Visitors to Australia will soon be warned that concealing plant and animal products at the bottom of their suitcase is now grounds for visa cancellation, under new powers for the immigration minister.
New regulations add concealing goods that require a permit to import because they pose a biosecurity risk to existing grounds to cancel visas. The rules apply to visitors including international students, working holidaymakers, maritime crew and temporary workers.
In December, the Biosecurity Act was amended to create a new civil penalty provision for people who bring or import “conditionally non-prohibited goods” without the required permit where “the goods are concealed for the purpose of preventing [them] being found, or preventing the true nature of the goods from being determined by a biosecurity official”.
Such goods include meat products, live animals and animal reproductive material, plants or plant products, seeds, animal material, infectious agents, microorganisms and fungi. Breach of that provision is punishable by fines of up to $375,600.
In a regulation dated 26 October and published on 31 October, the government expanded the grounds for visa cancellation to include “circumstances where the minister reasonably believes” a visa-holder has breached the section.
Existing grounds to cancel visas include if a visitor makes false or misleading declarations or refuses to answer questions from biosecurity officials.
According to an explanatory statement issued by the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, the government intends and expects that it will use “education and counselling” as a first resort, with visa cancellation occurring “only in repeat or egregious cases”.
The government will undertake public messaging including pre-departure warnings for students and temporary workers “about the possibility of visa cancellation for the contravention of biosecurity laws”.
“Given the very serious nature of attempting to conceal conditionally non-prohibited goods and the concomitant threat that action represents to Australia’s unique biosecurity status, it is appropriate for migration officials to have the discretion to cancel the visa of persons who contravene this provision.”
The new regulation “will enhance Australia’s biosecurity regime to protect the Australian community and agricultural systems from biosecurity risks”, it said.
Australia has some of the toughest biosecurity laws in the world, aimed at keeping the island continent free from the world’s invasive pests and diseases, and protect an agriculture industry worth more than $70bn.
In 2016 the actor Amber Heard apologised after making a false customs declaration to bring her and then husband Johnny Depp’s dogs into Australia. The bizarre case captured international attention, when the then agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, threatened to have the yorkshire terriers, Boo and Pistol, put down.
The agriculture minister, Murray Watt, said Australia “makes no apologies for our tough stance on biosecurity”.
“We want visitors to come and enjoy our beautiful country, but to keep it that way, we need to maintain strong biosecurity standards,” he told Guardian Australia.
“Certain food, plant material and animal products from overseas can’t be brought into Australia because it might be carrying serious pests and diseases that could devastate our valuable food supply and destroy our unique environment.”
“Visa holders who deliberately do the wrong thing by hiding goods to try to get them into Australia are simply not welcome and this change to the migration regulations makes that clear.”
In June the agriculture department announced it had issued four fines of $5,500 to travellers who attempted to bring in plant cuttings in trips from Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Vietnam.
