Guest sunseeker77 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hi all, Im about to start packing our boxes ahead of shipping them on the slow boat to Oz and have a few questions about what can and can't be packed in them. I seem to have a large store of shampoos, shower gels etc and would like to pack them rather than have to buy more when we get there, but am not sure if we are allowed. I just called our shipping company who said cosmetics or ANY kind are not allowed, but this seems a bit extreme to me so I checked the AQIS website which seems to be saying that as long as the are for personal use and aren't made of animal products then its ok. Does anyone have any personal experience of this? Also what about other "personal" items? Sorry about this one guys, but I have a favoured brand of tampon that you can't get in Oz so was going to pop a few packs in our boxes, does anyone know if this is allowed? I know this may all seem quite trivial but Im already having to come to terms with not being able to ship some of my most precious jewellery as its wooden, so am hoping that a few of my creature comforts can come with me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpledonna Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 We are shipping our stuff with Crown and we have been told that it's fine to ship toiletries. All mine are in zip lock baggies and in a big plastic box. Crown can either take them like that or transfer it to their own box. As for tampons, stock up I say! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 All the stuff you want to take is fine, just make sure no aerosol sprays, but toiletries and tampons are fine No honey though, if you have honey based face masks or anything. We had our stuff picked up yesterday - I put everything in ziplock bags, a few at a time, incase anything explodes or leaks it means a) I won't lose all of it and b) it won't leak over anything else, like the boxes with my baby clothes in or something and ruin them lol Packers didn't say anything about them at all - I even asked them to bubble wrap my bottles of perfume I'm taking (half expect them to have gone off and be rank by the time we finally pick up our stuff in 12 months time, but still, worth a punt - unless they still smash and the packers didn't pop them in the zip lock bags I left out and everything ends up smelling of Angel or Dune lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest haunted1234 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 mine were all just put in boxes, not so much toiletries but Calpol, paracetamol etc....couldn't beleive they allowed them to come through but the arrived in the same state they were packed ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sunseeker77 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Hiya all, thanks for your responses, they were really helpful! I called my shipping company back and told them that I had heard people could send toiletries and was told that yes that was correct, and the previous person I had spoken to was talking nonsense! But the reiterated that medicines (including things like over the counter paracetamol and antihistamine) could only be shipped if they were accompanied by a doctor’s prescription, however having read the post above this does not appear to be the case. Does anyone else have any experience with this? Oh and the other thing I was wondering about is the customs form that you have to fill out. I have made all the arrangements with the shipping firm so was going to fill out the form in my name, but it seems that you fill it out differently if you are British and coming in on a visa compared to if you are a returning Aussie citizen. Well Im on a visa but my husband is an Aussie, so does anyone have any input on whether it would be best to fill it out in his name or whether it doesn't matter? Also, my visa is electronic so have nothing to show for it in my passport, so not sure what they will make of that as Im supposed to attach a photocopy of it to the form...aarrrrggggg decisions!! It seems that I am obsessing about even the tiniest details involved with our move overseas these days, can't wait until the boxes are finally shipped out of here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I brought quite a lot of medication and toiletries, i did have scripts for my prescribed tablets but not for the Calpol, daughters prescribed cream or other stuff, but the scripts werent needed as no-one asked to see them and everything cleared customs fine.. Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 We shipped stuff in my name 'cos we didn't think hubby would have his visa grant when our stuff left (as it turns out he did!). The form's the same, pretty much - the movers should talk you through it though. If you're shipping medicine (even non-prescription stuff) just make sure to declare it - I even declared our leather sofa's cos they're made out of animal products. The movers laughed at me, but hey, we got through aqis no prob's so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolaj Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Well we had Crown to move us. They packed medicines, including a bottle of Bennolyn which leaked!!! Horrible sticky mess all over the paper! We took toiletries such as shower gel, an unopened box of washing powder and fabric softner, body lotions etc. The only thing they couldn't pack was arisols (sorry spelling rubbish today!). It seemed like Quarantine was more interested in the garage items, golf stuff, riding stuff and cat beds. Everything else found it's way through. Might be a different matter if you have a few pallets of stuff though! Oh and you can't take alcohol either as they charge you tax on it. I found a good home for all our stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomerang Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Hi all, Im about to start packing our boxes ahead of shipping them on the slow boat to Oz and have a few questions about what can and can't be packed in them. I seem to have a large store of shampoos, shower gels etc and would like to pack them rather than have to buy more when we get there, but am not sure if we are allowed. I just called our shipping company who said cosmetics or ANY kind are not allowed, but this seems a bit extreme to me so I checked the AQIS website which seems to be saying that as long as the are for personal use and aren't made of animal products then its ok. Does anyone have any personal experience of this? Also what about other "personal" items? Sorry about this one guys, but I have a favoured brand of tampon that you can't get in Oz so was going to pop a few packs in our boxes, does anyone know if this is allowed? I know this may all seem quite trivial but Im already having to come to terms with not being able to ship some of my most precious jewellery as its wooden, so am hoping that a few of my creature comforts can come with me... We bought a big box full of toothpastes, bodywashes, shampoos, shaving gels and loads of painkillers and hayfever tablets......all stuff we knew was expensive here...we dont need any of these things for a couple of years at least!