report
Status: 07/24/2021 3:58 p.m.
A little bit of fruit or a plant as a souvenir – many holidaymakers do not know that they could bring in dangerous stowaways with it. Small insects can cause great damage in this country.
Two men in blue uniform are standing in the arrivals area of Munich Airport. “Inch” is written on her back in large letters. They are waiting for the vacationers, who are about to get off the plane and pick up their suitcases from the conveyor belt. “We are doing random checks, and now a machine is coming from Abu Dhabi,” says customs officer Thomas Meister. “We don’t know what to expect.”
Customs at German airports have more to do again: after a long time, travel starts up again, and with more passengers, the risk of unauthorized plants and fruits and thus pests reaching Germany in suitcases increases. The random checks are intended to prevent new insects from settling here and destroying the local ecosystem.
Master waves a young man from Abu Dhabi into the control area. “What’s inside this bag?” He asks. “Clothes and food,” replies the vacationer. Meal? The officers look puzzled and ask him to open the suitcase.
Twelve billion euros in damage annually in the EU
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates the economic damage caused by alien pests in the European Union alone at around twelve billion euros per year.
As the trade in plants and plant products is increasing worldwide, the risk of introducing diseases or pests has also been growing for years. In 2018, i.e. before the corona pandemic, there were 8,720 complaints about plant-based goods that were imported into the EU. Harmful organisms were found in just under a fifth – 16 percent more than in the previous year. A large part is accounted for by private travel. For years the customs authorities have noticed that the unauthorized imports of plants in suitcases are increasing, and the number of unreported cases is considerable.
Small souvenirs, major damage – many vacationers are not aware of how dangerous it can be to bring fruit and plants.
Image: Johannes Hofmann, BR
The man from Abu Dhabi pulls sweets, almonds, honey from his luggage – and a date salad. Does it have to be confiscated? “There is an exception with the dates,” says the customs officer Meister. Pineapples, bananas, durian fruits and coconuts can also be imported without a phytosanitary certificate. Otherwise, however, the following applies: Anyone who brings plants and fruit from a non-European country needs a phytosanitary certificate.
Introduced beetles destroy entire trees
Shortly afterwards, a Thai woman and her son have to unpack. And indeed: the customs officers find lemons, ginger, chilli, mango and much more. The danger: exotic fruit flies, white flies, fringed-winged flies, weevils or citrus black spot disease could reach us in this way. Experts know that once pests have settled here from far away and begin to destroy cultures, they are difficult to get rid of.
The Asian longhorn beetle, for example, is said to have been introduced into the vicinity of Passau via packaging wood from Asia in the early 2000s. Since then, the black-and-white pied beetle has been destroying entire tree populations across Europe.
Plant protection at the airport
July 23, 2021 12:04 pm
Destruction at the expense of vacationers
The Thai woman’s fruit and vegetables are now going to the Bavarian State Institute for Agriculture, which is responsible for the so-called “phytosanitary monitoring”. Here Jürgen Leiminger examines the goods for diseases and pests.
The head of the “Plant health at import and export” department does not find anything, but a phytosanitary certificate when entering from third countries is compulsory – and safety comes first. “As a result, these goods are properly destroyed”.