e borders

[ffiill]

When I read the thread elsewhere on here about these being put in place for UK little did I realise that Australia has already got them!-my wife got landed this morning with a £30 charge at Heathrow for one-no mention of them on all the airline websites I scoured whilst booking the ticket and why should I look as I thought the UK was typically following in the footsteps of the US as it usually does!
Mind you I should have realised when reading through the totally over the top biosecurity Australia has in place-wont be long there before every traveler will have to go through a fumigation chamber before being allowed entry-wonder how long before they do that in UK-Imagine "Every vessel entering the UK waters must be equipped with a means of decontaminating those on board" or "Every vessel entering UK waters must contact The Department of Immigration by e mail"
Gone are the days when citizens of the old British Empire could travel visa free across the "Empire" or latterly Commonwealth!
Clearly we are approaching a time when you will have to have a pass to go shopping in town!
Does it stop illegal immigrants or terrorists-of course not!
As for biosecurity in Australia seem to recall there are a lot of primate mammals there which dont belong!

 

[Koeketiene]

As for biosecurity in Australia seem to recall there are a lot of primate mammals there which dont belong!

The UK maintains some rather outdated biosecurity measures as well.
The PETS travel sceme comes to mind. It just annoys holidaymakers and serves virtually no purpose.

Western Europe has been rabies-free for some time now (reference)

 

[BrianH]

Western Europe has been rabies-free for some time now (reference)

Northern Italy currently has a significant and escalating rabies problem that Switzerland is trying to protect from - see here.

Edit:
See also the link on the referenced page Rabies in Italy for the exact numbers.

 

[Pye_End]

Mind you I should have realised when reading through the totally over the top biosecurity Australia has in place-

So far the biosecurity has kept a healthy bee population in Australia, which get transported round the world.

No idea about other measures, but this one is certainly a success story so far.

 

[AndrewB]

Arriving in Australia by yacht, what they seem obsessed with is termites. The initial termite inspection for an arriving yacht costs $A330 (£220), but then there is a hefty additional inspection charge of up to $1,000 for a yacht wishing to stay a year, as many do.

AQIS seemed surprisingly little concerned about anything else, though like many countries they remove and destroy any fresh produce and garbage on arrival.

This charge, out of all proportion to the work involved, is deterring many yachts from visiting Australia.

Incidentally I challenged the inspection officer to tell me how often termites were found on a yacht, and he admitted it was rare - by which I inferred, he personally never had. On the other hand a yacht could well pick up termites in Australia, where they are common.

 

[Submariner!]

I flew into Darwin from the UK on the way to East Timor in 2001 - this was about the time of foot and mouth. Imigration was cordial, but customs and port health? very tough. Please take you boots off please sir - Took them off to a bucket and cleaned the soles!

Over a beer a local ozzie told me "you can be as dirty as you like in Australia, but you have to be scrupulously clean when you pass through our borders"