Australia: Bringing spices home?

indah

Does anyone know if we are allowed to bring spices home? I would love to buy some while i'm over in India.

In particular anyone from Australia?

Wheel

Not worth even considering, Indah!
Once I flew into Sydney from Auckland with my bean hot bag (that you put in microwave for a minute and put on my painful frozen shoulder for pain relief.)
I was asked to abandon it into the bin at customs, saying that the content is "wheat grain" since no Ag products allowed into Aussie.

Brisso

I doubt spices would be regarded as food - however you will have to declare - non-powdered spices such as cardamom may need to be irradiated. Ring Customs for advice.

indah

Thanks.

I just found some info that says i have to declare it.

this will be my first time overseas so i'm not too sure about all the rules, etc.

vandy

I am pretty sure if its Commercially Processed &
Packaged it's OK. Best Check Though.

For instance,a friend of mine brought back a
certain kind of Mango Pickle from Kerala last year
The Home made one went straight into bin and the
other which was commercially produced and Packaged
was allowed in.

Another chap I know goes to Goa every so often &
brings back a Suitcase of Spices every time,
without any hassles,All processed & packaged.

Yes, Make SURE you DECLARE it when Re-Entering OZ.

rgds - vandy

iwanttogoback

hi indah

i bought spices and tea back in 2005 and declared them. they were inspected, on packet of tea confiscated and the rest allowed through. however, friends i was travelling with had theirs taken for further testing. they got them back a few days later.

my experience with customs/quarantine is that if you declare everything (including the fact that the shoes you are wearing have been walking through the 'dust' of india) then you are far less likely to have problems.

as mach points out, australian quarantine is damned strict, but it does tend to keep pests out.

kristinm

Haven't you watched border patrol????!!!! Scares the crap out of me...

New-South-Welshman

Definately declare, and 99% of times they will let you through. Make sure you know the names of the spices as well, to tell them, and they will wave you through. Unless you get that odd customs officer on a power trip.

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iwanttogoback

spices, whether recognised as food or not, are organic and capable of carrying diseases. the reason that one of my spice packets was consfiscated was the tiny bird feather in it.

at the height of a bird flu scare...

and yes, make sure you know what it is. even better if the packets are labelled.

midlifetravel

Spices are most definitely food as defined by NZ customs I cant see it being different in Australia. Declare it and you probably will be OK. The more sealed the bags are the better I got waved thru into NZ with Lao coffee last year

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Packing Tips

David Horn

just returned from india trip 2 weeks ago. brought back assorted spices and had no trouble with customs at brisbane airport.

crvlvr

I think the real reason is drugs. Powdered spices can be used to mask and traces given out by drugs..

Nick-H

I wonder about that: I suspect that people may think so, but that trained dogs, let alone sniffing devices can tell the difference.

Only my guess, though.

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taurian1976

Hi,
Just returned to Melbourne from Mumbai and had bad time with customs. Please make sure you dont carry any spices which has clove (even powder which is roasted)in it. My custom officer was very nasty despite me declaring everything. Dont know what I did to piss her off but all spices and pickles went to dustbin I just thank god that she did not fine me. Hope you will have no problems.

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vireya

You know there is a difference between the Customs and Quarantine people, don't you? They are looking for different things. It is unlikely Customs would have cared too much about cloves.

On the AQIS website they list the items you must declare - basically it is any plant or animal matter:
http://www.daffa.gov.au/aqis/travel/...alia/cant-take

They also have a link to a database where you can search for details by material and country of origin -
http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_querycontent.asp

For example, a search showed that clove could be contaminated by guava rust (a disease) and khapra beetle, and needs extensive treatment before being allowed in. As another example, cinnamon bark must be heat treated at your expense, but cinnamon powder would just be inspected and if it is OK you can keep it.

I brought tea back, and it was inspected by x-ray and I was allowed to keep it. I also declared that my shoes had been on a rural property, but that I had washed them. The quarantine person looked at them and all was OK.