Stars diverse artists including Victorian Indians Neha Soudagar and Sam Vas
A new Australian biosecurity in-flight video has taken off across the globe recently, with a clear and simple message for incoming passengers—‘don’t be sorry, just declare it’. And the Hindi version of the video is making waves across global Indian travellers.
The in-flight video has been shot in English, Mandarin and Hindi. It stars artists from various diverse communities, including Victorian Indian model Mr Sam Vas; and travel industry professional Mrs Neha Soudagar who is also an Ambassador for Dandenong’s Little India cultural precinct, and a member of AIBC as well.
It gives a simple message from Australian Bio Security to inbound passengers for Australia: “Before they check your bags at the border, make sure you mark ‘yes’ on the incoming passenger card if you’re carrying any biosecurity risk items.”
It doesn’t matter where you are travelling from, you must declare fresh food, goods made from plant and animal material, and any wooden souvenirs.
Australian Bio Security discovered more than 340,000 biosecurity risk items in passenger’s bags in 2017, including fresh meat, live marine animals, reptiles, seeds and plants.
Plant and animal products can bring exotic pests and diseases into the country, and severely threaten Australia’s $63 billion agricultural industry, unique wildlife and environment.
Giving false or misleading information is a serious offence and you can face fines of up to $12,600 or 12 months in prison.
“So don’t be sorry, just declare it.” Is the simple message in this Ad from Biosecurity Australia. It’s an important reminder that no excuse is good enough when it comes to Australian biosecurity.
The new Ad has got a ‘thumbs up” from community and travellers. Former ministerial adviser Mr Nitin Gupta commented “The ad reflects the diversity of the Australian community, and travellers. The models are not from one particular community, and it has been shot beautifully. We need more advertisements like these that show true diversity of Australian community.”
Head to http://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity/avm/aircraft/guidelines-operators/passenger-video to check out the videos in English, Mandarin and Hindi. To learn more about what can and can’t be brought to Australia, visit agriculture.gov.au/travelling.
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