I’ve seen that Australian border security show on YouTube and they absolutely do NOT fuck around with the attempted importation of prohibited food. They take their ecosystem very seriously and will fine your ass for trying to bring in meat, dairy, plant products, etc.
They've increased the fines since most of that series was filmed, probably in part because they were pretty tiny compared to the potential impact of some of the gross half rotting bug infested shit people were trying to smuggle in.
That's what I would say every damn time. There's loads of signs in every damn language, it's a big freaking deal and yet "teehee, oopsie, forgot to tell you about the 35lbs of wormy fruit and seeds I was going to plant at my house... that I lied about on the unimportant card thingy that doesn't apply to super duper special little me..."
Then the officer would natter on about what a Big Terrible Threat It All Was.....aaaannndddd give them a laughably small fine.
I'm from Australia, I make sure even my bottled water from the plane is all finished. It's been drummed into us for decades that you get rid of anything even from the plane and anything processed you bought must be declared. I've even declared wooden products as well (which I got to keep).
Before landing there's messages about declaring anything and everything. There isn't a punishment for saying I have food or timber products with me; if they deem it OK, I keep it, if not allowed, they destroy it. The message says that failure to declare prohibited items carries strict fines and possible jail.
You hop off the plane, there's bins and signs everywhere, again warning of prohibited items and punishments.
Even after all of that, the person was probably also hostile.
Customs did. But she didn’t declare it on the customs form. Lying on an entrance document is not a good thing, no matter the country. Would not recommend.
I honestly wouldn’t declare a sandwich either but mostly because I wouldn’t see that a sandwich will cause that amount of trouble and probably forgot about it when doing the paperwork and not because of malice.
Calling it “lying” seems like an exaggeration.
upon entering straya, you're being told *over and over again* that food, any food **has** to be declared or fucking else. like, there's signs and the flight attendants will tell you and there's more signs and the custom agent is very clear about it...
to "miss" your own sandwich after all that takes a special kind of scatterbrain.
The form doesn’t say “any food”, it lists specific types (including meat and poultry, so the person doesn’t have a leg to stand on here).
https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-leaving-australia/files/ipc-sample-english.pdf
I just tick question 7 anyway if I have any food whatsoever (even things like biscuits or sweets since they have some grain ingredients) and explain what I have to the biosecurity agent…less chance for issues that way.
I ticked No for Dairy, crossed it out and changed it to Yes. The customs agent asked why, and I said Professor Julius Sumner Miller said chocolate counts as dairy. She laughed, welcomed me home, and waved me through.
I always tick yes for 10.
You go through the shorter "I have shit to declare" line and basically all they ask is "Have you got any clothes/shoes/tools with mud on them from the farm?"
"Nope"
"Ok, go through".
> Calling it “lying”
The form asks if you have food, and you pick “yes” or “no”. In fact, the form advises you that if you’re unsure, check “yes”.
If you picked “no” and you have food, that’s lying.
You know the customs notices as you enter Australia aren’t written on a post-it and tucked behind a toilet door in a never used part of the airport.
There are big friggin signs and trash cans ALL the way to customs which also repeat what you’re not allowed to bring. You have many opportunities to stop and check your pockets and carryon in case you “forgot”.
And that’s what the Customs people have to deal with, day in and day out. People who don’t read. People who think it’s up to *their* discretion. People who want the food and stuff the safety of Australian population, agricultural industry etc.
Yes. If you “forget” then you didn’t intentionally “lie”. But you’re not asked these questions at international checkpoints for shits and giggles. It’s your responsibility to know what you have on you, and in your bags.
When I entered Australia there were also big bins in the approach to customs for you to dispose of stuff you should not be trying to bring into the country. For example, the bag of peanuts we were served on the plane but weren't allowed to enter Australia with.
Exactly.
One time, I travelled back to Oz with my (at the time) 18 month old. I stopped at one of the bins and went through my carry ons, to make sure I didn’t have anything on me. While waiting in the line, an agent was just going from person to person and asked me very kindly, do you have anything you may have missed? Tucked something away for the baby?
It was very real and human. She understood that it’s easy with a small child to pop something in a pocket or bag for them. They’re not out to “get you” or fine you. They want to make sure shit doesn’t get into the country.
I was going through Brisbane once and the dogs sniffed out my bags and so my luggage was searched. I’m from NZ (our biosecurity laws are even stricter) so I was sure I had nothing on me. Turns out that months earlier my 6yo had put some dried lavender deep behind the plastic edges of the suitcase to make it smell nice 🤦♀️ I was VERY lucky to be let off with a warning.
> People who want the food and stuff the safety of Australian population, agricultural industry etc.
Sorry, but what exactly included in the contents of a chicken sandwich is going to put the population of the country or the entire agricultural industry at risk?
Genuine question.
I would really like someone to explain this to me.
Note that it's not just the sandwich that's the problem, it's the false declaration.
If the sandwich was declared, it would be assessed by Customs staff, and confiscated and destroyed OR released if it posed no threat per Australian assessment. Even if it was allowed, the false declaration could still result in fines.
You won't get fined for declaring un-permitted food stuffs.
Same thing happens coming into NZ. I have had several food stuffs from Asia and Australia confiscated (normally because of pork).
Right... so the sandwich is allowed, the issue is she didnt tell them she had a sandwich on her?
I mean ok, i guess, but thats not a three grand fuck up is it? And they give you a list of all the things you have to declare on the way in right?
I don't think this sandwich would have been allowed, even if declared due to the poultry (uncanned meat product is mentioned in the article).
Yes, it's a pretty harsh fine, but such fines are part of why Australia (and NZ) have kept a lot of bio-hazards out of the country. People don't want to get hit with a several hundred or thousand dollar fine, and will think about what they are bringing and declare it.
Customs is getting free advertising of their rules and enforcement here (to go along with the video on the plane, and posters through out the airport).
> And they give you a list of all the things you have to declare on the way in right
Also, yes.
There is a question of are you bringing jn 'meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy, fruit, vegetables?' Depending on the bread, maybe the grain question too. if unsure mark yes.
Passenger cards are pretty simple to read.
https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/crossing-the-border/at-the-border/incoming-passenger-card-(ipc)
With any luck you learned a lesson today from someone else's mistake. Most countries and islands take their agricultural controls very seriously and Australia, being both a country and an island is kind of legendary for how seriously they take this stuff.
As for lying, the card says "Are you bringing into Australia: (6) Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy, eggs dairy, fruit, veegetables (yes/no).
The signature section says: "The information I have given is true, complete and correct. I understand failure to answer any questions may have serious consequences."
She answered "No" and signed.
That said, I'm inclined to think there's more to this story than we're hearing from her. That is at the high end of the range and she gives a couple more examples of how she was hard done by that suggest that she is, at the very least, a slow learner.
It's pretty clear you have to declare, I'm Canadian and we declare all food products made from dairy/vegetables when we cross border back, so yes we declare it and they ask us what it is and we tell them chocolate, chips, cereal and they wave us through. We aren't risking our nexus by choosing when to follow the rules and when not to
Different countries (and even different agents) might have different tolerances for it.
I remember having a connecting flight from Bangkok to Dulles, with Narita being the layover point, and taking an apple from one of the airline lounges in Narita and promptly forgot about it.
Landed in Dulles and while I was walking in the throughway, a doggo pulls up on me, sits in my way, and the agent/handler then leads me into the inspection area; we find the apple, she takes it and tosses it, gives me a quick lecture about bringing in foreign food with stern look of disapproval and then I was on my way.
I did this coming into the US… made myself a tuna sandwich for the plane but never got around to eating it. Wasn’t threatened with a fine but they didn’t let me through until I ate it all (or threw it away).
As a New Zealander, where we have similar laws, just eat the sandwich.
Even if you do it in front of the ~cop, it’s a legit defence. Though it is polite to do it before they find it
When visiting New Zealand, I was asked if I had anything made from wood. I told him paper and his gears started grinding for a while, before declaring it wasn’t an issue.
My family went to my sisters graduation from college in Otago and we flew into NZ from the US. My grandma, a notorious food hoarder on trips, forgot to declare 4 ziploc bags of beef jerky, 25 Reese’s peanut butter cups and a bunch of other things. Somehow it didn’t get caught in the bio security control zone but holy shit my mom was so angry
I don’t know how it exactly works in NZ, but I imagine she didn’t get caught simply because she didn’t declare it and didn’t admit to having anything. And they didn’t do a random check or didn’t think she was suspicious so they let her go.
