A man fined $400 for bringing dried fish into New Zealand is "frustrated" at what he calls an unfair punishment for an honest mistake – that he didn't make.
Qi Liu, 39, returned home to Auckland's North Shore from a trip to China in July with presents of assorted foods for his children. He ticked 'yes' to both food and animal products on his arrival card, a photo of which has been viewed by Stuff, and thought all bases were covered.
The Customs officer who interviewed Liu about the contents of his luggage spoke "very very fast", said Liu, who speaks English as a second language. He said he didn't hear the officer ask specifically about fish.
When dried fish was detected by an x-ray machine and queried further, Liu said he felt confident because of the ticks on his arrival card. He believed the fish would either be accepted or binned by Customs without any repercussions.
But he was slapped with a $400 infringement fee on the spot for failing to declare the fillet, which wasn't packaged in a way that met New Zealand's commercial standards.
The Biosecurity Act states anyone who "erroneously declares" they are not in possession of goods restricted by New Zealand law faced the fine.
Liu's situation was similar to a recent case where a woman was fined for bringing honey into the country despite having declared it on her arrival card.
After an eight month-long battle with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), Gamage Kariyawasam's biosecurity infringement notice was formally withdrawn and her money refunded.
Kariyawasam said a warning would be sufficient in cases like hers.
Liu asked MPI to independently assess his case, but the request was declined.
A letter to Liu from the ministry, viewed by Stuff, said declarations included "both written and verbal disclosure" and that unintentional mis-declaration was not an excuse.
It noted Liu could dispute the fine through the courts, but risked facing a maximum penalty of $1000 instead of his current $400 infringement fee.
Liu said he hadn't known about the verbal requirement before getting the letter and suspected he wasn't the only one.
Verbal declarations are not mentioned on an MPI webpage guiding arrivals through airport biosecurity procedures.
A spokesperson for MPI told Stuff that while the ministry could waive fines on a case-by-case basis, it took "a hard line on international passengers who fail to declare items that could bring invasive pests and diseases into New Zealand".
Passenger arrival cards provided a "starting point for officers to interact with passengers to assess biosecurity risk".
They said Kariyawasam's fine was waived because medical issues faced by a family member while Kariyawasam was going through Customs prevented her from making an accurate verbal declaration.
Liu was still considering disputing his fine in court.
"Four hundred dollars isn't so much money, but I don't think I have actually done something wrong," said Liu.
"I'm so frustrated. I wasn't trying to hide anything ... I [have] lived in New Zealand for more than 10 years and I know biosecurity is very important here."