Sydney port quarantine rules for cruises arriving from New Zealand

I know in Australian airports, quarantine is strict so best not to bring any food, especially fruit, but that is usually no problem as you are arriving there to begin your vacation.

But what if you are on a cruise arriving from New Zealand that began from Australia?

How strict is the quarantine for Sydney cruise port? My cruise from New Zealand ends in Sydney and I'll be flying out of Sydney few hours later.

The problem is we will definitely buy some food stuffs at New Zealand ports. The question is what is allowed to be brought into Australia cruise port from New Zealand cruise and what is not allowed?

Fresh fruits like KIWI might NOT be allowed. How about packaged dry New Zealand grocery food stuffs or chocolates? Are they strict that it has to be vacuumed packed? Or any packaging will do as long as it is sealed.

Fresh fruit won't be, not might not be.

Packaged snacks may be (generally are) okay, depending on the ingredients. The vacuum sealing doesn't affect it. Chocolates will be fine.

The importation of food into Australia is taken VERY SERIOUSLY at all ports of entry. You do not want to fool around with this.

Basically, you must declare any and all foods which you are bringing into Australia--no matter that the cruise originated in Australia and no matter that you are flying out of the country in a matter of hours. You will NOT be allowed to bring any fresh fruit into the country, so just leave on the ship. Packaged items are generally OK, but you still have to declare them and the customs officials may inspect them.

If you try to bring in food without declaring it, even if it is packaged and would otherwise be permissible, you can be fined on the spot. (Not a great way to end your cruise.)

Here's a link to the Australian Department of Agriculture website which may be helpful.

http://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity/travel/cant-take

Thanks, how about sealed commercially bottled still drinking water.

Even if I am sure they are permitted, do we still need to declare them?

Quarantine is just as strict at the ports as it is in the airports. I've seen sniffer dogs numerous times at the Sydney port. You will be given a declaration cars to fill out, same as on the plane and you must declare anything you have that the questionnaire asks. You should be allowed to keep packaged foods such as processed snacks and chocolates, but definitely no fresh fruit. A popular tourist food item to buy in NZ is manuka honey, but you will not be allowed to bring this into Australia. If you want some you should organise to give it shipped directly from NZ back home for yourself.

I agree. It is very strict getting off at any port in Australia and that includes sniffing dogs. Bottled water is fine but most foods are not. Check with the cruise line when you board. They can tell you the rules.

Keith

Even if I am sure they are permitted, do we still need to declare them?

Even if the item is perfectly acceptable for import (and I routinely take food to Australia which I know is fine), you can be heavily fined for not declaring that food. The principle is that it is not your decision to make, it is for customs to make the decision, and you must declare it to allow them to make it.

There is nothing special about arriving in Australia from New Zealand as far as quarantine is concerned, and nothing special about arriving by ship rather than air.

So if you buy any food in New Zealand and bring it to Australia, be prepared to lose it if customs says so. However, you should generally be OK with commercially produced cooked food that is still sealed in its original commercial packaging. But (as Jacs says) remember that honey is a raw food.

Rule of thumb

"if it goes in your mouth, DECLARE"

There are no penalties for declaring something that you don't need to.

Rule of thumb

 

"if it goes in your mouth, DECLARE"

 

There are no penalties for declaring something that you don't need to.

Very wise advice. I agree.

Keith

There is an up side to declaring your food items as I found out one day. There was this huge line up going through customs but I had some small packaged foods I had purchased in New Zealand which I was declaring. I was ushered into a much much smaller line up and was through before the other line had even moved.

So now I make sure I always have something to declare. Of course one day I will be held up but then I will just think of all the times I have whizzed past the line up.

Declare

Declare

Declare

Don't even try fruit or one of those cute little Beagles will sit down next to you.

There is an up side to declaring your food items as I found out one day. There was this huge line up going through customs but I had some small packaged foods I had purchased in New Zealand which I was declaring. I was ushered into a much much smaller line up and was through before the other line had even moved.

 

So now I make sure I always have something to declare. Of course one day I will be held up but then I will just think of all the times I have whizzed past the line up.

However, even when those declaring food still had to join the same long queue as the "nothing to declare" people, there was sometimes a benefit when you got to the screener who looked at your form. I found that if I could explain clearly what I was declaring, and give the impression that I was honest and knew what I was doing, I get shooed out through the fast exit lane without even having to have my bag scanned, let alone opened. That was usually worth the price of a box of chocolates. :D

So given the extra times of customs checking your items , how much estimated time you will spend in Sydney port after your cruise given you purposely get the earliest disembark time? Is the line shorter for early disembark vs late disembark?

My ship will arrive at 6:30am, and my international flight is at 11:15am, so will try to get out of the ship as early as possible and take the train straight to the airport.

Do you arrive on a weekend?

There are often rail works on the airport line :)

If you are off at 6.30 (and this is a lap of the godsthing because it depends on the size of the ship, how many people are going at that time, how many officers they have on. Sometimes there are less officers at 6.30am so the 7am slots are faster as more come on line)

Can I ask where this was? It used to be a great trick at Sydney airport, until Customs got wise to the number of people who were doing it. It's nice if they've brought it back.

 

However, even when those declaring food still had to join the same long queue as the "nothing to declare" people, there was sometimes a benefit when you got to the screener who looked at your form. I found that if I could explain clearly what I was declaring, and give the impression that I was honest and knew what I was doing, I get shooed out through the fast exit lane without even having to have my bag scanned, let alone opened. That was usually worth the price of a box of chocolates. :D

It was other airports, mostly Adelaide, I've never came in International through Sydney. Thanks for the heads up on that airport no doubt one day I will have to come in International through that Airport.

Do you arrive on a weekend?

 

There are often rail works on the airport line :)

 

If you are off at 6.30 (and this is a lap of the godsthing because it depends on the size of the ship, how many people are going at that time, how many officers they have on. Sometimes there are less officers at 6.30am so the 7am slots are faster as more come on line)

I arrive on weekdays and it is a mid sized ship

A popular tourist food item to buy in NZ is manuka honey, but you will not be allowed to manuka honey, but you will not be allowed to bring this into Australia

Double check this as a few years ago we did the round trip syd-nz-syd and brought back several jars of honey no problem. declared them and was allowed to keep them. (other states don't allow honey across the border but nsw does). what I couldn't keep was some tea which had dried orange peel in it!!