Help keep African swine fever out of Australia
Pork products are a commonly intercepted risk item in the lead up to certain cultural and seasonal events. These products are a biosecurity risk because they can carry African swine fever (ASF). ASF could ruin Australia’s $5.2 billion pork industry, 2700 pig producers and the 36,000 jobs that rely on their businesses.
Do not bring or send pork products to Australia. Declare any biosecurity risk items when travelling or sending mail to Australia.
For more information on ASF, please go to the department’s ASF website.
Food, plant material and animal products that you bring or send to Australia may introduce harmful pests and diseases that could devastate our valuable agriculture and tourism industries, and unique environment. Before these goods are allowed into the country, they are assessed by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry using X-ray, detector dogs and manual inspection.
If you are sending or bringing goods to Australia for a cultural or seasonal event, or returning from an event overseas with souvenirs, you will need to:
- be aware of what goods pose a high risk to Australia and may require treatment or destruction
- use our advice about safe alternative goods or souvenirs
- declare anything you are bringing or sending, so that it can be inspected by biosecurity officers at the border.
This will help you to avoid delays, extra costs, or loss of goods that are considered high risk.
You must declare any goods you are bringing or sending to Australia.
Mailed goods should include a complete list of the contents of the parcels and any postal declaration labels or forms required.
Travellers bringing goods into Australia must declare their goods on the Incoming Passenger Card given to you by the crew on your aircraft or cruise vessel. This is a legal document.
When arriving in Australia:
- mark YES on your card if you are carrying certain food, plant material or animal products
- you will have the opportunity to voluntarily dispose of any goods of concern in the bins at the terminal.
If you do not dispose of biosecurity risk items or declare them on your Incoming Passenger Card you could be issued with an infringement notice specifying a penalty amount of up to $2,664, and face possible criminal prosecution. You could also have your visa cancelled and be refused entry into Australia.
Sample Incoming Passenger Cards are available on the Department of Home Affairs website.
Declaring items does not automatically mean they will be confiscated.
- Goods that don’t pose a biosecurity risk will be sent on or returned after inspection.
- If goods require treatment, you will be given the option to have them treated at your expense. It may take several weeks for the items to be treated and returned to you.
- Where treatment is not an option, the goods will not be permitted into Australia and you will be notified.
Common gifts and souvenirs for cultural or seasonal events
Check what goods to avoid, what may require treatment, and what we suggest as a safe option for you to bring or send to Australia.
Do not bring or send:
- bullet shells
- poppies
- rosemary
- soil
- wattle sprigs.
Items that may require treatment at your expense:
- sand contaminated with soil or driftwood.
Items that do not pose a biosecurity risk and are permitted:
- cooked Christmas cakes and puddings
- chocolates
- confectionary
- toys not containing animal or plant material.
Do not bring or send:
- bark or straw based goods
- fresh or dried conifer
- fresh fruit and vegetables
- fresh or dried holly
- fresh or dried mistletoe
- hampers (containing certain food, meat or plant material)
- pine cones
- potpourri
- raw nuts
- salami and other meats
- toys containing seeds and sand
- wreaths.
Items that do not pose a biosecurity risk and are permitted:
- artificial flowers
- fabric, gold or silver beads and coins
- personalised photo items.
Do not bring or send:
- dried fruit
- flowers and other plant material
- fresh fruit
- herbs
- products containing dairy
- raw nuts
- seeds
- spices
- sweets (mithai) such as burfi, ras malai, rasgulla and pedas
- tea.
Diwali or Festival of lights fact sheet
For further information on Diwali, download the following fact sheet.
Download
| Document | File size |
|---|---|
| English PDF | 255 KB |
Other languages
You can download this document in different languages.
| Document | File size |
|---|---|
| Hindi / हिन्दी PDF |
400 KB |
| Punjabi PDF |
360 KB |
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Items that do not pose a biosecurity risk and are permitted:
- artificial flowers
- chocolate
- personalised photo items
- cooked cakes
- biscuits
- buns.
Items that may require treatment at your expense:
- blown or painted egg shells
- dried plant material, such as grapevines or straw.
