Diwali - Important Quarantine Information

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Diwali or ‘Festival of Lights’ is an important time when family and friends get together to celebrate. It is also a time when gifts may be sent to you from overseas. To prevent the possibility of your gifts being delayed or seized it is important that you and your overseas family and friends are familiar with Australia’s quarantine laws before posting. Mail articles that contain food, animal or plant materials could pose a quarantine risk.

How do you stop quarantine risk items from entering Australia?

All incoming mail is assessed and may be screened using x–ray, detector dogs or inspected by quarantine officers to ensure they do not contain items that could harm Australia’s agricultural industries and environment. To help protect Australia from items that could pose a risk, remind overseas friends and family that some items should not be mailed to Australia.

Gifts that are commonly intercepted during this time of year that should not be mailed include:

Photo of Diwali gifts that been mailed to Australia, showing AQIS officer's hands holding the opened containerExamples of Diwali food gifts that may be a quarantine risk
  • Indian sweets such as: burfi, ras malai, gulab jamun, rasgulla and pedas
  • products containing dairy
  • fresh fruit and dried fruit
  • raw nuts, seed and herb
  • flowers and plant material

What happens to my mail article if it is inspected?

Officers will check to ensure that your mail article does not contain items of quarantine concern and in most cases it will be released after inspection. However, if quarantine risk items are found they will be seized and the recipient will be notified. Depending on the risk, the recipient will be given three options:

  • pay for the item to be treated and then sent out to them
  • pay to export the item back to the sender
  • have the item destroyed at no cost.

What can I do to ensure that I receive my mailed Diwali girts?

Tell your friends and family overseas to visit the DAFF website for information on import conditions before sending to Australia. You should also encourage them to correctly list all contents of each parcel and to correctly fill out the Postal Declaration Label.

Fact sheets and brochures

English:

Hindi

Punjabi

For more information

Call AQIS on 1800 020 504 (free call in Australia).

Last reviewed:
24 Oct 2011
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