Whale salami seized at border
A Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) quarantine inspector confiscated salami produced from whale meat at Auckland Airport last week.
The salami had been purchased in Norway as a souvenir by two New Zealand travellers who had declared it before crossing the border.
“The passengers were happy to hand over the salami. The fact that they declared the item shows that our messages are getting through to travellers about declaring or disposing goods that pose a biosecurity risk before entering New Zealand,” said Team Manager Steve Gay.
Mr Gay says the salami was “definitely one of the more unusual seizures” by airport biosecurity staff over the last month.
He says the product was not covered by an import health standard, which raised biosecurity concerns about possible diseases in the meat.
In addition to biosecurity risk, there were concerns about whether the item was illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Mr Gay said that the salami was destroyed.