The Giant African snail is an invader of great concern to Australian authorities. Giant African snails lay up to 1,200 eggs each year, representing a major threat to horticultural industries. The snail eats large amounts of plant material. While it can eat more than 500 different kinds of plants, it has a preference for the same foods people like - breadfruit, cassava, cocoa, papaya, peanut, rubber and most species of beans and peas. The parasites are passed to humans who eat raw or improperly cooked snails or freshwater prawns.
Tourists can unintentionally import the destructive species.
In July, a woman who had been holidaying in Malaysia was stunned when an AQIS officer opened her bag at Perth International Airport and found a live Giant African snail in her clothes. She had been collecting shells from a beach and did not realise something was still living inside one of the shells. Officials are also on the lookout for the Purpleflower devil's claw weed has woody fruit with two long spines, which can hook into the skin, injuring livestock. The spines can get caught in the fleece of sheep and decrease the value of wool. As a competitive weed, the plant has the potential to cause major problems in vegetable and cotton crops.