Do not bring or send:
- fresh fruit or plant material
- raw or cooked whole eggs
- uncanned animal products, including cooked lamb and pork
- used egg cartons.
Items that do not pose a biosecurity risk and are permitted:
- chocolate
- confectionery.
Do not bring or send:
- corn husk dolls
- pumpkins.
Do not bring or send:
- ground nuts
- traditional Indian sweets (mithai) which contain milk, such as barfi, mysore pak, gulab jamun, rasgulla, pedas or soan-papdi
- radish.
Common Lunar New Year gifts pose a high risk of introducing pests and diseases. To avoid this, gifts should be purchased in Australia.
Do not bring or send:
- meat products, including chicken, beef and pork sausages whether fresh, frozen, dried, preserved or cured
- whole eggs and products containing eggs, including duck eggs
- dairy products such as milk and yoghurt
- fresh and dried fruit including citrus, persimmons, lychees and longans
- other plant products including banana leaves and fresh bamboo shoots
- traditional herbal medicines containing ganoderma fungus or cordyceps
- rice.
| Document | File size |
|---|---|
| English PDF | 586 KB |
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Other languages
You can download this document in different languages.
| Document | File size |
|---|---|
| Chinese – Simplified / 简体中文 PDF | 333 KB |
| Chinese – Traditional / 繁體中文 PDF | 338 KB |
| Korean / 한국어 PDF | 296 KB |
| Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt PDF | 309 KB |
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Items that do not pose a biosecurity risk and are permitted:
- mooncakes, with no meat, commercially prepared and packaged
- mooncakes with egg yolks and no meat, commercially prepared and packaged
- chocolate mooncakes.
Do not bring or send:
- fresh pomelo
- mooncakes containing meat or birds nest
- star fruit
- taro
- any other fresh fruit or vegetables.
Mid-Autumn Festival fact sheet
For further information on the Mid-Autumn Festival, download the following fact sheet.
Download
| Document | File size |
|---|---|
| English PDF | 315 KB |
Other languages
You can download this document in different languages.
| Document | File size |
|---|---|
| Chinese – Simplified /简体中文 PDF | 260 KB |
| Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt PDF | 216 KB |
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Do not bring or send:
- conifer sprigs
- ornaments made with straw
- seeds.
Items that do not pose a biosecurity risk and are permitted:
- cotton Rakhi threads with plastic, fabric, gold or silver beads
- gold or silver coins
- personalised photo items
- artificial flowers.
Do not bring or send:
- dried fruits
- grains
- Rakhi threads made with seeds or flowers
- traditional Indian sweets (mithai) which contain milk, such as barfi, mysore pak, gulab jamun, rasgulla, pedas or soan-papdi.
Rakhi (Raksha-Bandhan) fact sheet
For further information on Rakhi, download the following fact sheet.
Download
| Document | File size |
|---|---|
| English PDF | 278 KB |
Other languages
You can download this document in different languages.
| Document | File size |
|---|---|
| Hindi / हिन्दी PDF |
332 KB |
| Punjabi PDF |
340 KB |
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Items that are permitted only if they meet biosecurity import conditions:
- dried dates and doum
- desserts
- Holy water
- spices
- teas
- wood products, such as religious articles and toys.
Refer to BICON for specific conditions.
Do not bring or send:
- fresh vegetables
- meat and meat products
- grains, rice, wheat (unless commercially ground or milled), lentils, beans or seeds
- plants including raw tobacco, live cuttings, roots and bulbs
- nuts.
Do not bring or send:
- lucky plant kits
- shamrocks
- shillelaghs
- straw crosses.
Items that do not pose a biosecurity risk and are permitted:
- artificial flowers
- dried shamrocks
- fabric, gold or silver beads and coins
- personalised photo items
- shamrocks embedded in plastic.
Do not bring or send:
- dried flowers
- fresh flowers.
Items that do not pose a biosecurity risk and are permitted:
- chocolate
- confectionary.
Special import conditions apply for:
- etrog
- myrtle branches
- palm branches
- willow branches.
Please check the department’s Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) for details.
More information
If the goods you want to bring or send to Australia are not present in the advice above, you can check the department’s Passenger and Mail form.