Bringing goods from Sri Lanka back to Australia.

Aust. Govt Customs and Quarantine site is very general. So thought I would ask experienced travelers.
Can you bring back tea. Are any dried herbs and spices allowed especially cinnamon both in a powdered or stick form.
I understand you cant bring back fresh fruit and veges and meat and animal products. But i would like to know if there are any other restricted items. Thank you Paula

@paulaupham

The short answer is you can take them into the country if they are commercially packaged.

The website is very comprehensive and specific.
http://www.agriculture.gov.au/travelling/bringing-mailing-goods

Spices

Dried, ground spices and spice mixes weighing no greater than 1 kilogram are allowed into Australia. Spices and spice mixes consist of dried, ground plant material only. This will be verified by:

All spice mixes must be in clean and new packaging.

Spice mixes (including powdered herbs) may be released without inspection if the product is commercially prepared and in ready for sale retail packaging. All other consignments will be subject to an inspection to verify that it is free of seeds, live insects, soil and other biosecurity risk material.

If an item does not meet all of the above conditions it must be treated, exported from Australia or destroyed. Treatment or export is at the importer’s expense.

For individual items of each product type weighing more than 1 kilogram please refer to the commercial import requirements in BICON.

Tea and Dried Herbs
.

Plain black or green teas and plain black or green teas with flavouring

These teas are allowed into Australia from any country, if the tea is in clean and new packaging and free of live insects and other contamination.

Herbal tea bags

Commercially prepared and packaged herbal tea bags are allowed into Australia if they are labelled and only contain ingredients of plant origin and are free of non-permitted seed, animal, fungal or microbial ingredients and other contamination.

Dried herbs (including ginseng and saffron) and loose herbal teas

Commercially prepared and packaged loose herbal teas and dried herbs (including leaves, spices, roots and crushed nut shells) which only contain finely chopped ingredients of plant origin and weigh no more than 1 kilogram are allowed into Australia.

Herbal teas and herbs must not contain non-permitted or unidentified seeds, insects or soil. Goods that do not meet the import conditions must be treated, exported from Australia or destroyed. Treatment or export is at the importer’s expense.

Where herbal tea items or dried herbs exceed 1 kilogram refer to BICON.

You must however declare them, restricted or not.

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