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    "id": 1070298,
    "title": "Can you take tea into Australia?",
    "slug": "taking-tea-into-australia",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/wiki/taking-tea-into-australia/",
    "modified": "2026-09-18T00:45:36+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Yes, with conditions. Commercially packed black and green tea is usually fine; herbal blends have extra rules. What to declare at the Australian border.",
    "content_text": "Usually yes \u2014 but tea is not one category at the Australian border, and the answer depends on what is in the box.\r\n\r\nCommercially packed black or green tea, unopened and clean, can generally be brought in without declaring it.\r\nHerbal and fruit infusions are treated separately and have their own conditions, including a 1kg limit per product.\r\nAnything containing seeds, fungi, animal products or unfamiliar plant material needs checking before you pack it.\r\n\r\nDeclaring costs you nothing. Failing to declare something restricted can mean a fine.\r\nRules checked: 17 September 2026. Always re-check before you fly.\r\nOrdinary tea: the easy case\r\nAustralian Border Force lists commercially prepared black and green tea, including flavoured versions, among goods you can bring without declaring, provided the packaging is clean, new and unopened and shows no sign of contamination or insects. Australian Border Force: goods you don't need to declare\r\nIn plain terms: a sealed box of English Breakfast, Earl Grey or green tea from a supermarket or a shop like ours is the straightforward case. Leave it in its original wrapping and it is easy for an officer to identify.\r\nHerbal tea: the case that needs checking\r\nA \"herbal tea\" is a bag of dried plants, and the Department of Agriculture applies specific conditions: tea bags must be commercially prepared, packaged and labelled, loose material must be in clean new packaging, and there is a limit of 1kg for each product or blend. Products containing seeds, fungi, animal or microbial ingredients need further checks, and permitted-seed rules apply. Department of Agriculture: bringing or mailing goods to Australia\r\nIf you are carrying anything unusual \u2014 a blend with whole seeds, mushroom powder, dried flowers from a market stall, or a gift box you cannot read the ingredients of \u2014 look the ingredient up in the official BICON import conditions database before you pack, or leave it at home.\r\nBefore you pack: a two-minute check\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCheck\r\nWhat you want\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIngredients\r\nA full list you can read in English\r\n\r\n\r\nPackaging\r\nUnopened, clean, undamaged manufacturer's packaging\r\n\r\n\r\nType\r\nPlain black or green tea, or a herbal blend you have checked\r\n\r\n\r\nQuantity\r\nPersonal amounts; herbal blends have a 1kg per-product limit\r\n\r\n\r\nSpecial ingredients\r\nNo seeds, fungi, animal products or honey unless you have checked them\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTwo 40g boxes is 80g, comfortably within personal quantities. What matters more is what is inside them.\r\nAt the airport\r\nFill in your Incoming Passenger Card honestly. If you have tea that falls outside the \"no declaration needed\" list, tick the food box and tell the officer. Declared goods may be inspected; if something does not meet the conditions it can be treated, exported at your cost, or thrown away. None of that carries a penalty. Not declaring does.\r\nKeep the tea somewhere you can reach it without unpacking your whole case, and keep different blends separate and labelled.\r\nSensible teas to travel with\r\nSimple, clearly labelled, single-ingredient packs make life easiest at the border: Twinings Pure Green Tea is listed as 100% green tea, and Twinings Pure Peppermint as 100% peppermint. Neither is a border approval in itself, but a one-line ingredient list is much easier to check than a 12-ingredient \"wellness\" blend.\r\nFor the flight itself, see can you take teabags on a plane, and for what to pack generally, the best tea to take travelling.\r\nCommon questions\r\nDo I need to declare a sealed box of ordinary tea?\r\nCommercially packed black and green tea is on the list of goods you can bring without declaring, as long as the packaging is clean, new and unopened. If in any doubt, declare it.\r\nCan I take loose leaf tea?\r\nYes, in clean new packaging that identifies what it is. Decanting tea into an unlabelled tin makes it harder for an officer to assess.\r\nWhat about a herbal gift box with several blends?\r\nCheck each blend's ingredients separately. One unusual ingredient in one sachet is enough to change the answer.\r\nDoes airport security clearance mean Australia will let it in?\r\nNo. Security controls what you can carry onto the plane. Biosecurity decides what can enter the country. They are separate checks.",
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