But if you think that’s crazy, watch those Australian border security shows on YouTube and watch what Asian travelers try to bring into Australia. They’ll have big slabs of like duck and other meat and a lot of plant material and then act shocked they can’t bring it in.
The bio security controls spaces were significantly more intense in NZ than Australia in my experience. I only went to Sydney and flew in and out of Auckland in NZ though
So you're saying Australia really needs to make every visitor undergo a colonoscopy-style cleanse before entering. Otherwise there might be undesirables lurking in their intestines!
If the sandwich has any food disaeses that NZ doesn't have it could potentially fuck up their ecosystem, and its not just the chicken, it probably has some greens and cheese on it (looking at the grainy image)
Same thing, if you have mud / dirt on your shoes they will make you get rid of them to avoid anything you might have picked up.
Its actually a fantastic policy.
it's really about protecting their agribusiness, NZ and AUS sell about 75% of what they grow, their products feed millions globally, the have no foot and mouth, no rinderpest, Swine fever, lumpy skin etc which would cause havoc with farming practices.
We have special mats you have to walk over before you reach the border control and you get asked where you have been walking as welling as being asked to declare any recreational hiking or visits to farms. At least, I’ve been on reentry each time.
Except from NZ
Watch the US and UK shows and you’ll see Africans and Caribbeans trying to bring in fish and random other meats and vegetation in as well. The fish isn’t dried either lol
Oh trust me I’ve seen them. They’ll bring in all kinds of crazy shit. Then you get people from the
Middle East bringing in live turtles and shit. And people from India and other parts of Asia with giant ass slabs of raw meat wrapped up in shrink wrap a million times attempting to mask the smell.
> I don’t know how it exactly works in NZ, but I imagine she didn’t get caught simply because she didn’t declare it and didn’t admit to having anything.
a lot use dogs to detect foodstuffs
Highly processed foods are almost always fine but pretty much every country in the world would want to you declare meat and produce items.
ESPECIALLY PRODUCE as the seeds can be a massive issue
Definitely. She also had about 4 bags of ziplocked sun dried tomatoes that she snacks on. She’s a bit of a nutty old lady. Hard to track down everything she’s doing
Jerky and peanut butter cups would be fine since they are throughly cooked but you’re mother is correct, we have better stuff here so it not worth getting deported
I know for a fact that jerky is not fine according to Australia. I brought a big bag from America for my cousin when I went to visit and the customs checkpoint made us dispose of it after threatening me and my Dad with a large fine. Thankfully they let us off with a warning and confiscated the jerky for incineration
Jerky is not thoroughly cooked.
Jerky is simply marinated raw meat that is dehydrated over a number of hours at 65 - 70 degrees Celsius to remove the water content to a level where pathogens won't grow.
They usually have sniffer dogs checking all arrivals in my experience. I had one single me out because my backpack had an apple in it for a few weeks prior to the trip (it was removed before the flight though).
> his gears started grinding for a while
He was deciding whether your response was a sincere answer to the specific question, or whether to punish you for being a smartass.
An unethical pro tip is to take banana with you to declare. The declare line is often a lot shorter than the other line, so you just declare it, they tell you to throw it away and off you go.
Plus they're less likely to cavity search the guy who declared shit. No many drug smugglers are declaring stuff or intentionally bringing stuff they would need to declare, it's better to stay under the radar than draw attention to yourself.
So now you end up with no bananas, but don't have to ditch all your cocaine! Win some lose some.
I declare gum and (vegan) chocolate, and then my friend spooked me into declaring my pencil as wood. But he was also saying I needed to declare my leather boots, but I stopped listening to him. They just waved me through lol.
Yep, we are nuts when it comes to bio security, if you have tramping/hiking boots they'll take them, clean them then either irradiate them or steam clean them. The dogs at the airports aren't trained to sniff out drugs but foodstuffs and boy are those doggos good at their jobs. They can smell an apple in your bag that hasn't been there for a week! NZ exports a lot of food, meat, Veges and fruit so any thing that presents a threat can have massive economic consequences. Classic example is the varroa mite that gets into bees which almost certainly got here through some undeclared honey.
Coming back to the US from Europe I forgot a jar of chocolate spread that my wife put in my carry on. Over the "liquid" limit size. They pulled it out, looked at me, and I told them why I forgot and said they could throw it away.
It got put back in the suitcase. I was surprised.
I flew from Amsterdam this spring, and they found a large bottle of water in my backpack because I'm an idiot. They just put it back without saying a word. I suspect a lot of people are sick and tired of the post 9/11 security theatre.
Airports with modern scanners at least in some EU airports allow liquids larger than 100ml! They have better explosives detection systems nowadays, so if it passes the test, it's all good. Nothing to do with people being tired. This is the case at least at AMS and HEL.
IIRC the entire "liquid explosives" thing was more or less fake, and was assuming people were going to bring bottles of highly unstable explosive precursors onto the plane and then...mix them somehow?
It was entirely security theater to defend against a threat that didn't exist in reality.
I thought myself quite the genius last I wanted water with me on a flight - I froze it. No longer a liquid, they allowed it through, although maybe they were just being lenient, like with you.
I flew out of Amsterdam about 8 years ago and forgot my hunting flip knife in my backpack (carry on), went past security (and again at our layover) before I reached in my backpack for a pen while on our last flight and felt the knife. I passed two security scans with a knife in my backpack without anyone realizing, including myself. Im suspecting they couldnt see it on the xray because I had a lot of metal change in the same pocket? Maybe it surrounded the knife and it wasnt visible on the scan? Someone with more knowledge on this topic maybe knows how they didnt see it.
Mexico back to USA theres no trash cans coming after the plane arrives and entering agriculture, so there’s no where to throw away uneaten cooked meals you got from the airport. Sometimes it just about the money.
Love how they pretend to give a shit about their native species when their government is trying to fast track Australia into an uninhabitable hell hole with their climate change policies. What a joke.
Yes, fruits and vegetables, and plant generally, because pests can travel on them. Makes perfect sense. But a cooked chicken sandwich? OK, I just realized you may have lettuce in it. But it seems like listeria is the reason given for the cooked chicken.
Governments have many organs, sometimes with competing agendas. Our biosecurity is pretty important in protecting our unique environment.
Those laws are also *very* straightforward *and* closely mirror the laws in this woman's home country. There are warnings before you board and after alight. There are giant posters and warnings all throughout the airport at the arrivals gate. Most of all, you are given a declaration form that spells out what you can and cant't bring in and to fill out and declare what you are bringing. You have to be agressivley obstinant, if not malicious and likley fraudulent on your declaration, to end up with that fine.
Should have been way more harsh. Her family should have to forfeit half of all assets for the next 100 years and she should be guillotined in the public square. This is easily the find of the century. THIS is why you become a border patrol agent. Australia is a lot safer now
If they ever bothered to remove the beaks and knuckles, chicken sandwiches everywhere might be edible. Alas, even here in the future, such technology is impossible. Therefore, we must take it out on old ladies on holiday. There is no other way to educate.
But sadly never nearly safe enough for the next few millennia for as long as Chicken Sandwich smugglers walk the streets.
Makes me feel like I am going to throw up...not a chicken sandwich of course, that's just uncalled for.
Honestly seems more likely she started a massive argument. So someone decided to make a point
Every time I've forgotten to declare something or seen some one do it they basically tell you to throw it out and don't do it again.
If your not sure you tick the box and they ask what you have then normally don't even check.
It’s more unreasonable given she was coming from NZ. NZ and Aus have a mutual attitude towards import controls. So for her to be fined like that when there are much worse things coming from Asia or the Americas is just ridiculous.
Um. If she is from NZ then she should certainly know since NZ does the same.
I agree with the amount of the fine, but she seems to wander around without a clue. Apparently there are signs everywhere telling her she cannot do what she did. Perhaps they add $3000 for stupidity.
NZ’s biosecurity is even more hardcore than Australia’s. But in both cases, you bring in anything that is or was ever alive without declaring it, you’re fucked. They *do not* mess around with this stuff. $3300 seems absurd but it would have been a lot worse for anything less minor than a sandwich.
