Importer handed suspended jail term

An importer who intentionally mislabelled South Korean meat as vegetables to bypass quarantine restrictions has been given a 16-month suspended jail sentence.

Kevin Yi, director of ISS Import Trading, admitted offences under the Quarantine Act when he appeared in the Victorian County Court in Melbourne last week.

Department of Agriculture official Raelene Vivian said pig, beef and chicken products from South Korea were banned from Australia as they were considered to pose too high a risk of disease.

South Korea experienced outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza in 2010.

She said research by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences indicated an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease would cost the economy more than $52 billion over 10 years.

"The most probable cause of FMD outbreaks across the world are through illegally imported meat or meat products being fed to pigs," she said in a statement.

Ms Vivian said where there was intentional non-compliance that placed Australia's biosecurity status at risk, the government would use the full force of the law to keep out exotic pests and diseases.