Importing food is not the same as buying local wholesale stock. A shipment can be stopped at the border, inspected, sampled or placed under controls before you can sell it. The commercial risk is simple: if you have already paid for product, packaging, freight and launch marketing, a compliance problem can become expensive fast.
Main laws
Commonwealth Act
Imported Food Control Act 1992 (Cth)
The Imported Food Control Act affects food imports, inspections, holding orders, labelling and failed-shipment steps.
In forceCommonwealthPlain-English guide5 practical checks
Plain-English explainers, not legal advice. Check the linked official source before you rely on a specific section, and get advice for your situation.
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Quick read
- If your business imports food, this Act can affect whether the shipment is inspected, held, tested, relabelled, treated, destroyed or re-exported.
- Small importers should build compliance into supplier onboarding and shipping documents before stock leaves the overseas warehouse.
Likely relevant if
- Importers bringing food into Australia for resale
- Ecommerce brands selling imported snacks, drinks or specialty foods
- Wholesalers, distributors and retailers buying from overseas suppliers
Check first
- Check imported food requirements before ordering or shipping stock.
- Keep supplier, manufacturer, ingredient, batch and certificate records.
- Follow inspection, holding, treatment, destruction or re-export directions.
Start here
Key points
- Check the product, supplier and manufacturer before ordering.
- Keep certificates, batch records, labels and ingredient specifications together.
- Confirm allergens, nutrition, country-of-origin and English labelling before shipping.
- Do not move or sell food that is subject to a holding order or official direction.
Before a shipment leaves
Key points
- Identify whether the food is likely to be inspected or treated as higher risk.
- Check whether foreign government certificates or food safety management certificates are relevant.
- Confirm who will respond if the department asks for documents, samples or answers.
- Build relabelling, recall and failed-shipment steps into the supplier contract.
Plain-English glossary
- Examinable food
- Imported food that may be subject to inspection, testing or other controls under the imported food scheme.
- Failing food
- Food that fails applicable requirements and may need treatment, destruction, re-export or other action.
- Food control certificate
- A certificate connected with controls on certain imported food under the Act.
Common questions
Does this apply if I only import a small batch?
It can. Size alone does not remove import-food controls. The product type, risk category, documents, labelling and inspection pathway matter.
Can I fix labels after the food arrives?
Sometimes defects can be managed, but businesses should not plan around fixing problems at the border. Label, ingredient and supplier checks should happen before shipment.
Is this separate from the Food Standards Code?
Yes. Imported food can raise both border-control issues and Food Standards Code issues, plus state or territory food-law issues once the product is sold locally.