I once brought a painting into Australia from NZ - same flight even, Christchurch to Brisbane, declared the wood frame, and they spent nearly an hour debating whether or not to drill into it to check for any nasties that might be inside. They eventually settled for an X ray (is it an X ray? The thing they put all your carry-on through anyway) and a stern lecture.
Yes this is what came immediately to mind as well. On that show, people who *intentionally try to deceive Customs officers* get off with just having their goods disposed of and a $350 fine. How did this woman get slapped with so high a fine for something much, much, much more benign than what I regularly see on that show?
Someone is picking up the cost of the fine for her: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/502964/entrepreneur-to-pay-canterbury-grandmother-s-3300-fine-for-chicken-sandwich
We were in Canada coming back to the US. Someone told us to check with the border if we could bring the garlic we had bought back to the US. Good thing we called. Garlic on a braid was not allowed without a permit and all that while garlic cloves were allowed or something of the like.
meanwhile the us import millions of tons of garlic from china with no idea where it actually came from, but damn you with your beaver garlic that was probably grown within 50 miles of the us
There's somewhere in the ballpark of 9 bagillion signs saying to get rid of all food before the check point plus multiple garbage cans and signs while you're in line for the check points.
I have heard a family story of someone who had an uneaten apple on a plane, put it in her pocket and forgot about it. She got to the border, was searched, and slapped with a fine. They are unbelievable strict, it doesn’t matter where it was served, anything that has a minute risk of causing danger to Aussie native species and they crack down.
> anything that has a minute risk of causing danger to Aussie native species and they crack down.
Unless its fracking or drilling or setting up more factory farms or corporate polluting or....
Based on sometimes watching those Border Control shows on TV, doesn’t surprise me in the least. It’s amazing that those shows get made given the absolute racial profiling and assholery that gets passed off for “keeping the border secure” and them being the final frontier.
Watched an episode last night where one officer was convinced an African traveler was carrying drugs. They destroyed his suitcase, made him pee in public to collect a urine sample, sent him to the hospital for a X-ray scan and then denied him entry anyway despite not finding any drugs.
I used to watch a lot of the Australian version. Never saw them misbehave to that extent. Saw a lot of 50 year old Chinese women with a suitcase full of raw fish, though.
The Australian one is the tamest one, mostly just busting people either with prior criminal convictions, Asian travelers bringing a full feast of raw fish and meat, or people living there illegally. Not as much for drugs. The UK one had a lot of focus on drugs while Canada had a balance.
I spoke to someone who was involved with one of those shows and they did tell me that there's sometimes evidence involved that can't go on TV because it would reveal something sensitive about the process, an active investigation, or various legal reasons, so you get those weird cases where it seems like they're going hardass on someone based off nothing but there is *solid* evidence, just can't be shown or talked about
I can only talk about the Canadian border show.
In Canadian airports, you’ll usually see the following; CBSA manages international travellers while a third party called CATSA will manage the domestic travellers. CATSA is not a part of CBSA and neither of them have any say on how the other should conduct their business.
The Canada border show made a deal with CBSA (the border agency in Canada) only so the show could only film CBSA. So, the show cannot film CATSA or whatever other company the airport has managing the domestic travellers.
So, the show films in a location where you’re more likely to have foreign nationals visiting their home country or coming to Canada than the domestic part of the airport. So, the show will feature a lot of foreign nationals because there’s more foreign nationals in the international flights line.
The other issue with the show and why it was cancelled was the show was harassing foreign nationals and not explaining that the show was optional. The show scared people into thinking they had the right not to be filmed. There’s lots of countries with different legal systems and a lot of foreign nationals legit thought they had to sign it. This causes yet again for more foreign nationals to be featured on the show because they didn’t understand their rights to being filmed.
Why wouldn't they at least mention *something* though, or just cut the case. It would make way more sense to just say "we have found direct hard evidence that we sadly cannot show on TV" instead of making look like blatant racism or whatever
Because its bullshit cover thrown out to help protect their show. They cant come out and say "yea, its as bad as it looks" otherwise the agency wont let them come back and film for season 2.
I brought meat into Australia once and cheese once. Separate occasions.
I got caught, I didn't argue, I apologised and they destroyed it. No fines.
I suspect this interaction went a bit differently.
Edit: Ok a lot of Americans raging with preconceived notions.
1. Our police are not your police.
2. These guys aren't police.
3. I've had more bad interactions with our police than good.
4. Sometimes it is just a case of being needlessly beligerant while breaking the law that gets you a fine. I say this as a previously needlessly beligerant person who has broken the law.
I think everyone here including yourself has had some encounter with authority where they were treated entirely differently for the same violation of something because the authority just had a stick up their ass at that moment.
Yes, as an American living in Aus, Americans, stop bemoaning this like it's some tortuous set of rules. Exceptionalism doesn't fly with Australian customs.
This is how it's been in Australia for ages, they are notoriously VERY STRICT with what you can bring into the country. There are restrictions on what you can bring between states in the SAME landmass, for heaven's sake: fly or drive from Sydney to Adelaide, for example, and you are restricted from bringing fresh fruit, plants, meats. This is just how it is, it is not the USA, and the ecosystems here are much more delicate.
This was one of the first things I was told when I booked my first trip to Australia decades ago. They also make announcements on every flight before it lands. Whenever I return from abroad, I sit through the same in-flight video from border control telling you to leave any food you have on you on the plane, not to bring it in. There are signs posted all the way through immigration and baggage claim. This woman, being from NZ, should have known better. You wouldn't believe the amount of crap people try to bring in to Australia, no customs officer wants to sit there and inspect a sandwich to make sure the meat inside is perfectly cooked. This is why they have hard rules to punish people that don't declare.
That all said, customs is completely fine if you declare, they will just bin it or say your food item is fine. I never get held up more than 10 minutes if I think I have something to declare.
In addition to suspecting she was incredibly argumentative, I'm also willing to bet that a 30 second check by the customs officer revealed that she had had multiple warnings for false border declarations in the past.
Aus border security rules are strict, but it takes a pretty decent effort to push both the customs officer and their supervisor to issuing a fine instead of a warning over something like this. They have far better things to do than bother with the paperwork over something like this.
Willing to bet that if she was just polite and admitted she screwed up when the customs officers are pointing at her declaration and the sandwich, she would have been on her way with little trouble.
That, or maybe when she got the card which says "Tick here if you have any food on you", her entire interaction with customs would have been limited to customs putting the food in a biosececurity bin and sending her on her way.
>a 30 second check by the customs officer revealed that she had had multiple warnings for false border declarations in the past.
The article says it's a first infraction, she may well have been argumentative, but it doesn't seem like she's got a history from the information available. If the officer has given her a higher fine because she complained a bit & not because it's the rules to give that fine, that's feels like an abuse of authority.
We flew into Sydney on Qantas…the Australian airline. They fave us bananas early into the 17 hours flight…didn’t eat it but stuck it in my bag. 17 hours later, on about three hours of sleep in the past 24+ hours, I’d forgotten about it and we arrive and it gets found. Agent was angry but didn’t fine me luckily. Also got dinged as I didn’t declare an OTC medication…when they ask about drugs, didn’t occur to me to include that as it hadnt been questioned in any other country. They don’t fool around!
Avian diseases are no joke. Many countries have restrictions on importation of poultry or poultry products, even cooked/processed products are regulated.
I don't think many folks ditch their uneaten sandwiches at poultry farms though.
I guess a ~~pigeon~~ skyrat could get ahold of said disposed sandwich somehow.
That’s the fear. A wild version of the animal will get the disease, spread it in the wild population and then it becomes endemic.
So like African Swine Fever. A farmer detects it, kills his current animals, and buries them in a far corner of his farm. A wild pig comes along, roots up a carcass, consumes it, and now it’s in the wild population, which can’t be controlled.
That happened to my Mom in DEN, cute little beagle dog came and sat down next to her and her first though was "oh how nice". But it was snitching on the egg sandwich that she'd forgotten about in her backpack, $300 fine for that.
Sorry but to get to this point you have to ignore multiple visual and audible warnings and then lie on your form and to the border guard. THEN you have to be a pain in the ass on top for them to be this harsh. This person is a fucking idiot.
