Hmmm. If swab tested positive they should have repeated with a new swab. Only if both were positive (and no simple explanation) would a manual search of bags be done. They don't just do strip searches - there must have been some reason for it to be escalated that far.

I use this to my advantage. I often get a free shoe clean when entering Australia or NZ

No repeated swab. My theory was that the clerk who did the test was incompetent, and to save face, decided to make granny's life hell.

I am clued into it now. Again, no other country is that anal. And if the countries down under want to be anal, they should be clearer on the form. And don't get me started about Australia's stupid rules about declaring prescription medications. I have to go through secondary screening each time. The first time some idiot looked at the pill bottle and said: "what's this?". Like I have to read for the moron too?

No they aren't. Junk food is not food, it is junk. That's how it is viewed in North America, and North America has more native speakers of English that the rest of the world combined. That's how it is viewed in the EU, and the EU probably has an even better grasp of English.

The forms say to declare anything derived from animal or vegetable. So I should declare my cotton tee shirt, leather shoes, wool socks, paper books? All that stuff is edible? What about my lap top and DVDs ... they are made from plastic? Or is Australia's official view on the original of hydrocarbons is that they are abiogenic? Aren't dinosaurs animals, or does Australia belief in the Genesis version of origin?

The forms say "animal" and "vegetable" origin. Do you declare your
rubber condoms when you enter Australia?

And cane toads being an exception. Introduced with government complicity.

Anyway, Alberta is land locked, and is rat free, with no need to inspect airline pax' luggage for rats, or stop motorists at the B.C., Saskatchewan, or NWT territory borders looking for a rodent stowaways. AQIS needs to get over it, and focus on the toads. Maybe they should visit Alberta for lessons in pest control.

Let me know when you catch a disease from my kids' Reese's Pieces. Hey I got an idea, maybe cane toads like deadly Hershey's chocolate.

I hadn't realized Australian T.V. had gotten that bad. You guys really need to do something fun like playing GTA-San Andreas. Oh yeah, that's right, AQIS protects you from that too.

Well I'm sure you feel safer now that Australia's crack customs agents have seized another load of deadly trans fat and substandard chocolate.

I naturally loaded up on Tim Tams the last time I returned from Australia, and U.S. customs didn't arrest me for failing to declare them. How could they not fear deadly Arnott's chocolate and processed wafers?

I also noticed that air side in the SYD international departure terminal, they were selling candy (so I bought my third box of Tim Tams). Apparently Australia is less concerned about the spreading of deadly "food" to other countries.

You don't see the distinction between processed and cooked goods and raw vegetables, fruits, meat, etc? Are you serious?

Yes like most government bureaucrats they take their little jobs seriously.

I agree. Having some filthy diseased mutt drool, urinate, and excrete over my stuff irritates me too. At least I'm not allergic to mutts, but too heck with those people who are right?

There we agree again. The Anglosphere has staffed its border and transportation security departments with equally rude and incompetent people.

Australia's customs people aren't confiscating tic tacs because of safety, it is because they want tourists to buy Australian junk food rather than bring in their own. It's the same reason liquids are banned (the airport stores want a monopoly on liquid beverages), and IDs are checked (the airlines want to prevent pax from transferring tickets). It has nothing to do with security and it is all about protectionism.

Because my clothing is of animal and vegetable origin. If I declare it (like I declared my prescription medicine) I have to go through secondary screening and wait even longer to get out of the bloody airport.

How hard is it to construct a blank customs form that that explains what is meant by animal and vegetable origin? I mean assuming the people at AQIS have higher IQs than 100?

They are putting all the bags through X-rays. How hard is it to pull the stuff that is actually dangerous and stop hassling and barking at people who have come to spend thousands to tens of thousands of dollars in your country? How hard is it to stop treating people who visit countries that have a different interpretation of "food" as criminals?

That's only because people in OZ don't want to kill Koalas, they're too cute. Black and Grizzly bear arms are also much more impressive when mounted on the wall.

http://tubearoo.com/articles/24307/F...Bear_Arms.html

Actually, I find the New Zealand form to be very clear. Section 3, on page 2 of the PDF, is explicit about what they are talking about.

AQIS guidelines might help you in the future.

I think any food is pretty explicit. If you put it in your mouth and digest it, it's probably food.

Assumes the pax have the requisite IQ to read and properly understand the form. Surely simpler is better? If you can eat it, declare it.


There's a different interpretation of food? Not been through customs for many years but it was my experience that the process was very simple and a cursory glance at the food in question was all that was needed for everything I ever carried.

Not sure how you can call it secondary screening when it is the only screening point at SYD, but ok.

I think you are misunderstanding the purpose of the screening machines. Food is the dangerous item that they are screening for - both Australia and New Zealand have important agricultural industries and work hard to keep pests out of the country.
If you declare your food items, you can often bypass the screening. The biosecurity guy will ask you what you have, and if it is not dangerous, you can exit straight out. If you don't declare you do need to go through the screening just incase you have something.
I have never had a problem with them barking at me - though I wish they could make the queue shorter.

You have gone off on a tangent on just about every point there.. I have no intention of trying to refute them one by one as you clearly have already made up your mind.

How many times in this thread have you been told that it is NOT necessarily the food that is a problem... many things will be allowed in- If you declare them first!.. it is the fact that YOU did not declare them that led to your problems. Is your (strange?) assertion that chocolate is not a food item a result of sheer embarrassment (as a frequent traveller) at being caught out like that - with a "novices" error? The level of emotional content seems to indicate something like that....

To describe AQIS beagles as "flithy diseased" mutts is as good an example of your hyperbole as anything.... Care to provide evidence that they ARE diseased as you assert? Or "filthy"? Show us evidence of them drooling or urinating on passengers bags?

Thought not....

But here is a thought. If you can't cope with the entry requirements/documentation (which millions of people from all round the world - yes the forms are available in a multitude of languages - manage just fine every year), and if you disagree so vehemently with this Sovereign nations immigration clearance procedures...

Then don't come here! It's your choice after all....

I saw this show tonight in AKL. I think it's called Border Security. Caught two German girls bringing in 5k of xtc each. The other girl was dumb enough to wait for her friend that was getting the full search, so got re-screened, another 5 kilos of xts found, and 8 years in the clink.

The funniest part was the Chinese lady who threw her apples at the custom lady when she was trying to confiscate them.

I was behind another FT'er coming into AKL, and the customs official could not understand why they were only coming in for 18 hours and going right back to SYD. It's often a waste to even try and explain it!

Yes, it's Border Security. There's both an Australian and NZ version - I see the AU version filming at MEL pretty regularly.

The NZ version used to be advertised on buses around AKL with "Border Security: They'll get you in the end", complete with rubber glove clad hand as the background...

No other countries has such good reason to be - New Zealand and Australia are blessed in not having many of the diseases which cause problems in other parts of the world for food production. As a result, they are determined to keep them out - remember the UK Foot and Mouth outbreak was traced back to illegally imported foodstuffs which made it's way into the animal feed chain. Many people (including you I would suggest) have no idea about the potential range of disease vectors which can be found in food, especially since the discovery of what nasty little hard to kill things prions are...

Really? Well I'm in the EU and I consider junk food still to be food. Perhaps you should have remebered you were not in Kansas anymore - that you had travelled outside your own country and American rules would not apply?

Australia is a sovereign country. It is free to instigate whatever rules it needs to protect itself and its economic interests. It takes the trouble to fully explain those rules to those who care to listen and not just assume that because they (kind of ) speak English there, it will be the same as in the US.