Bringing food into Australia

Does anyone know what the restrictions are for bringing food into Australia? Or where I can get that information? I'm sure fresh fruit is not allowed but what about packaged food or homemade food? I remember food sniffing dogs the last time I was there.
Thanks,
Jan

This web will provide you some info.
This other web will help you too.

Really, not very much at all is allowed in. I wouldn't even bother (although I did take Prawn Cocktail crisps in for my daughter last year - no problem!)

Never consider not declaring stuff for if they find it, you will be fined (about $200). And then they will go through the rest of your luggage with a fine tooth comb and you could be delayed for hours.

Thanks. That was helpful.
Jan

commercially packaged food is usually allowed.

as bellart mentioned, whatever you do declare anything and everything that is food/edible.

declare anything and everything that is food/edible.

Agree. This includes chocolate, dried fruit, dried herbs etc. The disembarkation card you fill in before landing will list pretty much what you have to declare but if you have any food - DECLARE !

What you definitely CAN NOT take into Australia - bananas (fresh, dried or any other way). Dairy products including powder.

Declare everything, even that little packet of mints in the bottom of your handbag. Commercially packaged stuff will usually be allowed - some Canadians even brought me a large sealed packet of smoked salmon which was waved through no problem.

Yes, declare everything. Australia still has in place archaic customs statutes that bars entry to menstruating women. Plan around it or deny everything as I really don't know how they could possibly police it. HTH. It's all on their website. You just had to look.

Jan there probably is a book about it the library

This is the incoming passenger card .
As you can see, it asks if you to declare 'all food'. The penalties for false declaration are high. AQIS will decide if you can bring it in or not. Usually anything home made is a no no.
AQIS not only have sniffer dogs, but pretty sophisticated x-ray equipment to detect food products. Quarantine is taken very seriously and AQIS are very vigilant.

Just watch Border Control - frightening!

I recommend you do not bring any food into Australia. Apart from the act that you can buy most things here, the risk of being fined is significant if you fail to declare something.

Border Security... On youtube.com.

NOT Border Patrol. Border Patrol is NZ.

I wouldnt bother. even food from the plane wasnt allowed and considering how restricted border control is.

We flew back from NZ a couple of years ago, and declared two frozen lamb meals we bought in a supermarket in Auckland, as we were getting in very late and there was no food in the house, and we done everything right, and the customs guy took them away from us!

We knew that all chicken products are banned, so we were very careful not to buy any product that contained chicken, it said plainly that it was Rogan Josh meal, made from Lamb, and it said in the small print on the back what food it contained, and there was no mention of any chicken.

But the customs guy took them of us all the same, saying over and over in parrot fashion 'That they could contain chicken', we were so exasperated in trying to tell him that no where on the labelling it said so, but countless times in trying to exlpain this to him was proved fruitless, and in the end we gave up, it was like trying to have an objective conversation about your wife to your mother in law.

Where on earth did you get the idea that only chicken was banned?

Crazy.... loads of fast food outlets at the airport too...

#16, were i the earth did i say that only chicken was banned?................NZ Frozen lamb meals, and any processed NZ lamb are allowed into Australia, OK?

And #17, crazy is it?..........................I am not a big fan of eating greasy KFC, or Macca's hamburgers or Pizza, and seeing our flight got in very late i would doubt very much if these fast 'Food' outlets would be still open.

Would have thought AQIS would have taken the Rogan Josh lamb, rather than Aust Customs.

those kiwi rogues could easily dress a chicken up as a lamb and con you into thinking it was rogan josh which is why the wise Aussies put a stop to it
either that or they thought this looks pretty good for our dinner

OK, it's a very sweet thing to do but very naive, as you found out!

Actually, since they were frozen, they could have defrosted between you buying them and your luggage being put in the hold. There they would probably have re-frozen and then you could have got food poisoning, so you could think yourself lucky and thank Oz customs fr taking them away!

Edited by: bellart1

#20, could you please speak some sense, please?

And #21, can you speak some sense also?

Next!

Mine is very clear. Meat that has been frozen and defrosted and then refrozen can give you food poisoning. The hold on a plane is like a freezer and you would have bought your frozen meal several hours previously, presumably had it in a warm house, then a warm suitcase, then a warm airport and it would have defrosted. Then in the plane it would have refrozen.

What nonsense is there?

Maybe Ishotamaninreno is not a native English speaker?
Crystal clear to me.

Thanks meow - he appears to be, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

On a side note, I agree with Bellart.

I had an experiemnt, a bag of coins, passed xray.

On the plane, I surruptiously counted how much I had in coins value.

Guess what, those coins were icy cold, colder even than when they were on planet earth.

Never knew how cold it is, them coins. They were Aussie coins at that too.