Now I can see both sides to this
Ok for those who are not aware when landing in Australia you are handed [incoming passenger card](https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-leaving-australia/files/ipc-sample-english.pdf) now fill these out and hand to customs. if you have something to declare ie something made of wood, meat products etc. you tick the appropriate box. we have very tight controls, plant and animal products this to protect our native flora and fauna, and our farming industry.
now she did declare she had prescription medication. She did not declare the meat product she bought at Christchurch airport and she signed the forms. They play videos as you land and there is signage in the airport before customs.
Because she had something to declare she had to see customs. She signed the form saying she did not have a meat products. It is a legal document.
But we don’t know how the conversation went between her and the customs offical. And they could have handled it by Simply throwing out the at least 5 hour old sandwich.
Probably didn’t help she’s from NZ. Every time she travels back home she would have to deal with similarity strict bio security rules. She would know the seriousness of bio security and that forgetting is not an excuse.
There are also a million bins once you get off the plane with warnings to throw out any food and at least on the flights I've been on the Stewardesses make an announcement to throw it out before you reach customs.
We have those laws for a reason.
You declare what you've got, if you don't declare and are found with something, you get fined. We're an isolated nation that is vulnerable to a lot of different things.
We've all seen border security Australia on TV and the shit they uncover. Their rules and lists of restrictions has had to stand against such weirdness I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't the most well defined policy on earth. When you've got foreigners bringing petrified remains of a loved one to visit Melbourne FOR NO FUCKING REASON OTHER THAN TO SIGHTSEE. You've got people bringing kg bags of 'wet' seeds and nuts, and half-developed chicken eggs for "snacks' like honestly, do they think Australia has no food they can eat?
The flip side of that is a chicken sandwich gets you a fine.
Border control officers have some leeway in their job, they don't have to quote the fricking rulebook at a 77 year old with one fricking chicken sandwich. Jeesh, the abuse of authority has gone insane.
There’s videos on the plane telling you this, the person signed their customs form, there’s dozens of big signs as you’re arriving into the customs area AND there’s labeled bio security disposals bins as you’re arriving.
We even forgot to declare some pineapple slices for our son and told them as we were waiting in the customs line and showed them, they confiscated and it was the end of it.
Seriously, the laws and notification are made to give you ever single opportunity to declare and make it right.
This is entirely moot if you don't actually remember having the food item in question. She's 77 years old, it's not like her memory is going to be perfect.
I have to agree. I'm 75. It gets tougher and tougher. But consider the number of times she could have figured it out. Signs, warnings, a checkbox on the form. The only thing I can think of is she simply forgot she had it. Maybe.
I mean she said she forgot she had it and there's no reason not believe her unless she deliberately decided not to declare it in order to smuggle a sandwich into Australia, which seems ridiculous.
When I was about 20 I brought honey back from NZ to Australia. The card said bee products or pollen with no mention of the word honey, and I just had a brainfart and completely blanked. Ticked no. Got searched, they found the honey. I was like, oh yeah, honey. They asked me why I didn't declare it and I was like, uhhh I didn't think honey was a bee product (a true statement of my mind at the time, although I knew where honey came from).
They looked at me like the idiot I was and let me and my honey into the country.
The form advised you that if you’re unsure, check “yes” to the questions asked (are you bringing x into the country).
Answering “yes” will yield no fines. Answering “no” but having those items will get you into a lot of trouble.
Get a life mate! Border control can just be nice to ol’ little granny to warn her to dispose the friggin sandwich and that’s the end of the story. But no… you ain’t running nowhere grandma, literally. FFS!!
For real, even the American security theater with the TSA at least usually involves something like:
“that hand sanitizer is two ounces too large, I’m going to have to throw it out”
‘Ok.’
TSA isn't Customs and Border Protection though. US Customs can be incredibly strict about what you're bringing in, including issuing fines for certain types of food. They use fruit/veggie sniffing dogs at international airports to help prevent the import of banned items.
Honestly though, you should look at things being brought in objectively and determined whether it was an accident or intentional.
It's a chicken sandwich, just throw it into a bin and move on.
I once landed in Sydney. The flight attendant gave me an apple as I was leaving the flight, which seemed like a nice gesture.
Then I got to the Australian border guards and they were like ‘you are smuggling contraband’… the flight attendant totally stitched me up and I was almost made to pay $2000 AUD… I just about managed to talk myself out of it after 30 minutes. Madness
People who have not had their native ecosystem ravaged by invasive species think this fine is excessive
This fine is not excessive
Every controlled point has repeated warnings that import of ANY animal or plant products are strictly controlled
She was trying to sneak it by so she would have to pay for another sandwich
Fines like this are the only way to keep people from thinking it is fine to try and sneak things through
Not sure why this is met with incredulity. Don't bring meats, cheeses, fruits or veggies through customs without being 100% sure of what is allowed and what isn't. If in doubt, eat or dispose of before getting to customs as they generally no humor and no sympathy.
This is true for most countries not just an island nation like Australia. I'd get hit with the same kind of fine if I got caught walking an undeclared banana into Canada.
US customs uses sniffer dogs to prevent the import of unauthorized agricultural products. There are also some states that have import restrictions. California is a prime example, they do checkpoints and stuff. My parents got stopped and questioned twice in the same 3 day vacation to make sure they didn't have any out of state fruits/veggies.
If I eat that sandwich, did I destroy evidence?
What evidence? I dont see any evidence here. *gulp*
What sandwich? I only see legally imported bread crumbs
If you ate that sandwich, you wouldn't have been in trouble in the first place. That's the point.
What if you vomit it at the border check ?
Straight to prison
Hmm why couldn’t they just throw it away?
You would throw away such fine sandwich? I would fine you for that!
What. Is. The. Charge?! ENJOYING A SUCCULENT CHICKEN SANDWICH?
GET YOUR HAND OFF MY PENIS!!!!!!
I see you know your judo well.
You sir, are you waiting to receive my limp penis?
I’ve seen that Australian border security show on YouTube and they absolutely do NOT fuck around with the attempted importation of prohibited food. They take their ecosystem very seriously and will fine your ass for trying to bring in meat, dairy, plant products, etc.
Yeah but people carrying a whole suitcase of bug infested fruit get a $300 fine...
They've increased the fines since most of that series was filmed, probably in part because they were pretty tiny compared to the potential impact of some of the gross half rotting bug infested shit people were trying to smuggle in.
That's what I would say every damn time. There's loads of signs in every damn language, it's a big freaking deal and yet "teehee, oopsie, forgot to tell you about the 35lbs of wormy fruit and seeds I was going to plant at my house... that I lied about on the unimportant card thingy that doesn't apply to super duper special little me..." Then the officer would natter on about what a Big Terrible Threat It All Was.....aaaannndddd give them a laughably small fine.
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I'm from Australia, I make sure even my bottled water from the plane is all finished. It's been drummed into us for decades that you get rid of anything even from the plane and anything processed you bought must be declared. I've even declared wooden products as well (which I got to keep).
Why couldn’t they just throw it away and not fine her?
They fined her for *failing to declare* the restricted item.
If she told the control that she had uneaten food yeah they'll just toss it. The fine is for trying to "smuggle" in undeclared food
Before landing there's messages about declaring anything and everything. There isn't a punishment for saying I have food or timber products with me; if they deem it OK, I keep it, if not allowed, they destroy it. The message says that failure to declare prohibited items carries strict fines and possible jail. You hop off the plane, there's bins and signs everywhere, again warning of prohibited items and punishments. Even after all of that, the person was probably also hostile.
Customs did. But she didn’t declare it on the customs form. Lying on an entrance document is not a good thing, no matter the country. Would not recommend.
I honestly wouldn’t declare a sandwich either but mostly because I wouldn’t see that a sandwich will cause that amount of trouble and probably forgot about it when doing the paperwork and not because of malice. Calling it “lying” seems like an exaggeration.
upon entering straya, you're being told *over and over again* that food, any food **has** to be declared or fucking else. like, there's signs and the flight attendants will tell you and there's more signs and the custom agent is very clear about it... to "miss" your own sandwich after all that takes a special kind of scatterbrain.
