Improving access to imported food safety requirements
From mid-2025 imported food safety requirements will be incorporated into the Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).
See more about the Inclusion of food safety requirements in BICON.
All biosecurity requirements must be met before Imported Food Inspection Scheme requirements apply.
Check our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) for biosecurity import conditions.
Food type
Formulated supplementary sports food (FSSF) includes products specifically formulated to assist sports people achieve nutritional or performance goals.
Exclusions
Food from New Zealand.
Inspection and testing
This food is classified as a surveillance food.
We refer consignments for inspection at the rate of 5%. During inspection, we will conduct a visual and label assessment to ensure FSSFs do not contain substances considered to pose a risk to human health. These include:
- substances scheduled under the Poisons Standard
- certain substances assessed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) as presenting a potential medium or high risk to public health
- ingredients that are non-permitted novel foods.
We will check for substances listed in Table 1. These are considered to pose a risk to human health.
We will update this list pending decisions that a substance presents a risk to human health based on advice from FSANZ, the Advisory Committee Novel Foods (ACNF) or on other evidence.
Your product may be assessed as a therapeutic good at inspection due to the presence of certain claims and substances.
We refer products assessed as a therapeutic good to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
We also check that ingredients do not include:
- prohibited botanicals
- non-permitted nutritive substances
- permitted nutritive substances at non-permitted levels.
| Substance | Reference |
|---|---|
| Acacia rigidula, also known as β-methylphenylethylamine1 | Determined non-permitted novel food by ACNF |
| Cardarine | Poisons Standard - Schedule 10 dangerous substance |
| Dendrobium (Dendrobium nobile)1 | Determined non-permitted novel food by ACNF |
| 1, 3-dimethylamylamine (DMAA) also known as methylhexamine; forthane or 4-methyl-2- amino-4-methylhexane | Poisons Standard - Schedule 10 dangerous substance |
| 1, 3-dimethylbutylamine (DMBA) also known as AMP Citrate | Poisons Standard - Schedule 10 dangerous substance |
| 1, 5-dimethylhexylamine (DMHA) also known as Juglans Regia | Poisons Standard - Schedule 10 dangerous substance |
| 1, 4-dimethylpentylamine (DMPA) | Poisons Standard - Schedule 10 dangerous substance |
| 2, 4-dinitrophenol (DNP) | Poisons Standard - Schedule 10 dangerous substance |
| Higenamine | FSANZ risk advice |
| Ibutamoren | Poisons Standard - Schedule 4 (prescription only) |
| Melatonin | Poisons Standard - Schedule 4 (prescription only) |
| Methyliberine, also known as Dynamine1 | Determined non-permitted novel food by ACNF |
| N-Phenethyl Dimethylamine (also known as Eria Jarensis extract)1 | Determined non-permitted novel food by ACNF |
| Octopamine | FSANZ risk advice |
| Phenibut | Poisons Standard - Schedule 9 (prohibited substance) |
| Phenpromethamine | Primary analogue of methamphetamine |
| Stenabolic | Poisons Standard - Schedule 4 (prescription only) |
| Synephrine (Oxedrine) (except in preparations labelled with a recommended daily dose of 30mg or less) | Poisons Standard - Schedule 4 (prescription only) |
| Tadalafil | Poisons Standard - Schedule 4 (prescription only) |
| Yohimbine | Poisons Standard - Schedule 4 (prescription only) |
1 Determined to be a non-permitted novel food by the ACNF.
When is a product a therapeutic good?
The TGA has declared that therapeutic goods (medicines) include sports supplements:
- containing ingredients not acceptable for food (for example, medicinal ingredients)
- presented like medicines (for example, in capsules).
We will refer sports supplements to the TGA for follow up action if the product:
- makes claims to performance in sport, exercise or recreational activity
- contains certain substances declared by the TGA as not acceptable for food.
A claim may be made expressly or be communicated by the overall presentation of the product. This includes imagery and advertising.
Novel foods
A novel food is a non-traditional food that must be assessed by FSANZ to establish its safety before being added to the food supply. The ACNF recommends whether certain foods or food ingredients are novel foods.
A FSSF cannot contain a novel food unless it is listed in Schedule 25 of the Code.
Version history
| Date | Amendment details |
|---|---|
| 30/11/2020 | First version of the webpage published on website |