A 60-year-old Vietnamese man has been deported from Australia after failing to declare almost four kilograms of pork products he carried with him to Sydney International Airport, sparking concerns of an African swine fever outbreak.
The disease has the power to wipe out pig herds across the world, and is expected to kill more than 200 million pigs this year in China alone.
Australian Pork Limited chief executive Margo Andrae told a Senate committee a local outbreak would be “akin to the worst kind of natural disaster” for producers and employees, as they would suffer “lasting financial, social and emotional devastation”.