SYDNEY, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Biosecurity remains a concern at Australia's largest airport, as new data revealed on Monday that despite a reduction in the number of seizures in 2016, some illegal items have seen sharp increases.
According to the figures, during the course of 2016 there was a 1 percent increase in biosecurity risk items being seized at Sydney Airport, which saw an 8.8 percent increase in travellers throughout the year.
The head of biosecurity operations at the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, Nico Padovan, told Xinhua in a statement on Monday that visitors need to "consider what they are risking" when they pack their bags before they travel to Australia.
"If you're unsure, don't bring it or declare it, we've seen an increase of almost 16 percent in the volume of seafood products seized at the airport in 2016," Padovan said.
"That places Sydney's iconic harbor and beaches, our marine environment and Australia's 3 billion Australian dollar (2.37 U.S. billion) fisheries and aquaculture industries at risk."
But seafood was not the only risk item that saw a rise over the course of the year, and Padovan said that there were other, more everyday foods, that were being brought in that could serve tremendous risk to the local agricultural industry.
"The volume of apples and pears has risen 14 percent - just one apple, even one handed out on an international flight, could carry fruit flies into the country," Padovan said.
"The introduction of exotic fruit flies could cripple our 556 million Australian dollar (440.39 U.S. million) apple industry through reduced market access, reduced farm profits and increased production costs."
Along with the apples and pears, over 16,658 kilograms of meat products - an 8 percent increase - and 2,907 kilograms of seeds, a 28 percent increase, were seized at the airport over last year alone, and Padovan warned the issue is one which affects the whole nation.
"Across Australia 273,000 items of biosecurity concern were seized in 2016, up by more than 6 percent from 2015," Padovan said.
In a submission to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity (IGAB) review last year, the former chief executive officer of Sydney Airport, Kerrie Mather said that despite the need for improving biosecurity measures, it should not come at the full expense of customer satisfaction at the airport.
"We recognise that Australia's biodiversity is a key element to why people visit Australia and buy Australian products," Mather said.
"However, measures to preserve and protect Australia's biodiversity need not come at the expense of improving the passenger experience at the border. Indeed, it is imperative for a range of Australian industries that improvements to biosecurity and service are each treated as priorities without compromising the other."