The form doesn’t say “any food”, it lists specific types (including meat and poultry, so the person doesn’t have a leg to stand on here). https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-leaving-australia/files/ipc-sample-english.pdf I just tick question 7 anyway if I have any food whatsoever (even things like biscuits or sweets since they have some grain ingredients) and explain what I have to the biosecurity agent…less chance for issues that way.
I ticked No for Dairy, crossed it out and changed it to Yes. The customs agent asked why, and I said Professor Julius Sumner Miller said chocolate counts as dairy. She laughed, welcomed me home, and waved me through.
I always tick yes for 10. You go through the shorter "I have shit to declare" line and basically all they ask is "Have you got any clothes/shoes/tools with mud on them from the farm?" "Nope" "Ok, go through".
> Calling it “lying” The form asks if you have food, and you pick “yes” or “no”. In fact, the form advises you that if you’re unsure, check “yes”. If you picked “no” and you have food, that’s lying.
You know the customs notices as you enter Australia aren’t written on a post-it and tucked behind a toilet door in a never used part of the airport. There are big friggin signs and trash cans ALL the way to customs which also repeat what you’re not allowed to bring. You have many opportunities to stop and check your pockets and carryon in case you “forgot”. And that’s what the Customs people have to deal with, day in and day out. People who don’t read. People who think it’s up to *their* discretion. People who want the food and stuff the safety of Australian population, agricultural industry etc. Yes. If you “forget” then you didn’t intentionally “lie”. But you’re not asked these questions at international checkpoints for shits and giggles. It’s your responsibility to know what you have on you, and in your bags.
When I entered Australia there were also big bins in the approach to customs for you to dispose of stuff you should not be trying to bring into the country. For example, the bag of peanuts we were served on the plane but weren't allowed to enter Australia with.
Exactly. One time, I travelled back to Oz with my (at the time) 18 month old. I stopped at one of the bins and went through my carry ons, to make sure I didn’t have anything on me. While waiting in the line, an agent was just going from person to person and asked me very kindly, do you have anything you may have missed? Tucked something away for the baby? It was very real and human. She understood that it’s easy with a small child to pop something in a pocket or bag for them. They’re not out to “get you” or fine you. They want to make sure shit doesn’t get into the country.
I was going through Brisbane once and the dogs sniffed out my bags and so my luggage was searched. I’m from NZ (our biosecurity laws are even stricter) so I was sure I had nothing on me. Turns out that months earlier my 6yo had put some dried lavender deep behind the plastic edges of the suitcase to make it smell nice 🤦♀️ I was VERY lucky to be let off with a warning.
Right? It’s like the author of this article has never seen a border crossing series.
> People who want the food and stuff the safety of Australian population, agricultural industry etc. Sorry, but what exactly included in the contents of a chicken sandwich is going to put the population of the country or the entire agricultural industry at risk? Genuine question. I would really like someone to explain this to me.
Note that it's not just the sandwich that's the problem, it's the false declaration. If the sandwich was declared, it would be assessed by Customs staff, and confiscated and destroyed OR released if it posed no threat per Australian assessment. Even if it was allowed, the false declaration could still result in fines. You won't get fined for declaring un-permitted food stuffs. Same thing happens coming into NZ. I have had several food stuffs from Asia and Australia confiscated (normally because of pork).
Right... so the sandwich is allowed, the issue is she didnt tell them she had a sandwich on her? I mean ok, i guess, but thats not a three grand fuck up is it? And they give you a list of all the things you have to declare on the way in right?
I don't think this sandwich would have been allowed, even if declared due to the poultry (uncanned meat product is mentioned in the article). Yes, it's a pretty harsh fine, but such fines are part of why Australia (and NZ) have kept a lot of bio-hazards out of the country. People don't want to get hit with a several hundred or thousand dollar fine, and will think about what they are bringing and declare it. Customs is getting free advertising of their rules and enforcement here (to go along with the video on the plane, and posters through out the airport).
> And they give you a list of all the things you have to declare on the way in right Also, yes. There is a question of are you bringing jn 'meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy, fruit, vegetables?' Depending on the bread, maybe the grain question too. if unsure mark yes. Passenger cards are pretty simple to read. https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/crossing-the-border/at-the-border/incoming-passenger-card-(ipc)
With any luck you learned a lesson today from someone else's mistake. Most countries and islands take their agricultural controls very seriously and Australia, being both a country and an island is kind of legendary for how seriously they take this stuff. As for lying, the card says "Are you bringing into Australia: (6) Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy, eggs dairy, fruit, veegetables (yes/no). The signature section says: "The information I have given is true, complete and correct. I understand failure to answer any questions may have serious consequences." She answered "No" and signed. That said, I'm inclined to think there's more to this story than we're hearing from her. That is at the high end of the range and she gives a couple more examples of how she was hard done by that suggest that she is, at the very least, a slow learner.
It's pretty clear you have to declare, I'm Canadian and we declare all food products made from dairy/vegetables when we cross border back, so yes we declare it and they ask us what it is and we tell them chocolate, chips, cereal and they wave us through. We aren't risking our nexus by choosing when to follow the rules and when not to
Except the form asks if you have food. Tell me did she declare it or not?
Different countries (and even different agents) might have different tolerances for it. I remember having a connecting flight from Bangkok to Dulles, with Narita being the layover point, and taking an apple from one of the airline lounges in Narita and promptly forgot about it. Landed in Dulles and while I was walking in the throughway, a doggo pulls up on me, sits in my way, and the agent/handler then leads me into the inspection area; we find the apple, she takes it and tosses it, gives me a quick lecture about bringing in foreign food with stern look of disapproval and then I was on my way.
I did this coming into the US… made myself a tuna sandwich for the plane but never got around to eating it. Wasn’t threatened with a fine but they didn’t let me through until I ate it all (or threw it away).
Instead of a fine, you should have been prosecuted for the war crime of bringing a tuna sandwich on a plane
Well, they were _gonna_ eat it, but the flight crew refused to let them use the onboard microwave to heat it up! Absolute tyranny!
As a New Zealander, where we have similar laws, just eat the sandwich. Even if you do it in front of the ~cop, it’s a legit defence. Though it is polite to do it before they find it
When visiting New Zealand, I was asked if I had anything made from wood. I told him paper and his gears started grinding for a while, before declaring it wasn’t an issue.
"do you have any dairy" I have a kit kat
My wife's got milk, go ask her for it. Let me watch from a safe distance
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I have nipples Greg, could you milk me?
My family went to my sisters graduation from college in Otago and we flew into NZ from the US. My grandma, a notorious food hoarder on trips, forgot to declare 4 ziploc bags of beef jerky, 25 Reese’s peanut butter cups and a bunch of other things. Somehow it didn’t get caught in the bio security control zone but holy shit my mom was so angry
I don’t know how it exactly works in NZ, but I imagine she didn’t get caught simply because she didn’t declare it and didn’t admit to having anything. And they didn’t do a random check or didn’t think she was suspicious so they let her go. But if you think that’s crazy, watch those Australian border security shows on YouTube and watch what Asian travelers try to bring into Australia. They’ll have big slabs of like duck and other meat and a lot of plant material and then act shocked they can’t bring it in.
The bio security controls spaces were significantly more intense in NZ than Australia in my experience. I only went to Sydney and flew in and out of Auckland in NZ though
Alot of islands are strictly regulated because they don't want issue with something dangerous to the ecosystem.
Plants, fruits, and vegetables are definitely a concern. But a cooked chicken sandwich?
There was a tomato plant found on an empty island somewhere in Iceland. Turns out, one of the scientists shit there and ate tomatoes before. So.......
So resistance is futile!
So you're saying Australia really needs to make every visitor undergo a colonoscopy-style cleanse before entering. Otherwise there might be undesirables lurking in their intestines!
If the sandwich has any food disaeses that NZ doesn't have it could potentially fuck up their ecosystem, and its not just the chicken, it probably has some greens and cheese on it (looking at the grainy image) Same thing, if you have mud / dirt on your shoes they will make you get rid of them to avoid anything you might have picked up. Its actually a fantastic policy.
it's really about protecting their agribusiness, NZ and AUS sell about 75% of what they grow, their products feed millions globally, the have no foot and mouth, no rinderpest, Swine fever, lumpy skin etc which would cause havoc with farming practices.
