On the record - Australian Grown

The organisation, Australian Grown, has been running advertisements claiming that:

• ‘AQIS’ only inspects five per cent of food entering Australia  - this is untrue.
• The advertisement also implied that the products failed to meet Australian food standards because they are imported from other countries - this is incorrect.
• The products pictured in the advertisement had been banned by ‘AQIS’ – this is inaccurate.

DAFF Biosecurity (formerly AQIS) operates a risk based border testing program for imported foods, and importers pay the costs of testing.

For foods known to contain medium to high food safety risks (‘risk’ foods),such as soft cheeses, cooked prawns , spices and some nuts, testing commences at 100% of  consignments. Risk foods have the potential to contain medium to high risk factors, regardless of the country of production.

For risk foods, once five consignments of a risk food have passed testing, the rate of inspection for that producer drops to 25% of consignments. After 20 consecutive passes, the inspection rate drops to the minimum inspection level: 5% of consignments.  If a consignment fails testing, the food is not banned from being imported as claimed in the advertisement, but future consignments are tested at the rate of 100% and are only released for sale if it passes the required tests.

All other foods are tested at the rate of 5% of consignments in recognition of their low safety risk. These foods are managed on a ‘sample and release’ basis. If a consignment fails testing, the inspection rate goes up to 100% for future consignments and consignments must be held by the importer until the test results are known. Only consignments that pass testing can be released for sale. After five consecutive passes, the inspection rate will return to 5%. 

There is no power to ban foods under the Imported Food Control Act 1992.

DAFF Biosecurity (formerly AQIS), is responsible for testing imported food against Australian food standards. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) determines if a food contains a food safety hazard, which are classified as ‘at risk’.

Further information about food import regulations.