Man fined for illegally importing dried birds' nests

The man caught illegally importing 68 dried birds' nests. Photo / iStock

A man caught illegally importing 68 dried birds' nests - a Chinese delicacy - has been fined $15,000.

Tian Chi Lee, 40, from Auckland's North Shore, appeared before Manukau District Court last week after earlier pleading guilty to knowingly attempting to possess unauthorised goods.

Bird's nests are made from the saliva secretions of the swiftlet bird. Swiftlets can carry a number of significant avian diseases not found in New Zealand, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says.

The offending involved a package sent from Malaysia in January marked as biscuits and addressed to a "Mr David" at an address on the North Shore.

The nests were discovered after MPI x-ray equipment identified the package contained organic material.

An investigation uncovered that "Mr David" was Mr Lee. He admitted his brother in Malaysia sent the nests with a false declaration to a fictitious person because both men knew they were not allowed in New Zealand.

MPI spokesman Craig Hughes says the nests can host serious avian diseases such as Newcastle disease.

An outbreak of Newcastle disease amongst poultry in New South Wales in 2001 cost the government $A26 million to eradicate, and involved the mass destructions of birds. Some of these avian diseases could devastate native bird species in New Zealand.

"New Zealand is fortunate not to have many of the pests and diseases that affect other parts of the world and this gives our agriculture industry a competitive advantage.

"We have a robust biosecurity system in place to stop these pests from making it to New Zealand. Deliberately trying to avoid this system creates a huge risk and the fine reflects that."