This page has been published via the agriculture.gov.au website, please visit their site for more information.
The Australian Government regulate food imports into Australia to:
protect our environment from biosecurity risks
protect consumers from food safety risks.
Follow these steps to make sure you import food that meets these conditions.
Check our Biosecurity Imports Conditions (BICON) system
Before importing food, check if:
you can import the food into Australia
the food needs to meet any biosecurity import conditions (treatments or import permits).
Check the import conditions in BICON.
Import restrictions apply to foods such as:
eggs and egg products
dairy products
meat and meat products
seeds and nuts
fresh fruit and vegetables.
Source safe and compliant food
Food imports must be safe and meet the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
To source safe and compliant food, seek assurances from your supplier that the food:
has been produced under a food safety system that effectively identifies and controls foodborne hazards of concern
only contains ingredients or additives allowed in Australia
is not fortified with vitamins and minerals, unless permitted
only contains permitted agricultural and veterinary residues within allowable limits
meets compositional requirements
is correctly labelled, including declaration of mandatory allergens. Unless you are labelling the food after it arrives in Australia before you distribute it for sale.
You can verify safety and compliance by asking your supplier for:
evidence of food safety certification
results of product testing
ingredient information documents
product specification sheets and sample labels.
Lodging declarations and documents
You must lodge details of your imported food in a Full Import Declaration.
Check to see if your imported food needs a:
mandatory foreign government certificate
food safety management certificate
IFIS importer declaration.
Inspection and testing
We inspect and test imported food under our Imported Food Inspection Scheme (IFIS) to check that it meets our requirements.
We will check your food meets:
Australia’s standards in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code
country of origin food labelling requirements (business.gov.au).
Inspection and testing fees
Inspections are cost recovered. See our charging guidelines.
Food importers must pay the appointed analyst for any laboratory testing.
Food Import Compliance Agreement (FICA)
Food importers can enter into a FICA with us if they have a documented food safety management system. This is instead of having your food inspected and tested under the IFIS.
We regulate FICAs under an audit arrangement with you where we assess and recognise your food safety management system.
Find out more about FICAs.
Keep records
You must keep records showing where your food imports are from.
Keep a record of:
contact details of your suppliers or customers
descriptions of the food and batch or lot identification
transaction dates
how much food you’ve received or will be supplied.
Stay informed
Check our Imported Food Notices for updates on imported food requirements.