Bieber pays bill for former pet monkey

Justin Bieber as paid a $A12,000 fine held over from last year, for bringing a pet monkey into Germany without the necessary papers.

Capuchin monkey Mally, formerly owned by Justin Bieber, climbs in the quarantine area at Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, Germany. (AAP)

German authorities say Justin Bieber has paid 8,000 euros ($A12,000) owed after attempting to bring a pet monkey into the country last year without the necessary papers.

Bieber failed to produce vaccination and import papers for Mally the monkey on arriving in Munich in March 2013, and the animal was seized by customs.

Mally became the German government's property after the singer failed to claim his pet, and now lives at a zoo in northern Germany.

Franz Emde, a spokesman for the German Federal Nature Conservation Agency, said that Bieber this week paid a 2,100 euros ($A3,150) fine for the monkey's import plus the costs of several weeks' care at an animal shelter.

Failure to pay could have put Bieber in legal difficulty if he travelled in the EU.