The import of food of animal origin is mostly not permitted for travelers in many countries, including the EU Schengen area. Australia, for example, is particularly strict about this. A passenger flying home to Darwin from a vacation in Bali was fined the equivalent of $1.820 for bringing a McDonald's meal with him.

The Corpus Delicti: A fast food joint bought in Indonesia that consisted of two egg muffins and a ham croissant. The Australian shouldn't have taken these home with him because local regulations said that such foods should not be imported by private individuals. The passenger was caught by a specially trained sniffer dog during an inspection. The Australian received a hefty fine of 2.664 Australian dollars (about 1.820 euros) for the violation. Ironically, he could have bought the same menu much cheaper at a Macca's (McDonalds has been operating under this name in Australia for a number of years) in Darwin.

"This will be the most expensive Maccas meal this passenger has ever eaten. The fine is twice as much as a flight to Bali, but I have no sympathy for people who flout Australia's stringent biosecurity measures and recent evidence shows you will get caught. Australia is FMD free and we want it to stay that way. … Biosecurity is no joke – it helps protect jobs, protect our farms and food and support the economy,” said Australia's Agriculture Minister Murray Watt.

Strict quarantine regulations for animals too

Downunder has long practiced extremely strict import regulations for food of animal origin. Animals may also only be brought to the continent under very strict quarantine regulations. The government wants to keep foot and mouth disease away, for example.

In 1956, the Equestrian Games of the Olympiad were not allowed to be held in Melbourne. At that time, the government refused to import horses from all over the world. For this reason, all competitions with horses were not held in Downunder, but in Stockholm, Sweden. In the history of the Summer Olympics, however, this remained an isolated case, because at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 the equestrian games were allowed to be held in Australia.

"An outbreak of FMD would have serious consequences for Australian animal health and trade, including significant economic losses and restrictions in domestic and international markets. Even an isolated outbreak that is quickly brought under control could cost billions of dollars to eradicate, with severe economic and social repercussions for other sectors, including tourism. The impact would be felt across the live animal trade, as well as exporters of genetic material, meat and dairy products. A large, multi-state FMD case could cost Australia more than A$10 billion in lost revenue over 52 years," the Northern Territory regional government said in a media statement.