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Do the right thing - or Quarantine will cut your grass
13 July 2006
AQIS 20609NESB
Buying ‘holy’ turf from the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium won’t score you a goal with Quarantine. Samples sealed in a solid block of resin will be allowed into Australia, but unsealed samples will be confiscated and destroyed.
That’s because an Internet order for souvenir turf could be the first step toward introducing an exotic garden or pasture weed or a plant pest or disease that may threaten Australia’s environment and agriculture industries.
AQIS is urging all football fans to remember Quarantine regulations before they place an Internet order for any kind of plant material, including seeds or bulbs : and we’re asking Australians to let friends and family overseas know that we’ll be checking every parcel sent to Australia.
AQIS spokesman Carson Creagh says Quarantine officers check all international letters and parcels using detector dogs, X-ray screening and physical inspection.
“Australian law requires all plant or animal material, food or wooden items to be listed on the postal declaration label, but we don’t rely on people’s honesty — detector dogs and X-ray machines can’t read.
“We’re very serious about keeping out pests and diseases. Remember : you could face fines of up to $60,000 for serious breaches of our quarantine laws,” Carson says.
If you’re expecting gifts or World Cup memorabilia from friends or family overseas, remind them to declare all items in the parcel — and make sure they don’t send unsealed samples of turf from Berlin!
For more information:
- visit www.aqis.gov.au
- call AQIS on 1800 020 504 (free call in Australia)
- contact AQIS for a free copy of What Can’t Be Mailed To Australia?
Media contact:
Carson Creagh, AQIS Public Relations, 0414 577 472