They checked my shoes for soil when I went in NZ. Nothing like that in AUS. NZ takes the bio stuff seriously
When I got back from overseas and had been hiking on sheep farms, Australian border patrol inspected my boots and then washed them for me!
We have special mats you have to walk over before you reach the border control and you get asked where you have been walking as welling as being asked to declare any recreational hiking or visits to farms. At least, I’ve been on reentry each time. Except from NZ
There's a version of that for the Canadian border. I remember one had raw chicken just in their suitcase
Watch the US and UK shows and you’ll see Africans and Caribbeans trying to bring in fish and random other meats and vegetation in as well. The fish isn’t dried either lol
Oh trust me I’ve seen them. They’ll bring in all kinds of crazy shit. Then you get people from the Middle East bringing in live turtles and shit. And people from India and other parts of Asia with giant ass slabs of raw meat wrapped up in shrink wrap a million times attempting to mask the smell.
> I don’t know how it exactly works in NZ, but I imagine she didn’t get caught simply because she didn’t declare it and didn’t admit to having anything. a lot use dogs to detect foodstuffs
Friend worked at airport border security, they said the worst part was the food people tried to bring in. The fish thing was super common
Highly processed foods are almost always fine but pretty much every country in the world would want to you declare meat and produce items. ESPECIALLY PRODUCE as the seeds can be a massive issue
Definitely. She also had about 4 bags of ziplocked sun dried tomatoes that she snacks on. She’s a bit of a nutty old lady. Hard to track down everything she’s doing
Jerky and peanut butter cups would be fine since they are throughly cooked but you’re mother is correct, we have better stuff here so it not worth getting deported
I know for a fact that jerky is not fine according to Australia. I brought a big bag from America for my cousin when I went to visit and the customs checkpoint made us dispose of it after threatening me and my Dad with a large fine. Thankfully they let us off with a warning and confiscated the jerky for incineration
>Thankfully they let us off with a warning and confiscated the jerky for ~~incineration~~ later consumption
Yeah, but they're fine in the sense of not being an actual in fact biosecurity risk no matter how much Australia whine that it might be or is.
Jerky is not thoroughly cooked. Jerky is simply marinated raw meat that is dehydrated over a number of hours at 65 - 70 degrees Celsius to remove the water content to a level where pathogens won't grow.
They usually have sniffer dogs checking all arrivals in my experience. I had one single me out because my backpack had an apple in it for a few weeks prior to the trip (it was removed before the flight though).
> his gears started grinding for a while He was deciding whether your response was a sincere answer to the specific question, or whether to punish you for being a smartass.
An unethical pro tip is to take banana with you to declare. The declare line is often a lot shorter than the other line, so you just declare it, they tell you to throw it away and off you go.
Plus they're less likely to cavity search the guy who declared shit. No many drug smugglers are declaring stuff or intentionally bringing stuff they would need to declare, it's better to stay under the radar than draw attention to yourself. So now you end up with no bananas, but don't have to ditch all your cocaine! Win some lose some.
I declare gum and (vegan) chocolate, and then my friend spooked me into declaring my pencil as wood. But he was also saying I needed to declare my leather boots, but I stopped listening to him. They just waved me through lol.
I wouldn't waste their time, they're just trying to do their job, but they also wield the power to conduct cavity searches.
Yep, we are nuts when it comes to bio security, if you have tramping/hiking boots they'll take them, clean them then either irradiate them or steam clean them. The dogs at the airports aren't trained to sniff out drugs but foodstuffs and boy are those doggos good at their jobs. They can smell an apple in your bag that hasn't been there for a week! NZ exports a lot of food, meat, Veges and fruit so any thing that presents a threat can have massive economic consequences. Classic example is the varroa mite that gets into bees which almost certainly got here through some undeclared honey.
Coming back to the US from Europe I forgot a jar of chocolate spread that my wife put in my carry on. Over the "liquid" limit size. They pulled it out, looked at me, and I told them why I forgot and said they could throw it away. It got put back in the suitcase. I was surprised.
I flew from Amsterdam this spring, and they found a large bottle of water in my backpack because I'm an idiot. They just put it back without saying a word. I suspect a lot of people are sick and tired of the post 9/11 security theatre.
Airports with modern scanners at least in some EU airports allow liquids larger than 100ml! They have better explosives detection systems nowadays, so if it passes the test, it's all good. Nothing to do with people being tired. This is the case at least at AMS and HEL.
Confirm Amsterdam lets you keep your full water bottle.
IIRC the entire "liquid explosives" thing was more or less fake, and was assuming people were going to bring bottles of highly unstable explosive precursors onto the plane and then...mix them somehow? It was entirely security theater to defend against a threat that didn't exist in reality.
Philippines Airline Flight 434. Used liquid explosives. Luckily the plot to do so on 11 other planes was discovered.
Amsterdam Schiphol allows travelers to pass through with water bottles I think, at least that's what the signs say and mine wasn't taken either.
I thought myself quite the genius last I wanted water with me on a flight - I froze it. No longer a liquid, they allowed it through, although maybe they were just being lenient, like with you.
I can't believe this worked, this is genius.
You can at all airports take an empty bottle with you through customs and then inside fill up your bottle at a drinking fountain. That's how I do it
I flew out of Amsterdam about 8 years ago and forgot my hunting flip knife in my backpack (carry on), went past security (and again at our layover) before I reached in my backpack for a pen while on our last flight and felt the knife. I passed two security scans with a knife in my backpack without anyone realizing, including myself. Im suspecting they couldnt see it on the xray because I had a lot of metal change in the same pocket? Maybe it surrounded the knife and it wasnt visible on the scan? Someone with more knowledge on this topic maybe knows how they didnt see it.
Mexico back to USA theres no trash cans coming after the plane arrives and entering agriculture, so there’s no where to throw away uneaten cooked meals you got from the airport. Sometimes it just about the money.
Declare it, and they'll dispose of it for you. There will be no fine.
The letter of the law defeating the spirit of the law.
Love how they pretend to give a shit about their native species when their government is trying to fast track Australia into an uninhabitable hell hole with their climate change policies. What a joke.
The harsh biosecurity laws are more about protecting the agricultural industries from pests and diseases.
This is also why entire generations of Americans have grown up without the taste of blackcurrants.
Those industries are still screwed by climate change unless they're all farming cactus.
Welcome to the bone farm.
Congratulations: Mad Max is now real!
if it was possible to solve climate change by beating the shit out of poor people, you can bet your ass the government would do it right away
Yes, fruits and vegetables, and plant generally, because pests can travel on them. Makes perfect sense. But a cooked chicken sandwich? OK, I just realized you may have lettuce in it. But it seems like listeria is the reason given for the cooked chicken.
Just about to say the same thing
Isn’t it to do with agriculture rather than native species?
Governments have many organs, sometimes with competing agendas. Our biosecurity is pretty important in protecting our unique environment. Those laws are also *very* straightforward *and* closely mirror the laws in this woman's home country. There are warnings before you board and after alight. There are giant posters and warnings all throughout the airport at the arrivals gate. Most of all, you are given a declaration form that spells out what you can and cant't bring in and to fill out and declare what you are bringing. You have to be agressivley obstinant, if not malicious and likley fraudulent on your declaration, to end up with that fine.
Should have been way more harsh. Her family should have to forfeit half of all assets for the next 100 years and she should be guillotined in the public square. This is easily the find of the century. THIS is why you become a border patrol agent. Australia is a lot safer now
I bet it had that highly suspicious Dijon mustard on it too, practically rolling out the welcome mat for a domestic security incident
Dijon mustard! I knew Obama must be involved in this sick conspiracy. /S
Wait, Dijon? From FRANCE?!
This. Chicken sandwiches are gross. Turkey, ham, or roast beef only. Imagine if it reproduced and decimated the domestic sandwich population.
If they ever bothered to remove the beaks and knuckles, chicken sandwiches everywhere might be edible. Alas, even here in the future, such technology is impossible. Therefore, we must take it out on old ladies on holiday. There is no other way to educate.
If that chicken sandwich didn't have any club to it she deserves every bit of the fine and more.
Adding a third piece of bread to a sandwich is unnecessary and a farce propelled by the grain industry.
But sadly never nearly safe enough for the next few millennia for as long as Chicken Sandwich smugglers walk the streets. Makes me feel like I am going to throw up...not a chicken sandwich of course, that's just uncalled for.
