There are lots of reasons the delivery of your new car might be delayed. Part shortages. Unplanned post-production troubleshooting. Customs. Snails?
Yes, snails.
Australian authorities recently blocked five separate shipments from Mercedes-Benz because of unwanted gastropod passengers. 900 vehicles — including passenger cars, limousines, and delivery vans — with a total value of more than $50 million have been turned away.
The culprit is Xerolenta obvia, a land snail native to a handful of European countries (including Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, and Ukraine). It’s also been spotted Michigan. American authorities consider it to be an invasive species and it’s been singled out as a top quarantine priority because of the potential harm to agriculture and ecosystems.
The concerns are similar Down Under. Australian officials say Xerolenta obvia “is a pest of agricultural and environmental significance” and they cite numerous risks: contamination of crops, spreading dangerous parasites to sheep and goats, transmitting spores.
Initially the cars — all 900 of them — were placed in quarantine. They were tucked inside shipping containers until a solution could be hammered out. Ultimately the Department of Agriculture decided the only acceptable course of action was to send the snails and the cars they rode in on back to a port in Bulgaria.
The Truth About Cars points out that this isn’t the first vehicle-borne insect invasion that the Australians have had to deal with. Just last year a vessel that was transporting thousands of vehicles was turned away because it became infested with brown marmorated stink bugs somewhere along its route.
Stink bug detections during the 2018-2019 shipping season were up 300% over the previous 12-month period. Fortunately for shippers, turning around a boat that’s overrun with stink bugs isn’t the only option. They can be “treated” offshore and are allowed to enter once they’re given the green light by the Department.
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