1800 Euro fine for McMuffin “smuggling” into Australia
McMuffins as seen in the Department of Agriculture image
© AFP
An Indonesian man has been fined more than €1,800 for travel snacks he brought into Australia. A man faces a fine from the Australian government after a sniffer dog found two McMuffin burgers and a ham croissant from fast-food chain McDonald’s during a customs check at Darwin airport.
“This is the most expensive McDonald’s meal of his life,” Australia’s Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said on Monday. A fine of A$2,664 is equivalent to the cost of 567 McMuffin burgers in Sydney or several return tickets to the Indonesian island of Bali.
The background to the harsh punishment is Australia’s generally strict biosecurity laws, which are intended to protect the country’s agriculture from introduced pests and diseases. After an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia, responsible Australian authorities are also on high alert for travelers from the country. The viral disease is harmless to humans, but is highly contagious among livestock and has serious consequences for them.
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