Two Australian pig farmers will be jailed after illegally smuggling Danish pig semen in shampoo bottles.
Torben Soerensen has been sentenced to three years behind bars, while fellow farmer Henning Laue faces two years in prison after pleading guilty to breaching quarantine and biosecurity laws.
The Perth district court heard that the boar semen – which was imported into Western Australia from Denmark a number of times between May 2009 and March 2017 – was used for GD Pork’s artificial breeding program.
Federal agriculture minister Bridget McKenzie said: “GD Pork imported the semen illegally in an attempt to get an unfair advantage over its competitors, through new genetics.”
