Ration Packs
During military training exercises, troops are often isolated in remote areas of the Australian wilderness. As they are in direct contact with the environment, and out of quarantine control, it is important that any foods are fully assessed in advance to eliminate the risk of introducing exotic diseases to our native flora and fauna.
Quarantine risks are associated with a variety of ingredients in foodstuffs and biological products imported for and by military and defence personnel. Any ration pack/MRE consignments carried in person by military personnel entering Australia will be re-exported or destroyed at the importers expense if:
- not accompanied by an Import Permit or means to identify the Import Permit
- the full contents/ingredients of the packs are not clearly identifiable on outside packaging
Permit applications need to be lodged well in advance of arrival in Australia as there could be problems. This time allows the gaining of any extra information that may be required, and also allows for new arrangements to be made if necessary. The import conditions can be found on ICON which is AQIS's import conditions database. ICON can be used to determine if a commodity intended for import to Australia needs a quarantine permit and/or treatment or if there are any other quarantine prerequisites. ICON is available on our web site at www.aqis.gov.au/icon.
The Australian quarantine import conditions for ration packs, MREs and many other products can be found by searching ICON. To search ICON, go to the ICON search page, type your search term, for example 'ration' or ‘military food’, into the 'Commodity name' field, then press the 'Pattern match' button. When the search has returned the results you will need to select the hyperlink to the relevant commodity name to view the quarantine import conditions.
In the past some troops have brought extra food with them, some of which has been seized on arrival. We ask that troops be mindful of regulations and what foods are safe. You can search ICON for any additional foods you may wish to bring to see if they’re safe before arriving.
Returning Australian ration packs and medicinal products
All returning, unused ration packs of Australian origin will be inspected for seal integrity and insect infestation on arrival.
Any ration packs that are not identifiable, have been opened, have visible signs of seal breakage, or have insect infestation will be destroyed at the importers expense.