Passenger fined $1,874 after two undeclared McMuffins found in luggage

[Scott]

 

(CNN) — A passenger traveling from Bali, Indonesia to Australia has found themselves paying a hefty price for a McDonald's breakfast.

 

The unnamed traveler was handed a fine of 2,664 Australian dollars ($1,874) after two undeclared egg and beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant were found in their luggage on arriving at Darwin Airport in the country's Northern Territory last week.

 

The incident came about days after Australian authorities brought in tough new biosecurity rules after a Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Indonesia spread to Bali, a popular destination for Australian tourists.

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/passenger-fined-after-undeclared-mcmuffins-found-in-luggage/index.html

[whereyougo]

If it were Thailand this thread would run 160 pages

[lexxy]

Is pork still on the ban list from Thailand? 

[Ralf001]

FMD can live in cooked meat ?

[Bluespunk]

Why on earth would anyone pack two mcmuffins in their luggage?

[Mac Mickmanus]

2 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Why on earth would anyone pack two egg Mac muffins in their luggage?

If they were at an airport and having a feed before the flight and they couldn't eat all the food they ordered , rather than throwing it away , they put the food into their bag to eat later

[Bluespunk]

8 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

If they were at an airport and having a feed before the flight and they couldn't eat all the food they ordered , rather than throwing it away , they put the food into their bag to eat later

Ludicrous behaviour. They deserve the fine. 

[Mac Mickmanus]

3 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Ludicrous behaviour. They deserve the fine. 

There were new rules bought in by Australia forbidding the import of pork , new rules being bought in a few days previously and the McMuffin smugglers may not have been aware of those new rules 

[Bluespunk]

13 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

There were new rules bought in by Australia forbidding the import of pork , new rules being bought in a few days previously and the McMuffin smugglers may not have been aware of those new rules 

You are asked about food in your luggage when you enter Australia, you are given a checklist to read and then sign.

 

Anyone dumb enough to not read it or just not declare prohibited foodstuffs and just sign it deserves all they get.
 

If you declare things they may be removed but you are not fined. 
 

https://www.abf.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/can-you-bring-it-in/declare-it

[JonnyF]

Immigration officials at Australia's airports are real little Nazi wannabees.

 

I had the displeasure of dealing with them last month. Rude little creeps, no doubt bullied at school. I bet they absolutely loved handing out such a ludicrously OTT fine.

 

 

[placeholder]

If it has been a Wendy's they would have deserved it. 

[bendejo]

Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said a "range of undeclared risk products," including the fast food items, were detected in the passenger's rucksack by a biosecurity detector dog named Zinta.

 

Must be really tough to train a dog to find a hamburger.

 

The perpetrator's passport picture would have tipped them off.

 

 

 

[bendejo]

6 hours ago, placeholder said:

If it has been a Wendy's they would have deserved it. 

Ever hear of a US chain called Arby's?  Opening a branch in another country would be considered an act of aggression. 

 

 

[Ritchi]

9 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

There were new rules bought in by Australia forbidding the import of pork , new rules being bought in a few days previously and the McMuffin smugglers may not have been aware of those new rules 

Nonsense it was never allowed to bring in any food 

[Mac Mickmanus]

18 minutes ago, Ritchi said:

Nonsense it was never allowed to bring in any food 

You didn't read the link in the O.P, did you ?

In the link it says 

 

"The incident came about days after Australian authorities brought in tough new biosecurity rules after a Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Indonesia spread to Bali, a popular destination for Australian tourists.

 

Last month, the federal executive government of Australia announced a $9.8 million biosecurity package, with new measures introduced across the country's borders, including sanitation foot mats at all international airports and biosecurity dogs stationed at both Darwin and Cairns Airport, after the highly contagious disease began spreading through cattle in Indonesia."

[placeholder]

5 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

You didn't read the link in the O.P, did you ?

In the link it says 

 

"The incident came about days after Australian authorities brought in tough new biosecurity rules after a Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Indonesia spread to Bali, a popular destination for Australian tourists.

 

Last month, the federal executive government of Australia announced a $9.8 million biosecurity package, with new measures introduced across the country's borders, including sanitation foot mats at all international airports and biosecurity dogs stationed at both Darwin and Cairns Airport, after the highly contagious disease began spreading through cattle in Indonesia."

But it says nothing about whether these fines were part of that package.

[DezLez]

17 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

There were new rules bought in by Australia forbidding the import of pork , new rules being bought in a few days previously and the McMuffin smugglers may not have been aware of those new rules 

 

The " new rules" were just an amendment to the Bio-security act of 2015 which in this case increased the fines.  It did NOT introduce a new restriction on declaring your food imports. 

 

You have obviously never travelled to OZ otherwise you would know about the rules and signed the declaration card before landing in OZ.  You would also have received info when you obtained your visa.  Here is an extract from the OZ Embassy website dated 2019!;

The Australian government has strict rules regarding biosafety. For instance, travellers can only bring limited types of food into the country. Furthermore, travellers at the airport must indicate exactly what they are carrying on their Declaration Card.

