreading in cattle in Indonesia, the government of Australia has installed sanitation foot mats at all international airports, and biosecurity dogs at Darwin and Cairns Airports.
Experts say that an outbreak of FMD in Australia could cost the nation up to $80 billion.
Travelers are warned that, “Failing to declare biosecurity risks will mean a breach of Australia’s biosecurity laws, and anyone found in breach could be issued with an infringement notice of up to $2,664. Travelers entering Australia on temporary visas may have their visas cancelled and, if so, will be refused entry into Australia.”
Although FMD is not a serious illness for humans, it causes disease and death in animals that are raised by farmers. The spread of FMD in Australia would be a disaster not only for agriculture, but for the economy.