Can't we just accept that best not to bring in foods and not spoil this branch.

I feel the WOS branchites are here already.

For 20 years I worked at the Government Laboratory that processes all seizures from Perth Airport (narcotics, food, fireworks etc.). You may be surprised to know how often illegal imports were hidden inside frozen meals and drinks. I recall finding a flick knife inside a tub of frozen yoghurt once, and 6 x .38 bullets in a tub of frozen pasta just to mention two cases I was involved in.
But even today when everything can be x-rayed, scanned and spot-tested, we know that pre-prepared meals can be cross-contaminated accidentaly and unknowingly with nuts, eggs, honey and anything else that's a banned import. So for the bio-safety of Aussie agriculure, I'm happy for AQIS and Customs to err on the side of caution.

This thread have reached the stage of particular oddity when a poster starts talking about hiding flick knives inside frozen products, i do think when it reaches this stage i better go.

Well I get it - he was illustrating to what lengths people go to smuggle things through customs to explain why they are so vigilant about what they let through. Nothing sinister. It's your comments that have become sinister.

tell us about the man in reno
pretty sure you want to
hope it wasn't bits of him disguised as rogan josh

You find my comments sinister?

I am genuinely very sorry that do.

Ishotamaninreno you are the one getting annoyed here because people didn't side with your story but with the Aus border agents

BP007 posted a completely valid statement which shouldn't have made you want to leave at 'this stage' but instead should have opened your eyes to the naivety on your end

If you had the capacity to continue reading his post he mentioned cross contamination. You were also advised that your frozen meal would have likely defrosted and subsequently refroze during flight which could have left you open to potential poisoning

I have flown all over the world and any major airport usually has some sort of food outlet open and you are tethered to the wrong planet thinking a processed, frozen ready meal is particularly healthier than what would be available to you in an airport early morning

Having read this thread, everyone so far has responded reasonably except for you (after your original post)

So to remain on topic I wouldn't advise bringing any food in, watch the shows mentioned on youtube. I watch them everyday around 6pm in the UK. Alarming the sort of crap people try to bring in. I have seen them seize a small necklace once because there was a section that contained a dried 'seed' of sorts ... I wouldn't risk it and I think the fine is $220

I do hope that you forgive me #32, in that you also find my comments as 'Sinister'.

"In that you also find my comments as 'sinister'"

I never mentioned that - please re-read the post.

I think the Aus border folk already forgave your ignorance, you don't need my forgiveness old boy

come on you guys, the OP didn't ask whether she should bring food or not, but how to find out what was ok to bring and what isn't. How pointless to say 'just don't bother bringing anything'.
A fairly entertaining thread regardless. I watched an episode of australia border whatever the other night. A korean? woman who brought half her garden with her and didn't declare it, including a few aloe plants that were crusted in dirt and crawling with insects. What goes through their heads??

I watched an episode of australia border whatever the other night. A korean? woman who brought half her garden with her and didn't declare it, including a few aloe plants that were crusted in dirt and crawling with insects. What goes through their heads??

Lisa - this show can be very entertaining, seeing usually Asian women insisting that they do not have food, although the case is jam packed with edible products. Then the males who get upset because they are being delayed but aren't co-operative and won't answer any questions asked to them.

It really makes you appreciate the thankless job these guys do.

ishotamaninreno, I don't know where you got the idea that chicken was banned but lamb was OK.
this list clearly shows that ALL animal products of any species, unless canned, are banned.
Next time plan on having Spam for dinner.

Edited by: evamelb

Edited by: evamelb

We were told that was the case, and our thoughts were endorsed by the official at the airport saying that 'It could contain chicken', so shoot us!

And you took the time to find what can be bought into the country, and what can not, dear oh dear, it does say something about you, i am not sure what!....................... And do pardon me, if i am not rude in return

Yeah - it took 10 seconds. And what it says about me is that I base my views on facts rather than random opinions.
As you found out, an opinion didn't save your rogan josh.

Poppy, I have a few friends that work for MaF at Auckland airport - the stories they tell are pretty classic too. I have a lot of sympathy for them.

Google is a wonderful thing!

Both the Oz and Nz shows are very entertaining. We have an equivalent TV series in the UK, but it's not nearly so good, probably because we're not as strict (yet).

ishotinreno, I think is the same man who was known as Stress on WoS. He can elicit interesting responses in some posters. Seldom dull.

Course it is. There's only one person silly enough to try and smuggle a rogan josh back into the country. He's a curry smuggler.

You should see the Customs people having the time of their lives looking for the bags of Mums home-cooked curry in the bags of the Asian students when the cheapie flights arrive from SIN or KL!

Someone gonna take the nifty? where's lincs?