Hollywood actress fined for bringing fruit into NZ

Double Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank has been told to pay a $200 fine for trying to bring fruit into New Zealand in January.

The American actress has been fined $200 and ordered to pay $30 in costs after she failed to declare an apple and an orange when she arrived at Auckland International Airport from Los Angeles.

She faced a $200 instant fine at the airport but instead wrote a letter defending herself.

However, Manukau District Court, which covers the airport, rejected her letter and imposed the fine with costs in a hearing without lawyers.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Maf) said Swank had admitted liability and explained the circumstances.

That letter went to the court and was considered on March 18 but court officials refused to say then what had happened until Swank had been told, saying she needed to know before the whole world.

Maf said New Zealand's strict biosecurity regulations were to keep the country free of pests and diseases that could seriously damage our environment, natural resources, threaten our economy and undermine our way of life.

International passengers are obliged to declare all foodstuffs they may be carrying when entering New Zealand.

Swank, won her second Best Actress Oscar earlier this month for her starring role in the Clint Eastwood-directed Million Dollar Baby. She also won an Oscar for her transgender role in Boys Don't Cry.

- NZPA