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I bought loads of toiletries over with me, dont know why really, cos they weigh a ton, and you can get more or less the same stuff here, I personally thought it was a waste, but that's my opinion x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest biggeek76 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hi everyone, lots of good information on here! Does anyone have experience shipping food? Namely spices and different sauces? we have so many food things that would survive the trip and would save us the hassle of picking up again while we're there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hi everyone, lots of good information on here! Does anyone have experience shipping food? Namely spices and different sauces? we have so many food things that would survive the trip and would save us the hassle of picking up again while we're there. http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/import/food http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/import/food/private-consumption To be honest though you can buy it there. Your stuff is going to take about 10-12 weeks to ship so why wait so long for that to arrive and pay the shipping costs of it all when you can buy it over there while waiting for your stuff to arrive. Some herbs and spices may be off limits anyways. I'd not bother shipping that kind of stuff if it were me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldmarried Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I would leave out the food stuff. Customs will want to see it and it will cost you extra for the inspection. Toiletries are not an issue for customs but they are for insurance. If they leak it invalidates your insurance. So if you are going to include them then pack them all in a plastic lidded crate so that if it does leak it is contained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphire Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Hiya all, thanks for your responses, they were really helpful! I called my shipping company back and told them that I had heard people could send toiletries and was told that yes that was correct, and the previous person I had spoken to was talking nonsense! But the reiterated that medicines (including things like over the counter paracetamol and antihistamine) could only be shipped if they were accompanied by a doctor’s prescription, however having read the post above this does not appear to be the case. Does anyone else have any experience with this? Oh and the other thing I was wondering about is the customs form that you have to fill out. I have made all the arrangements with the shipping firm so was going to fill out the form in my name, but it seems that you fill it out differently if you are British and coming in on a visa compared to if you are a returning Aussie citizen. Well Im on a visa but my husband is an Aussie, so does anyone have any input on whether it would be best to fill it out in his name or whether it doesn't matter? Also, my visa is electronic so have nothing to show for it in my passport, so not sure what they will make of that as Im supposed to attach a photocopy of it to the form...aarrrrggggg decisions!! It seems that I am obsessing about even the tiniest details involved with our move overseas these days, can't wait until the boxes are finally shipped out of here From our own experience, it was fine to bring all of our toiletries.We put them in a big 'stack and store " box and then put them in a cardboard box, and they went in the container.They dident get searched, or anything this end We brought tons of medication, anti-histimines(cos they are very expensive here), and paracetomol etc etc It gets into Aus fine....we have toiletires and medications posted out in bulk, every so often from the UK, and thats fine as well I buy anti-histimines from the UK for 50p a pack, whereas the same ones here are $20 plus,,,,,,,,so bring as much as you can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate1 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 thank you for opening this thread and all the input. found answers to almost all my questions. I know now that I can bring my favorite toiletries :-) and that I have to declare paracetmol etc. Could anyone help with the meaning of this part of the AQIS form? AQIS: Any goods owned by you for less than 12 months must be declared. Such goods will be assessed for duty and taxes. Penalties.... Does it mean that I have to list every toiletry item that I bought and would like to bring with me? What have you done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 This relates more to you bringing multiple items in their boxes to re- sell, a few sticks of deodorant, an eyeliner or a new hairdryer wont cause an issue. Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate1 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 thank you Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) thank you for opening this thread and all the input. found answers to almost all my questions. I know now that I can bring my favorite toiletries :-) and that I have to declare paracetmol etc. Could anyone help with the meaning of this part of the AQIS form? AQIS: Any goods owned by you for less than 12 months must be declared. Such goods will be assessed for duty and taxes. Penalties.... Does it mean that I have to list every toiletry item that I bought and would like to bring with me? What have you done? It's best not to put paracetamol or medicines in the crate even if you have a prescription. You don't want Customs to have to open the crate to check those items, it will cost you money. Toiletries are fine. Just consider that you're moving permanently, so you're going to have to find alternatives for your favourite toiletries eventually. What's the point of taking a few months' supply when you're going to have to do without them for years? Australia is not a third world country, there's a wide range of toiletries on the shelves and you'll find new favourites for your new life in Oz. Edited December 9, 2015 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 thank you Cal x Just put a generic 'toiletries' on the customs form. If AQIS want to open it, they will do it anyway. Ordinary OTC (over the counter ) medicines are fine and you won't be charged for bringing them in. I bring back Night nurse and other UK products every year and they are fine. The concern is with prescription meds and illegal drugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate1 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Dear Marisawright and Nemesis, thank you very much. I'll put "toiletries" on the form. It's not a retailer sales volume ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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