What consumables can I pack?

Hi everyone,

Just joined the board and will be moving from the TO area to Perth in January.

I was just reading about all my favourite foods I wont be able to find in OZ. So, what is your experience on what I can bring with me?

Do I have to leave all my consumables with my neighbours and start from scratch?

Spices?
Packages but unopened food? (cereal, *graham crackers*!!, tins of pumpkin, etc)
Soaps, shampoos, toiletry products?

What is your experience with both your moving companies and the quarantine process that allowed or prevented you from bringing these things?

My husband has a wine collection he is bringing (his company will pay the taxes!) So if he can bring wine, can I bring Shreddies?

Looking forward to your feedback and will have many more questions in the near future.

Thanks!

Spices are usually a no-no as they often contain seeds. What sort of spices did you want to bring, we do have some here too There are obviously some differences though. The rest of the stuff would probably be fine.

You could certainly try to bring anything you want in but you will have to declare it. As long as you declare it the worst thing that will happen is that they won't allow it in and may charge you a fee to destroy the item (not a fine, just payment to destroy it). If you try to sneak stuff in and get caught then you will likely be fined. So just declare everything and leave everything in its original packaging so they can see the ingredients.

I would have a read of the following:
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/travel/ente ... emigrating

I would also take a look at most of the links on that page, like the frequently asked questions and the AQIS database.

Before you ask we didn't ship anything at all. We got our PR visa and moved over on our own without jobs to go to. So we sold some things off and left the rest in storage with relatives. We only came with our suitcases, and 2 kids of course.

I know of someone who did though. Her name is Dorothy and she moved from the Toronto area (can't remember exactly which place) to Adelaide. She has since moved to Perth though.

You'll find her on this site (which is great):
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=633069
Dorothy is the second poster.

More general info is found from the main page:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54

It's primarly for people from the UK although there are some Canadians and people from all over the world. Great place to get information as it's very active and there are lots of posters and points of view (good and bad).

Good luck.

I never have had a problem bringing spices in - only worried about chilli spice though. I've also brought (just in our luggage - obviously, not in our shipped goods) chocolates, salad dressings, salsas, bagels and Miracle Whip - although one customs officer wasn't happy with the miracle whip because it contains egg products, but they still let me in with it anyways.

Just want to reiterate what the 2nd poster said... make sure you declare everything!

When I arrived in Australia I had every single bag opened and looked through and I saw several people being yelled at and pulled off into rooms where I assume they were being issued with fines for having food they hadn't declared. They don't search through every person's bags but they do a good percentage of them. I've actually traveled to MANY countries in the world and never had my bags looked through before and now coming in to Melbourne I've had it twice. And it seemed like most people were being searched, the odd one was let through without it.