Changi Airport has several shops that sell boxed cut orchids. Can I import these to Australia? Or will they be confiscated by Customs?
asked Apr 23, 2017 at 6:30
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2 Answers
Australian Department of Agriculture has some information, in summary, for personal use:
- You must declare them on arrival so that they can be examined by customs.
- They may need to be treated or destroyed depending on origin and species of flower, or if they are found to have pests or other biohazards. There is a list of allowable species here. Orchids are on it.
- You can import a limited number for personal use - six items (where an item is a small box, florist package, or individual bouquet)
They have a system called BICON which you can use to check the requirements for specific species if you were thinking of bringing something other than orchids.
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I've brought back & declared orchids three times now. Every time, I'm sent to Quarantine, they do a quick inspection for bugs in a back room, and then they're declared OK and I'm waved on. Apr 24, 2018 at 22:23
Yes you can and maybe they might.
Cut flowers of most all members of the Orchidaceae can be imported from any country into Australia. They do not require any permits, unless they are species listed on the CITES red list. But any cut flowers sold at Changi Airport will be from hybrids not species.
You do have to declare them upon arrival in Australia and they will be subject to inspection for disease, insects, etc. If found wanting they will be confiscated and destroyed. But again what is being sold in Changi has already been selected so that it is OK for travelers to take home.
So make the folks you are visiting feel great with an orchid bouquet.