Australia is a wonderful country with beautiful sceneries, unique animals, plants and a safe atmosphere. It needs to be protected in every possible way. In other words, Australia is free of many diseases, pests, and germs that are very common in many countries of the world. This unique characteristic distinguishes Australia from other countries. One of the main reasons for having this kind of secure and safe atmosphere is strict “bio-security laws”. Australian Border Force always makes sure that no one enters the country with such items that may harm the Australian environment. In addition, it is the responsibility of every person who intends to go to Australia to follow the biosecurity legislation.
As per Australian bio-security laws; it is not allowed to bring certain food items, animal products, plant materials, and such other things. A person carrying prohibited items will not be allowed to enter the country. The reason for implementing bio-security laws is to protect the Australian environment from harmful pests and diseases.
So, if you want to bring your required items to Australia, you need to declare them first. This is the only way to save yourself from trouble and to take your items to Australia.
Declare Everything!
Before your arrival to Australia, you will be provided an “Incoming Passenger Card”. This is a legal document containing a list of all the possible items that you can bring to Australia. You must mark “YES” on your passenger card if you are carrying any food, plant item, animal product, etc. Marking Yes on the card means you are declaring that you contain these items with you. You must “DECLARE EVERYTHING” that you are carrying on the Incoming Passenger Card as per the rules and laws. After declaring your items, you are allowed to carry these items to the clearance point where those items will be assessed or inspected by the biosecurity officer. Moreover, there is another way that you can dispose of items with a biosecurity risk in bins located in the terminals.
Items You Can Bring/Can not Bring To Australia
As per the laws and rules, there are some items that you cannot bring to Australia. Read about the details of the items that you can bring and cannot bring to Australia.
Food:
You need to declare food items on the Incoming Passenger Card while coming to Australia. Biosecurity officers might also inspect your food items.
However, there are food items that you can easily bring to Australia. For instance, coffee, chocolate, bread, cake, oil. But you need to declare tea, spices, rice, pickles, dairy products, nuts if you are bringing them with you. Check the complete list of the items that you can and cannot bring to Australia on the Australian Border Force website.
Medicine:
While entering Australia, you are allowed to bring your personal medicines with you. However, you must carry a letter or prescription (written in English) from the doctor. The prescription is to certify that the prescribed medicines are to treat a medical condition and does exceed the quantity for three months.
In addition, bring your medicines in their packing and declare them to the Australian Border Force while you arrive.
Plant Materials and Animal Products:
You must declare the plant materials if you want to carry them to Australia. Live plants must be imported only after getting the legal permit from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.
Similarly, you can bring live animals with you only from the approved countries. You can get more details from the Australian Border Force website.
Festive or Seasonal Products:
Many migrants want to bring seasonal items or festive items from their home country. Declare all the items related to any festival like Eid, Diwali, etc whether you are bringing them with you or sending them to your friends or family in Australia.
However, it is not advisable by the ABF to bring fresh fruits, dried fruits, raw nuts, flowers, and sweets for the festivals.
Do Not Carry Any Prohibited Item With You!
A biosecurity officer will inspect your baggage as you will arrive in Australia. So, declare your all goods or dispose of the items with biosecurity risk before the inspection. If you fail to declare or make a false declaration on the passenger card, there is a high probability that you may be:
- Caught
- Face Civil Penalties
- Fined more than A$420,000 and imprisoned for up to 10 years
However, you are not subjected to the above-mentioned penalties if you declare all items even if they are not allowed to bring into Australia.
Moreover, from April 17, 2019, a new law has been introduced. According to this law, your visa will be canceled or shorten if you fail to declare anything that is not allowed to import.
So, to be on the safe side, always declare everything that you are taking with you while entering Australia. Further, always check the lists from the Australian Forder Force website before taking or sending anything to Australia.
Our Most Visited Pages:
- Best Migration Agent Melbourne
- Best Migration Agent Parramatta
- Best Migration Agent Perth
- Best Migration Agent Sydney
- Visa Agent Near Me
- Family Visa Australia
- Parent Visa Australia
- Visitor Visa Australia