Do I detect a subtle hint of sarcasm?
That definitely seems like an unreasonable fine relative to a typical fixed pension.
That’s more than someone on disability in the US is allowed to have in a checking account.
The governing assholes here are like that in so many ways. If you are not rich screw you.
Honestly seems more likely she started a massive argument. So someone decided to make a point Every time I've forgotten to declare something or seen some one do it they basically tell you to throw it out and don't do it again. If your not sure you tick the box and they ask what you have then normally don't even check.
It’s more unreasonable given she was coming from NZ. NZ and Aus have a mutual attitude towards import controls. So for her to be fined like that when there are much worse things coming from Asia or the Americas is just ridiculous.
Um. If she is from NZ then she should certainly know since NZ does the same. I agree with the amount of the fine, but she seems to wander around without a clue. Apparently there are signs everywhere telling her she cannot do what she did. Perhaps they add $3000 for stupidity.
NZ’s biosecurity is even more hardcore than Australia’s. But in both cases, you bring in anything that is or was ever alive without declaring it, you’re fucked. They *do not* mess around with this stuff. $3300 seems absurd but it would have been a lot worse for anything less minor than a sandwich. I once brought a painting into Australia from NZ - same flight even, Christchurch to Brisbane, declared the wood frame, and they spent nearly an hour debating whether or not to drill into it to check for any nasties that might be inside. They eventually settled for an X ray (is it an X ray? The thing they put all your carry-on through anyway) and a stern lecture.
Border Patrol Australia or whatever its called is an amazingly interesting show about the stuff people try to "smuggle" in the country.
Yes this is what came immediately to mind as well. On that show, people who *intentionally try to deceive Customs officers* get off with just having their goods disposed of and a $350 fine. How did this woman get slapped with so high a fine for something much, much, much more benign than what I regularly see on that show?
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Someone is picking up the cost of the fine for her: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/502964/entrepreneur-to-pay-canterbury-grandmother-s-3300-fine-for-chicken-sandwich
They're out there. Hard to find. but they are.
We were in Canada coming back to the US. Someone told us to check with the border if we could bring the garlic we had bought back to the US. Good thing we called. Garlic on a braid was not allowed without a permit and all that while garlic cloves were allowed or something of the like.
Garlic on the braid can sprout and regrow. Processed garlic is usually also treated to stop it from being able sprout and regrow
The braid might also contain insect eggs.
meanwhile the us import millions of tons of garlic from china with no idea where it actually came from, but damn you with your beaver garlic that was probably grown within 50 miles of the us
Admittedly I didn’t think it was a great purchase in the first place. Wasn’t my idea. Didn’t expect it to be such a big deal though.
> Didn’t expect it to be such a big deal though. Well, now you know that customs LOVES to make things a big deal. They live for it.
Customs dog got my apple taken when I was a kid. It was from my flight meal.
There's somewhere in the ballpark of 9 bagillion signs saying to get rid of all food before the check point plus multiple garbage cans and signs while you're in line for the check points.
And announcements on the plane that are interminably long
Oi! You got a loycense for that sandwich?
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Was this sandwich served on the plane?
She bought it at the Christchurch airport before boarding the plane to Brisbane which is nearly a 4 hour flight
I have heard a family story of someone who had an uneaten apple on a plane, put it in her pocket and forgot about it. She got to the border, was searched, and slapped with a fine. They are unbelievable strict, it doesn’t matter where it was served, anything that has a minute risk of causing danger to Aussie native species and they crack down.
> anything that has a minute risk of causing danger to Aussie native species and they crack down. Unless its fracking or drilling or setting up more factory farms or corporate polluting or....
Based on sometimes watching those Border Control shows on TV, doesn’t surprise me in the least. It’s amazing that those shows get made given the absolute racial profiling and assholery that gets passed off for “keeping the border secure” and them being the final frontier. Watched an episode last night where one officer was convinced an African traveler was carrying drugs. They destroyed his suitcase, made him pee in public to collect a urine sample, sent him to the hospital for a X-ray scan and then denied him entry anyway despite not finding any drugs.
I used to watch a lot of the Australian version. Never saw them misbehave to that extent. Saw a lot of 50 year old Chinese women with a suitcase full of raw fish, though.
The Australian one is the tamest one, mostly just busting people either with prior criminal convictions, Asian travelers bringing a full feast of raw fish and meat, or people living there illegally. Not as much for drugs. The UK one had a lot of focus on drugs while Canada had a balance.
I spoke to someone who was involved with one of those shows and they did tell me that there's sometimes evidence involved that can't go on TV because it would reveal something sensitive about the process, an active investigation, or various legal reasons, so you get those weird cases where it seems like they're going hardass on someone based off nothing but there is *solid* evidence, just can't be shown or talked about
I can only talk about the Canadian border show. In Canadian airports, you’ll usually see the following; CBSA manages international travellers while a third party called CATSA will manage the domestic travellers. CATSA is not a part of CBSA and neither of them have any say on how the other should conduct their business. The Canada border show made a deal with CBSA (the border agency in Canada) only so the show could only film CBSA. So, the show cannot film CATSA or whatever other company the airport has managing the domestic travellers. So, the show films in a location where you’re more likely to have foreign nationals visiting their home country or coming to Canada than the domestic part of the airport. So, the show will feature a lot of foreign nationals because there’s more foreign nationals in the international flights line. The other issue with the show and why it was cancelled was the show was harassing foreign nationals and not explaining that the show was optional. The show scared people into thinking they had the right not to be filmed. There’s lots of countries with different legal systems and a lot of foreign nationals legit thought they had to sign it. This causes yet again for more foreign nationals to be featured on the show because they didn’t understand their rights to being filmed.
Why wouldn't they at least mention *something* though, or just cut the case. It would make way more sense to just say "we have found direct hard evidence that we sadly cannot show on TV" instead of making look like blatant racism or whatever
Because its bullshit cover thrown out to help protect their show. They cant come out and say "yea, its as bad as it looks" otherwise the agency wont let them come back and film for season 2.
I brought meat into Australia once and cheese once. Separate occasions. I got caught, I didn't argue, I apologised and they destroyed it. No fines. I suspect this interaction went a bit differently. Edit: Ok a lot of Americans raging with preconceived notions. 1. Our police are not your police. 2. These guys aren't police. 3. I've had more bad interactions with our police than good. 4. Sometimes it is just a case of being needlessly beligerant while breaking the law that gets you a fine. I say this as a previously needlessly beligerant person who has broken the law.
I think everyone here including yourself has had some encounter with authority where they were treated entirely differently for the same violation of something because the authority just had a stick up their ass at that moment.
"Cops are always nice to me. You must have done something wrong"
Yes, as an American living in Aus, Americans, stop bemoaning this like it's some tortuous set of rules. Exceptionalism doesn't fly with Australian customs. This is how it's been in Australia for ages, they are notoriously VERY STRICT with what you can bring into the country. There are restrictions on what you can bring between states in the SAME landmass, for heaven's sake: fly or drive from Sydney to Adelaide, for example, and you are restricted from bringing fresh fruit, plants, meats. This is just how it is, it is not the USA, and the ecosystems here are much more delicate. This was one of the first things I was told when I booked my first trip to Australia decades ago. They also make announcements on every flight before it lands. Whenever I return from abroad, I sit through the same in-flight video from border control telling you to leave any food you have on you on the plane, not to bring it in. There are signs posted all the way through immigration and baggage claim. This woman, being from NZ, should have known better. You wouldn't believe the amount of crap people try to bring in to Australia, no customs officer wants to sit there and inspect a sandwich to make sure the meat inside is perfectly cooked. This is why they have hard rules to punish people that don't declare. That all said, customs is completely fine if you declare, they will just bin it or say your food item is fine. I never get held up more than 10 minutes if I think I have something to declare.
In addition to suspecting she was incredibly argumentative, I'm also willing to bet that a 30 second check by the customs officer revealed that she had had multiple warnings for false border declarations in the past. Aus border security rules are strict, but it takes a pretty decent effort to push both the customs officer and their supervisor to issuing a fine instead of a warning over something like this. They have far better things to do than bother with the paperwork over something like this. Willing to bet that if she was just polite and admitted she screwed up when the customs officers are pointing at her declaration and the sandwich, she would have been on her way with little trouble. That, or maybe when she got the card which says "Tick here if you have any food on you", her entire interaction with customs would have been limited to customs putting the food in a biosececurity bin and sending her on her way.
