kaydave

Hi everyone,
we have just had a shipper inform us that because we are intending to take our leather suite and newish super king bed (which cost the earth) when our container arrives at Brisbane, AQIS will throw a fumigation bomb into our container :scared:
This (he went on to say) leaves a fine greasy powder over everything in the container that permiates everything but cleans off O.K, but don't sleep on your bed the first night you get it back!
Oh and he said nothing to worry about there is a slight smell but this goes with time!
We don't like the sound of this, but wondered if anyone has had this happen to them??, do AQIS automatically fumigate beds etc? If so does this powder ever clean out of the nooks and crannies of the furniture?

Any comments will be much appreciated

Kay and David

Pollyana

Have not heard anyone else on here mention it; I didn't bring much furniture, so had a shared container, but I'm sure it would've been mentioned by anyone else who encountered it.
As far as I understand it, AQIS inspect certain items or boxes, decide which individual items they are going to fumigate or destroy, and then give you the choice (destruction may be cheaper as you pay per item)

I'm assuming you are coming from the UK of course - people shipping from other places may be subject to different procedures.

Which shipping company was it? A big one or small, local, and maybe unsure of the rules?

PS - the only fumigation I have heard of AQIS doing is done by irradiation, not by powder

kaydave

Thanks Pollyana,

Yes we are arriving from the U.K (sorry should have mentioned that), the company that told us about the fumigation is Britannia.
I feel relieved now you have said this is not a common problem on expats, perhaps he was trying to sound as if he knew everything about shipping so we should go with him!

Kay and David

Pollyana

The UK bit was a sudden afterthought of mine, that you might be shipping from somewhere like Malaysia, with more bugs
Try a couple of searches on things like AQIS and Quarantine, but I don't remember it ever coming up before, and that in nearly 2 years on the site. I've seen people import leather sofas with no problem, I'm certain of that. See if you get some more answers tomorrow, from people who have shipped whole households, when more of the Aussie side are awake!

JayDeee

My lovely comfy beautifull bed (god I am missing it) is out on the high seas as I type, I was not told anything of the fumigation powder

Basically from what I understand is don't bother paying for it to be fumigated over here as if AQIS think they need to fumigate it they will so no point paying twice.

I'm also sure they would not be able to use something that will not come out of your property as there would be law suits all over the place.

Good luck
Kala

scrawni

We only receive our container 2 days ago and we too had a leather sofa and a new bed to bring with us. Neither were fumigated. The only thing that they had a problem with was some xmas decorations which I had forgotten all about. It would have cost $200 to get them treated or $55 to get them to dispose of them, guess which one we went for, the decorations cost about £10.

Mandy

kaydave

Thanks for your replies Polyana, Kala and Mandy, we have yet to go through the Christmas decorations 10 boxes plus an artificial tree in the loft :scared:
Thanks for the reminder Mandy.

We have another shipper coming to quote us tommorow, will have to put him under the lamp to find out if he knows anything about fumigation. Have just had a thought too about feathers.

Does any one know if AQIS have a problem with duvets or pillows?
Ours were bought new with the bed not so long ago, they weren't cheep either it would be nice to be able to take them with us.

We will be gratefull for any comments, it helps a lot

Kay and David

lesleys

AQIS didn't bother about our leather sofa, beds, duvets, pillows or cushions (all declared on AQIS form). The only thing they fumigated were a teddy bear (old one with straw stuffing) and a carved gourd vase. They did steam clean 9 pairs of shoes for no apparent reason and charged $22 per pair (including dainty sandals never worn outside!). Teddy cost $100, the gourd $200, both survived, but the shoes suffered. Watch out for any souvenir artifacts made from wood etc but ordinary furniture is fine.

Good luck

Lesley

Badge

err....how much for the gourd?

Pollyana

Swap it for some large stones and a false beard........

JayDeee

Anyone what to tell me what the hell a Gourd is??????

Pollyana

Not a Pythonite then Kala?

Its a large vase - used to be used for carrying water.......

moneypenny20

Spare a sheckle for an ex-leper

Pollyana

He's not the Messiah, he's just a very naughty boy........

swissfabs

Hi there,

Sorry to bump this thread up but i have some questions on wood items i would like to cargo to oz in a container.

I have a couple of nice antique pieces of Swiss furniture (wardrobe) made of old wood. Of course it has been laquered its not "raw".

Some shipping companies have offered to fumigate the whole container before shipping it but im not too sure about that since Aqis might want to redo it or not accept the Swiss certificate.

I have attached the pic of the wardrobe i would like to bring.

Looking forward to your comments and experiences!

Thanks fabie

nb: have already emailed Aquis waiting for their answers.