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GOODS ACROSS BORDERS

ITEM RULE · TRAVELING

PROHIBITED

Meat Products 🇦🇺 Australia

VERIFIED · 2026-04-25HIGH CONFIDENCE

Fresh, dried, and most cooked meat products are prohibited. Biosecurity risk.

ANSWER

Can I bring Meat Products into Australia?

PROHIBITEDVERIFIED · 2026-04-25HIGH CONFIDENCE

Fresh, dried, and most cooked meat products are prohibited. Biosecurity risk.

QUANTITY / LIMITS

Generally zero for meat; trace quantities in manufactured products may be assessed case by case

DOCUMENTS

  • Declaration on Incoming Passenger Card is mandatory

DECLARATION

Required at the destination customs authority

SOURCE

agriculture.gov.au
Verify against the official customs authority before acting on this answer.Report a correction

Full details

Australia prohibits the importation of virtually all meat and meat products under the Biosecurity Act 2015, due to the risk of introducing exotic animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and African swine fever (ASF). This includes fresh, frozen, dried, cooked, and canned meat. Commercially manufactured, shelf-stable products with a total meat content of less than 10g may be permitted if declared and cleared by biosecurity officers. Some specific products (e.g., commercially canned pet food, certain shelf-stable products) may be cleared after inspection. Penalties for failing to declare prohibited goods include fines up to AUD 222,000 and up to 10 years imprisonment.

ENFORCEMENT

ActiveCustoms actively enforces this rule.

PRACTICAL ADVICE

Do not bring meat to Australia. Eat or discard all meat products before landing, including airline snacks. Always declare on the incoming passenger card — penalties for non-declaration are severe.

OFFICIAL SOURCES · VERIFIED 2026-04-25

RULE DETAILS

QUANTITY LIMITS

Generally zero for meat; trace quantities in manufactured products may be assessed case by case

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED

  • Declaration on Incoming Passenger Card is mandatory

LEGAL REFERENCE

Biosecurity Act 2015; Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-Prohibited Goods) Determination 2016

AIR TRAVEL IS SEPARATE

This page covers destination customs rules in Australia. Whether you can carry meat products through security, in carry-on, or in checked baggage depends on airline and screening rules — see air travel rules.

Related rules

Meat Products rules in other countries

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