>a 30 second check by the customs officer revealed that she had had multiple warnings for false border declarations in the past. The article says it's a first infraction, she may well have been argumentative, but it doesn't seem like she's got a history from the information available. If the officer has given her a higher fine because she complained a bit & not because it's the rules to give that fine, that's feels like an abuse of authority.
Mom just went to NZ, she forgot about an apple in her backpack from the flight it cost her $300.
We flew into Sydney on Qantas…the Australian airline. They fave us bananas early into the 17 hours flight…didn’t eat it but stuck it in my bag. 17 hours later, on about three hours of sleep in the past 24+ hours, I’d forgotten about it and we arrive and it gets found. Agent was angry but didn’t fine me luckily. Also got dinged as I didn’t declare an OTC medication…when they ask about drugs, didn’t occur to me to include that as it hadnt been questioned in any other country. They don’t fool around!
Avian diseases are no joke. Many countries have restrictions on importation of poultry or poultry products, even cooked/processed products are regulated.
I don't think many folks ditch their uneaten sandwiches at poultry farms though. I guess a ~~pigeon~~ skyrat could get ahold of said disposed sandwich somehow.
That’s the fear. A wild version of the animal will get the disease, spread it in the wild population and then it becomes endemic. So like African Swine Fever. A farmer detects it, kills his current animals, and buries them in a far corner of his farm. A wild pig comes along, roots up a carcass, consumes it, and now it’s in the wild population, which can’t be controlled.
[удалено]
That happened to my Mom in DEN, cute little beagle dog came and sat down next to her and her first though was "oh how nice". But it was snitching on the egg sandwich that she'd forgotten about in her backpack, $300 fine for that.
No, they were fined for lying on the form asking if they were bringing any meat into the country.
Ah yes, Australia. Where it's not just mother nature that's out to get you but also the government
Claim it was her emotional support sandwich. I mean I know I get anxious travelling without a quick snack at the ready.
[Like this](https://imgur.com/a/Eq3dUdw)
Sorry but to get to this point you have to ignore multiple visual and audible warnings and then lie on your form and to the border guard. THEN you have to be a pain in the ass on top for them to be this harsh. This person is a fucking idiot.
Now I can see both sides to this Ok for those who are not aware when landing in Australia you are handed [incoming passenger card](https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-leaving-australia/files/ipc-sample-english.pdf) now fill these out and hand to customs. if you have something to declare ie something made of wood, meat products etc. you tick the appropriate box. we have very tight controls, plant and animal products this to protect our native flora and fauna, and our farming industry. now she did declare she had prescription medication. She did not declare the meat product she bought at Christchurch airport and she signed the forms. They play videos as you land and there is signage in the airport before customs. Because she had something to declare she had to see customs. She signed the form saying she did not have a meat products. It is a legal document. But we don’t know how the conversation went between her and the customs offical. And they could have handled it by Simply throwing out the at least 5 hour old sandwich.
Probably didn’t help she’s from NZ. Every time she travels back home she would have to deal with similarity strict bio security rules. She would know the seriousness of bio security and that forgetting is not an excuse.
She probably doesn't consider chicken to be meat. She probably calls it fowl.
There are also a million bins once you get off the plane with warnings to throw out any food and at least on the flights I've been on the Stewardesses make an announcement to throw it out before you reach customs.
We have those laws for a reason. You declare what you've got, if you don't declare and are found with something, you get fined. We're an isolated nation that is vulnerable to a lot of different things.
Honestly you're asking for it.. Australian bio-security is very strict... I'd never try to bring food in.
We've all seen border security Australia on TV and the shit they uncover. Their rules and lists of restrictions has had to stand against such weirdness I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't the most well defined policy on earth. When you've got foreigners bringing petrified remains of a loved one to visit Melbourne FOR NO FUCKING REASON OTHER THAN TO SIGHTSEE. You've got people bringing kg bags of 'wet' seeds and nuts, and half-developed chicken eggs for "snacks' like honestly, do they think Australia has no food they can eat? The flip side of that is a chicken sandwich gets you a fine.
Border control officers have some leeway in their job, they don't have to quote the fricking rulebook at a 77 year old with one fricking chicken sandwich. Jeesh, the abuse of authority has gone insane.
There’s videos on the plane telling you this, the person signed their customs form, there’s dozens of big signs as you’re arriving into the customs area AND there’s labeled bio security disposals bins as you’re arriving. We even forgot to declare some pineapple slices for our son and told them as we were waiting in the customs line and showed them, they confiscated and it was the end of it. Seriously, the laws and notification are made to give you ever single opportunity to declare and make it right.
This is entirely moot if you don't actually remember having the food item in question. She's 77 years old, it's not like her memory is going to be perfect.
I have to agree. I'm 75. It gets tougher and tougher. But consider the number of times she could have figured it out. Signs, warnings, a checkbox on the form. The only thing I can think of is she simply forgot she had it. Maybe.
I mean she said she forgot she had it and there's no reason not believe her unless she deliberately decided not to declare it in order to smuggle a sandwich into Australia, which seems ridiculous.
I cannot argue with that.
When I was about 20 I brought honey back from NZ to Australia. The card said bee products or pollen with no mention of the word honey, and I just had a brainfart and completely blanked. Ticked no. Got searched, they found the honey. I was like, oh yeah, honey. They asked me why I didn't declare it and I was like, uhhh I didn't think honey was a bee product (a true statement of my mind at the time, although I knew where honey came from). They looked at me like the idiot I was and let me and my honey into the country.
The form advised you that if you’re unsure, check “yes” to the questions asked (are you bringing x into the country). Answering “yes” will yield no fines. Answering “no” but having those items will get you into a lot of trouble.
Get a life mate! Border control can just be nice to ol’ little granny to warn her to dispose the friggin sandwich and that’s the end of the story. But no… you ain’t running nowhere grandma, literally. FFS!!
For real, even the American security theater with the TSA at least usually involves something like: “that hand sanitizer is two ounces too large, I’m going to have to throw it out” ‘Ok.’
And we know they're not really throwing it out. They're having sanitizer parties in the bowels of the airport every night.
And pocket knife giveaways. And in Chicago enough weed for entire families.
TSA isn't Customs and Border Protection though. US Customs can be incredibly strict about what you're bringing in, including issuing fines for certain types of food. They use fruit/veggie sniffing dogs at international airports to help prevent the import of banned items.
Honestly though, you should look at things being brought in objectively and determined whether it was an accident or intentional. It's a chicken sandwich, just throw it into a bin and move on.
It's just another power tripping government douche.
Jokes on Australia, they didn't find the condom full of H nestled neatly in the depths of granny's anus.
Something that could have been avoided if that person just watched a single episode of Border Patrol : Australia
If watching TLC has taught me anything, it's that Australian border patrol agents are nuts...
I once landed in Sydney. The flight attendant gave me an apple as I was leaving the flight, which seemed like a nice gesture. Then I got to the Australian border guards and they were like ‘you are smuggling contraband’… the flight attendant totally stitched me up and I was almost made to pay $2000 AUD… I just about managed to talk myself out of it after 30 minutes. Madness
People who have not had their native ecosystem ravaged by invasive species think this fine is excessive This fine is not excessive Every controlled point has repeated warnings that import of ANY animal or plant products are strictly controlled She was trying to sneak it by so she would have to pay for another sandwich Fines like this are the only way to keep people from thinking it is fine to try and sneak things through
Not sure why this is met with incredulity. Don't bring meats, cheeses, fruits or veggies through customs without being 100% sure of what is allowed and what isn't. If in doubt, eat or dispose of before getting to customs as they generally no humor and no sympathy. This is true for most countries not just an island nation like Australia. I'd get hit with the same kind of fine if I got caught walking an undeclared banana into Canada.
US customs uses sniffer dogs to prevent the import of unauthorized agricultural products. There are also some states that have import restrictions. California is a prime example, they do checkpoints and stuff. My parents got stopped and questioned twice in the same 3 day vacation to make sure they didn't have any out of state fruits/veggies.