On the offchance that your mosaic contains shells or you are not sure if your packaging is questionable…
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) checks goods arriving at international mail centres, airports and seaports.
Quarantine officers, x-ray machines and detector dogs screen all of the 150 million items of international mail sent to Australia each year, intercepting around 80,000 high-risk items.
Tips for sending international mail to Australia:
- Do not send prohibited food, plant material or animal products.
- To find out about product requirements and import conditions visit www.aqis.gov.au/icon
- Fill out the declaration label clearly and correctly. Make sure you itemise
everything inside the package, including any packaging materials
you’ve used. - Do not pack items in egg cartons, wooden boxes, or cardboard boxes that have been used to hold fruit, vegetables or meat/smallgoods: this packaging is a quarantine risk and is prohibited.
- Do not pack with straw or dried plant material: this packaging is prohibited. Use newspaper or foam to wrap fragile goods.
- Thoroughly clean all footwear, sporting and camping equipment to remove any soil or seeds.
- Tell friends and family overseas about Australia’s quarantine laws and ask them not to send prohibited food, plant material and animal products.
- You could be fined up to $60,000 for breaching Australia’s quarantine laws.
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What will AQIS remove from international mail? This
is not a complete list of prohibited items. Some of these items can be
treated and released (fees will apply). Any items containing insects or
larvae will be removed and must be treated.
Meat and Meat Products
Dairy, Eggs and Egg Products - all uncanned meat — including fresh, dried, frozen, cooked, smoked, salted or preserved meat
- packaged meals (including noodles) containing meat
- mooncakes containing meat
- remedies and medicines containing animal material
- pet food including canned and dried food and supplements
- cheese, milk, butter and other dairy products*
- packaged
meals and other foods containing more than 10 per cent dairy or egg
(whole, dried and powdered, such as cake mix, salad dressing,
mayonnaise) - mooncakes containing egg
Seeds and Nuts
Plant Material - seeds
including vegetable and flower seeds, unidentified seeds, birdseed and
some commercially-packaged
seeds* - gifts, ornaments and toys filled with seeds
- pine cones
- raw nuts
- grains and legumes including lentils, popping corn and cereal grains
- raw/green coffee beans
- tea containing seeds, fruit skin (for example citrus and apple peel) and fruit pieces
- remedies and medicines containing herbs, seeds, bark, fungi and dried plant material*
- dried flower arrangements and potpourri
- dried herbs or leaves
- handicrafts
– including wreaths and Christmas decorations – containing
seeds, raw nuts, corn, pine cones, grapevines, bark, moss, straw or
other plant material - wooden items with bark or signs of insects present
Plants and Soil 
Live Animals, Animal Products- all plant material including bulbs, whole plants, cuttings, roots, flowers and stems
- soil, including small souvenir or sentimental samples
- footwear,
sporting and camping equipment contaminated with soil, manure or plant
material - gifts, ornaments and toys filled with sand or soil
- all
mammals, birds, birds’ eggs and nests, fish, snakes, turtles,
lizards, scorpions, amphibians, crustaceans and
insects - souvenirs, artefacts and goods made of animal products such as raw hide, feathers, teeth and bones
Fruit and Vegetables Laboratory Material - medical and animal samples
- diagnostic kits and micro-organisms*
- fresh fruit and vegetables
- dried fruit and vegetables containing seeds or fruit peel
* Special conditions apply-check import conditions on ICON For further detailed assessment on individual items please refer to
the AQIS Import Conditions Database (ICON)
