Australia deports 2nd pork-carrying Vietnamese traveler

A second Vietnamese traveler has been denied entry into Australia for attempting to bring undeclared pork products through Sydney airport.

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Man discovered attempting to bring undeclared pork products through Sydney airport

A second Vietnamese traveler has been denied entry into Australia for attempting to bring undeclared pork products through Sydney airport.

According to a report, a 60-year-old man was carrying 4 kilograms of pork products when he arrived at the airport. He was denied entry in accordance with the Migration Act, which allows officials to terminate travel visas for biosecurity breaches.

Australia has ramped up its biosecurity measures in an effort to keep African swine fever (ASF) from entering its borders. A dog trained to sniff out meat products has joined the border authorities at Cairns International Airport in Queensland, which is a widely used point of entry to the country by visitors from ASF-infected countries. The deadly pig disease has not been detected in Australia, but it has been reported as nearby as East Timor.

In October, 45-year-old Vietnamese woman was denied entry into Australia after she failed to declare raw pork, poultry and seafood products upon arrival in Sydney. It was discovered that she had 4.6 kilograms of pork and smaller amounts of quail, squid, pate, raw eggs and garlic in her luggage and was ordered by immigration officials to return to Vietnam.

In July, a Vietnamese traveler was arrested by Japanese authorities for illegally carrying pork products infected with the ASF virus into that country.

In that instance, Hac Thi Phuong Linh, 23, tried to bring 10 kilograms of pork rolls into Haneda International Airport without declaring them. Linh originally said the pork rolls were intended for personal consumption, but later admitted she planned to sell them. After testing, Japanese authorities said the pork rolls contained the ASF virus, and that this was the first time pork containing the virus was found in Japan.

In March, a Vietnamese traveler was fined for not declaring pork products when trying to enter Taiwan. The woman, who was carrying rice dumplings filled with pork, was the first Vietnamese citizen to be denied entry into Taiwan since authorities announced fines for travelers attempting to bring pork into the country.

View our continuing coverage of the African swine fever outbreak.

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