SERIOUSLY: Don't forget to de-bag your hoover
 

Hi Gang,

No, this is not a wind up. I've just received a very nice e-mail from the folks at Aus Quarantine and they have sent me this detailed info for shipments of all personal effects.

I thought I would post it here as it has some useful info, especially regarding soil (garden stuff); Christmas decoration (seeds); wood (furniture, shouldn't be too much of a problem unless it has wood worm); carpets; bags and don't forget to take the bag out of your hoover!

Nigel db
===========

All personal effects are subject to quarantine inspection and treatment, if necessary, on arrival in Australia. Personal effects may be cleared through the Australia Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) more quickly if an itemised list accompanies the consignment, and if the items are free of soil, seeds, plants, animal material, insects and prohibited foods.

AQIS requires all cars to be cleaned before entering Australia and accompanied by a Cleanliness Declaration. Cars must be free from soil, seeds and other contaminants. If contaminants are found on arrival the car will need to be cleaned at the discharge port, at the importer's expense.

Timber products are of great concern to AQIS as they can be infested with exotic borers and termites. For this reason wooden products may need to be fumigated using methyl bromide. All timber products, including any used in the packaging, will need to be inspected upon arrival.

Pinecones and bark as part of ornaments, decorative trees, Christmas decorations or pieces of art are of Quarantine concern as bark and pinecones can foster insects and diseases. Such items may be heat treated, unfortunately, this may result in damage to some goods.

Bamboo products will require treatment on arrival, as will carpets and bags, used vacuum cleaners, and used gardening equipment, unless they are thoroughly cleaned before departure. Carpets and bags will need to be free from soil, dirt, animal hair and seeds; used vacuum cleaners should be free of dirt, dust and bags.

Equipment used on animals, such as saddles and grooming brushes, may require disinfection as even seemingly clean equipment can carry diseases. Any soil or dirt on used gardening equipment will need to be removed. Goods should preferably not be packed in straw as straw and straw products will require treatment.

Food stuffs are generally prohibited, in particular, fresh fruit and vegetables, meats and dairy products. If you are contemplating importing food into Australia, please ensure each item is listed to allow AQIS inspectors to quickly assess whether or not the products are of concern.

AQIS has no concerns with regard to electrical equipment. Washing machines, fridges, and cameras should pose no problem unless they are significantly contaminated with soil, live insects or seeds.

Shoes and clothing need to be treated carefully when imported. All items need to be free of any dirt, soil, animal matters or seeds. Any shoes or clothing not meeting these requirements will be taken away for cleaning on arrival, at the importer's expense.

We would recommend that boxes previously used for fruit, vegetables, eggs or animals are not used for packing and warn that any such boxes found during the quarantine inspection will be removed and the items inside them will need to be repacked at the importer's expense.


Clearing your Goods through Quarantine:

Personal effects need to be accompanied by an inventory and a B534 - Unaccompanied Personal Effects Statement. The B534 form is available from the AQIS web-site in "imports" on the following page under the heading "Information for brokers and Commercial Importers"


<http://www.affa.gov.au/content/outpu...65D25C4EBE2C52>
If your shipping company is not arranging quarantine clearance, then as soon as your consignment arrives you must begin getting quarantine clearance or you will be charged storage fees by the depot. Some shipping companies don't (or can't) contact people to let them know their goods have arrived in Australia and have a quarantine hold on them, so check regularly. If you are using a removalist company to move your goods, they will pass the cost of quarantine on to you.

Once your goods have arrived, contact the nearest AQIS regional office for document assessment and to arrange for an inspection time. This should be fairly prompt. A quarantine officer will come and inspect your consignment and let you know if any treatment is needed. Please consult your regional AQIS office for the current costs of Quarantine services.

The following document titled "What's happening to your goods?" provides information on goods that may have been detained by AQIS because they do not meet Australian quarantine import conditions.
'Whats happening to your goods brochure in pdf format <http://www.affa.gov.au/content/publi...DCFDA974A67477>

Re: SERIOUSLY: Don't forget to de-bag your hoover
 

Nigel, this is why we're selling most of our stuff! I've got enough to do before we go, without having to completely clean everything. Even getting it cleaned thoroughly this end is no guarantee that they won't insist on doing it again their end apparently. The charges for cleaning are $30 per item, or $60 if it needs fumigating. The only things being taken from our garden are the children's bikes, because they were bought new last year, so if I have to pay three lots of $30 to have them cleaned that's not too bad. I wouldn't want to risk having to fork out $30 for every spade, fork, rake etc. to be cleaned.

Another tip, type up a list of everything you want to sell and email it to all your friends and relatives for first refusal. We sent out a four-page list two weeks ago and have already made £1100, and what hasn't yet been taken away has been reserved. Most people have agreed to let us hang onto the stuff until a few weeks before we go, but at least we won't be in a panic at the last minute trying to flog everything! My list has been photocopied and sent to friends of friends and I have had so many enquires, some of the items I could have sold four or five times over.

