Bringing food back into Australia

[DC3]

You cannot even transport honey between all states of Australia.

Yes. Honey is a big ‘No No’.

 

[p--and--t]

As a side note: they could possibly get testy if the chocolate was not from Aus and it contained nuts.

 

[DC3]

As a side note: they could possibly get testy if the chocolate was not from Aus and it contained nuts.

The chocolate and nuts are a processed product, not raw. Yes?

 

[p--and--t]

The chocolate and nuts are a processed product, not raw. Yes?

From memory: the arrivals card explicitly asks whether you have any nuts or seeds of any kind (no exclusions listed on the card for processed or not)

 

[DC3]

From memory: the arrivals card explicitly asks whether you have any nuts or seeds of any kind (no exclusions listed on the card for processed or not)

Well, I bring back candy/sweets/chocolate products. They are commercially processed. I used to declare them under food in the old declaration. Even then, authorities were never interested in even looking at the product.

Have things been tightened up? Any reports on such being an issue?

But we can declare as much as we want to, I guess. Better to be cautious.

 

[onemore]

I bought them in Australia, so to be on the safe side I will just declare them.

 

[dajop]

But we can declare as much as we want to, I guess. Better to be cautious.

That sounds like a good approach, however there's probably good reasons why the questions have narrowed focus from "all food" to specific items (and indeed things like processed chocolates are mentioned on website as OK to bring in). Probably they want to focus the resources (people) on dealing with the higher risk items.

 

[love_the_life]

Correct. No need to declare any more.

The old question used to say “All food, including .....”, the new question says “meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy, vegetables?” With another question on grains, seeds, bulbs, herbs, plants etc.

Not sure where you would declare chocolate if you did.

Actually I think that's correct - IIRC I couldn't see a spot to declare on the last couple of times I've come back in. There used to be a general foodstuffs type question but the wording has changed. I can't remember if I declared chocolate last time or not now. DOH.

 

[onemore]

The people at the customs lane are usually amicable, so there is the answer, I will just ask them as I go through.

 

[opusman]

The only thing I've ever had seized at customs was commercially packaged biscuits from Argentina (containing dulce de leche - caramelised condensed milk). I declared them under the old "any food?" question and they were seized because milk products from Argentina are (or were) banned due to foot and mouth disease I think. Now under the new customs card, would I declare them as "dairy"? I probably would now because I know of the issue but sticking strictly with the "commercially packaged food is ok" rule you could easily not declare them and then might end up getting into trouble. So probably better safe than sorry.

 

[dajop]

The only thing I've ever had seized at customs was commercially packaged biscuits from Argentina (containing dulce de leche - caramelised condensed milk). I declared them under the old "any food?" question and they were seized because milk products from Argentina are (or were) banned due to foot and mouth disease I think. Now under the new customs card, would I declare them as "dairy"? I probably would now because I know of the issue but sticking strictly with the "commercially packaged food is ok" rule you could easily not declare them and then might end up getting into trouble. So probably better safe than sorry.

This is what the website says:

Biscuits, bread, cakes, pastries, Christmas cake, and Christmas pudding (excluding cheesecakes) BRING IT

These products are allowed into Australia if:
they are for personal consumption
they are fully cooked, shelf stable (do not require refrigeration) and contain no meat
any fillings or toppings are cooked with the cake.
For all other cakes and cheesecakes please check BICON.

 

[Haplo]

Chocolate is fine most of the time, as long as it is rep packaged then it shouldnt be an issue

 

[harvyk]

The only thing I've ever had seized at customs was commercially packaged biscuits from Argentina (containing dulce de leche - caramelised condensed milk). I declared them under the old "any food?" question and they were seized because milk products from Argentina are (or were) banned due to foot and mouth disease I think. Now under the new customs card, would I declare them as "dairy"? I probably would now because I know of the issue but sticking strictly with the "commercially packaged food is ok" rule you could easily not declare them and then might end up getting into trouble. So probably better safe than sorry.

This is one of the problems with their current approach of getting people to tick yes to specific types of food rather than the blanket "all foods". Under the "all foods" card I would simply tick yes if I was to bring in a cake and have the biosecurity ppls say "yeap that's fine", now I have to actually think what sort of cake is it. Is the fact that it's actually a fruit flan change it from being automatically allowed to something I have to declare? Do I now need to tick dairy because I know there is milk in it?

Given they do warn about big fines for failing to declare, they do leave some things pretty open to interpretation.

 

[love_the_life]

Here's the 2018 incoming passenger declaration (sample) with the new wording.

 

[Forg]

As a side note: they could possibly get testy if the chocolate was not from Aus and it contained nuts.

Nah, I had a ~5hr wait on the way home from Brussels so went into town & bought a big box of made-in-the-shop not-plastic-wrapped pralines. Declared on way into SYD, no problem & didn’t care.

 

[p--and--t]

Nah, I had a ~5hr wait on the way home from Brussels so went into town & bought a big box of made-in-the-shop not-plastic-wrapped pralines. Declared on way into SYD, no problem & didn’t care.

What! you flew long haul all the way from Europe AND you still had some left .

Was there a problem with them?

 

[Forg]

My story only mentioned the ones that made it all the way to Australian customs ...

 

[jsoprano]

Yes. Honey is a big ‘No No’.

Well that's not entirely true. We always bring Manuka honey back from NZ, into MEL. Always declare it ('bee products'), when asked always correctly state that it Manuka honey, packed & sealed from a supermarket, and always been cleared straightaway without any closer look.

Don't declare chocolate anymore since the change in wording on the card. Coffee is another one ('plants, parts of plants'?), kept declaring it and was cleared without problem, until an officer once told me I do not have to declare ground coffee going forward. So don't do that anymore either.

 

[tom357]

I took some chocolate back from the US to Australia last month in my luggage and all was fine, even in Fiji where the rules can be quite strict.