 

Bringing food to Australia? Beware of your visa! (e-visa.co.uk)

[ThailandRyan]

9 hours ago, bendejo said:

Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said a "range of undeclared risk products," including the fast food items, were detected in the passenger's rucksack by a biosecurity detector dog named Zinta.

 

Must be really tough to train a dog to find a hamburger.

 

The perpetrator's passport picture would have tipped them off.

 

 

 

The Hamburglar has been found, but then disappeared once again as he has escaped from the quoted post.  Probably now running freely looking for a McRoo sandwich 

[BritManToo]

Seems to me Australia is ruled by tyranny, the fine seems out of all proportion to the offense.

[ThailandRyan]

33 minutes ago, DezLez said:

 

The " new rules" were just an amendment to the Bio-security act of 2015 which in this case increased the fines.  It did NOT introduce a new restriction on declaring your food imports. 

 

You have obviously never travelled to OZ otherwise you would know about the rules and signed the declaration card before landing in OZ.  You would also have received info when you obtained your visa.  Here is an extract from the OZ Embassy website dated 2019!;

The Australian government has strict rules regarding biosafety. For instance, travellers can only bring limited types of food into the country. Furthermore, travellers at the airport must indicate exactly what they are carrying on their Declaration Card.

 

Bringing food to Australia? Beware of your visa! (e-visa.co.uk)

Damn, would I have to declare my Cinnamon flavored tooth picks as food? How about my Halls throat lozenges....

[ThailandRyan]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Seems to me Australia is ruled by tyranny, the fine seems out of all proportion to the offense.

What they were fined was equivalent to a years worth of McMuffins........that is a defining condemnation for fast food.  Wonder if the McMuffins will be consumed by the dog, or put into evidence where in 25 years it will still look the same.... 

[BritManToo]

13 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Damn, would I have to declare my Cinnamon flavored tooth picks as food? How about my Halls throat lozenges....

Just wait until they start the internal exams ......

"I think I can see the remains of a burger up here, pass me the forceps"

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Why on earth would anyone pack two mcmuffins in their luggage?

I find one isn't enough!

[DezLez]

26 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Damn, would I have to declare my Cinnamon flavored tooth picks as food? How about my Halls throat lozenges....

YES!

[Bluespunk]

13 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I find one isn't enough!

I find none is too many. 

[moogradod]

17 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Immigration officials at Australia's airports are real little Nazi wannabees.

 

I had the displeasure of dealing with them last month. Rude little creeps, no doubt bullied at school. I bet they absolutely loved handing out such a ludicrously OTT fine.

This is now the second case I know of. Not long ago a teenager took a Subway Sandwich with her but did eat only half of it and then got in the fangs of the Australian Custom Creeps for the rest half because it did contain chicken meat. Fine US$ (or Australian $, I dont remember) 2'000.--.

 

I understand they want to protect the country but this is way too much. After all this meat is all cooked already.

[JonnyF]

Just now, moogradod said:

This is now the second case I know of. Not long ago a teenager took a Subway Sandwich with her but did eat only half of it and then got in the fangs of the Australian Custom Creeps for the rest half because it did contain chicken meat. Fine US$ (or Australian $, I dont remember) 2'000.--.

 

I understand they want to protect the country but this is way too much. After all this meat is all cooked already.

They absolutely love it. Probably got rejected from the police force application for being too short.

 

In my case, some rude little official approached me in the Nothing To Declare queing zone and demanded to see my boarding pass. Then he ordered me to the "Something to declare" zone for a random check. Lucky I could understand his thick Chinese/Australian accent or he'd have probably had me arrested.

 

Once there, I queued for 30 minutes before some middle aged frumpy woman snatched the pass and told me to wait where I was. Then she ordered me to take one step back and wait. Then summoned me forward again. She was also clearly LOVING the authority. Then ordered down aisle 3 or whatever where some other passenger was having all her neatly packed belongings dumped out of the suitcase (underwear, cosmetics etc.) onto a table by some obnoxious Karen in rubber gloves. She was then told to leave, rudely.

 

Then they asked me what I was declaring and I abruptly replied Nothing (I was getting pretty annoyed by that point). Fortunately they just scanned my suitcase instead of dumping the contents onto the table. Then I was told to Go, rudely.

 

Lovely welcome to Australia. Makes the Thailand customs officials look like Angels. Lucky I didn't have any crumbs of the aeroplane food on me or I'd have probably been fined thousands by the little scrotes. 

[Denim]

19 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Why on earth would anyone pack two mcmuffins in their luggage?

They were Muppets

[ballpoint]

18 minutes ago, Denim said:

They were Muppets

McMuppets at that.

[moogradod]

30 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

.............................

Lovely welcome to Australia. Makes the Thailand customs officials look like Angels. Lucky I didn't have any crumbs of the aeroplane food on me or I'd have probably been fined thousands by the little scrotes. 

I was always under the impression that Australians are easy, friendly persons. Obviousy not everybody. And Thai custom officials are very friendly as I have experienced.

 

When you really want to be scared travel to Vietnam and meet the fiercest looking IOs I have ever seen. I even had the pleasure to witness by chance a change of duty with music and salutes etc. Really scary stuff that was.