Re: SERIOUSLY: Don't forget to de-bag your hoover
 

Hi everyone, i would disagree with selling most of your stuff as we did the same and
boy big mistake, i wish i had brought the dishwasher, washer, settee, table and
chairs and so on, we've been here since the 3rd of january and still haven't bought
any furniture what so ever, we are making do with beanbags at the mo which we have
borrowed from distant relatives. In theory its a good idea but the truth is bring as
much as you can, i only wish i had, its not easy starting from sctratch i can tell
you. Quarentine are really not that bad, we had a list ready for them which saved so
much time and they looked down the list checked the hoover, christmas decs and once
they were satisfied with them he picked a couple of boxes out at random looked inside
and released them to us then. The first priority for us was a car and lets face it
you need something thats going to be reliable so that can leave a rather large dent
in the old bank account and we found that car prices are really not that cheap,
unless you go for something thats a bit dodgy. Furniture is not on our agenda for a
while, as we have recently bought a block of land to build on so all our money is now
tied, so my advice is don't go to mad with selling everything your going to have to
be without for a while. I will also just add we brought the kids bikes over and they
just looked at the tyres checking for dirt, but they were fine.

Kind regards karen "Jacqui" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Nigel, this is why we're selling most of our stuff! I've got enough to do before we
    > go, without having to completely clean everything. Even getting it cleaned
    > thoroughly this end is no guarantee that they won't insist on doing it again their
    > end apparently. The charges for cleaning are $30 per item, or $60 if it needs
    > fumigating. The only things being taken from our garden are the children's bikes,
    > because they were bought new last year, so if I have to pay three lots of $30 to
    > have them cleaned that's not too bad. I wouldn't want to risk having to fork out
    > $30 for every spade, fork, rake etc. to be cleaned.
    >
    > Another tip, type up a list of everything you want to sell and email it to all your
    > friends and relatives for first refusal. We sent out a four-page list two weeks ago
    > and have already made £1100, and what hasn't yet been taken away has been reserved.
    > Most people have agreed to let us hang onto the stuff until a few weeks before we
    > go, but at least we won't be in a panic at the last minute trying to flog
    > everything! My list has been photocopied and sent to friends of friends and I have
    > had so many enquires, some of the items I could have sold four or five times over.
    >
    >
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Re: SERIOUSLY: Don't forget to de-bag your hoover
 

Hi Molly,

Could you email me at [email protected].

I'm really interested in you "plot of land" as that is exactly what we want to do and I would be very interested in how you went about it before getting to Aus.

Many thanks

Nigel and Sally

Re: SERIOUSLY: Don't forget to de-bag your hoover
 

Hi Karen (Mally?),

Thanks for that. Must admit that I'm going to scrub all my garden stuff. I'm sure that "showing willing" will go a long way.

Also going to have a list and get packers to put all "suspect" items in one area of the container.

I'm bringing raw planks over with me which is why I got in touch with Quarantine.

nigel

Re: SERIOUSLY: Don't forget to de-bag your hoover
 

"mallysutton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1017979767.180957@angelina...
    > Hi everyone, i would disagree with selling most of your stuff as we did
the
    > same and boy big mistake, i wish i had brought the dishwasher, washer, settee,
    > table and chairs and so on,

Depends on your circumstances I think. We had too much stuff anyway, much of which
probably wouldn't even survive the trip (old/fragile/needs fumigation) or was ready
to pop anyway - white goods don't last too long these days. That, plus the fact that
we'l be travelling round for a few weeks when we arrive, made it more hassle than it
was worth to bring anything more than clothes. I'm leaving a few sentimental and
irreplacable items with my parents, for collection later.

And tell you what, it feels GREAT! So glad to be making a fresh start.

Cheers Winnie

Re: SERIOUSLY: Don't forget to de-bag your hoover
 

You're right, Winnie, a lot depends on personal circumstances. We will be living with my sister for the first couple of months so we certainly don't need to worry about furniture at first. Also we see this as a completely "fresh start", the only things we want to take are clothes and other personal effects. We're actually looking forward to "starting again". Fortunately we have plenty of savings too, so financially it won't be a problem, but I guess for others it's a different story.

We are also hoping to self-build, a dream we never had the chance to realise in this country because of all the planning regulations, not to mention the hugely inflated price of land at the moment.

Re: SERIOUSLY: Don't forget to de-bag your hoover
 

"Jacqui" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >
    > We are also hoping to self-build, a dream we never had the chance to realise in
    > this country because of all the planning regulations, not to mention the hugely
    > inflated price of land at the moment.

Ooh, good for you and good luck! Any ideas where, and what type of house? We've sworn
that we'll move into a finished house this time, after two serious renovation
projects, but you know what it's like if you see that perfect patch of land....

Winnie