Fruit going across borders

I've never understood why you can't bring fruit across borders. Isn't it vegetables too? Any kind of produce? I'm not sure why you would want to, in the first place. But I don't know why it exists as a law! Maybe because fruit could contain germs or diseases that are communicable? That's the only thing I can think of...

I think they're trying to protect their fruit industry. If they allow fruits from other countries to be brought in, these fruits may be planted and then cross-bred with their local fruits. If such happens, there's a possibility that the outcome would be an inferior fruit. Pests or bacteria may also be carried by fruits, even e.coli which supposedly was only found on animals. These could spread and can become an outbreak that could affect lots of people. There are other possible reasons why these rules are in place but I think such rules are necessary. A little bit extreme but I guess the Australian government is taking every precaution to safeguard their country and its citizens :)

we have the same rule here in Canada. you cannot take fruit over the border into the US. i am not sure why they do that though.

Wow well I've actually never heard of this before. I suppose its so you have to buy the food there and make money for that country but I dont know. It kind of doesnt seem like they would go that far as to fine people two hundred and twenty dollars just over something like that. Maybe they are afraid of diseases or something. I dont know. If you find out the real reason be sure to let me know.

maximax8 we have that rule here ion the US too.for examplw we were vacationing in Oregon and bought some plums. when we crosses the border back into California we had to declare the plums which we watched them eat. they told us its because of certain fruit diseasers that have been carried into California from other states via produce bought in other states. we all laughed and assumed these guys were really hungry but act ually its a law to protect the fruit growers in certain states. I love to eat plums, cherries, berries well almost any fruit really. they are all so good for you.

Rules against fresh fruit being brought into a country are to stop the spread of diseases that might attack crops of the country the person is entering. Giving ever passenger on board was a dirty trick. Those apples probably were not harboring fruit disease spores, but rules are rules. The passengers should have either eaten their apple or declared it. However, probably not many of them knew that,

I understand how important it is to not let fruit in from other places. I'm in California and many people depend on the people coming into California to be honest and not bring in unsafe foods. I know many people try to bring in items from other places and it can cause serious health risks.

We have no wood more than 50 miles from place of origin rules. The wood borors are killing trees like crazy. So they're trying to keep wood the borors from destroying all of our forests.

When I visited my grandmother in California we went to Nevada while I was there. There was a customs crossing where they were checking to make sure there were especially no fruit carried between the two states. I had no idea what was going on but my grandmother explained that there were certain insects and fruit diseases that they were trying to either control or eradicate between the two areas. The spread of these insects or diseases from one area to another could be detrimental to the natural scheme of things I guess.

Hmmm.. this is an interesting topic. if i were to visit my friends in another country, i would most especially like to bring them green crispy Philippine mangoes as they dont grow those there. Why would they want to do that? How do they explain exporting of foods? I chomp on italian plums, egyptian oranges, new zealand kiwis and japanese persimons. I dont see anything wrong with it.. even if we intend to grow these fruits here, it would never thrive because of the temperature requirements.

This topic reminds me of my bad and rather amusing experience in Perth, Australia. It was my first time visiting Australia. I did not know about the strict regulations they have when it comes to food. Me and my relatives were eating some food, fruits included and could not finished the food and just packed it into our hand-carry bags. We did fill in the declaration form and I was aware one of the questions was about food. I just didn't expect they were that strict. Luckily for me, since it was my first visit to Australia, I was not penalized, only received a warning not to repeat the offense. That was more than ten years ago and I heard the same stories from my friends who also like me, didn't expect Australia to be different from other countries. I guess the custom people were just doing their job. Looking back I find it rather amusing.