A 20-year-old Spanish man has been the first traveller to have his visa revoked by Australia for carrying undeclared meat and cheese in his luggage, under stricter biosecurity laws.
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment on Monday said that the man had his visa cancelled and was fined 3,300 Australian dollars (2,300 US dollars) after an officer in Perth found over a kilogram of undeclared raw pork meat and cheese in his luggage on Tuesday.
Officers found 275 grams of non-commercial pork pancetta, 665 grams of non-commercial of pork meat and about 300 grams of goat cheese which weren't declared, the ministry said in a statement.
"I hope this man regrets his actions - his visit to Australia was over before it even began, and he's been sent packing with a hefty fine," Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said.
"This was a serious breach of Australia's biosecurity laws and could put Australia's agricultural industries at risk," the minister said, stressing that the strict rules were also an attempt to keep diseases including foot and mouth out of the country.
The government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in October announced tougher infringements for travellers who fail to declare biosecurity risk items to stop diseases and pests entering and establishing in Australia. The changes came into force at the beginning of January.
Australia already had some of the world's strictest biosecurity regulations.
"Travellers who have their visa cancelled are removed from Australia on the earliest available flight and can face an exclusion period of three years before they are able to reapply for a visa," the ministry said.
