Diwali a time for gifts which are biosecurity aware

Diwali, the ‘festival of lights’ is an exciting time for Hindus where customary gifts are exchanged across the world. It’s also a time of increased biosecurity risk as gifts containing plant and animal material may be sent to Australia.

Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud asked Diwali gift givers to keep in mind Australia’s biosecurity conditions when mailing gifts.

During this Diwali more gifts will arrive to Australia via mail this year due to travel restrictions preventing some loved ones from being together.

“The ‘festival of lights’ is a time for celebration but these gifts could potentially carry serious biosecurity risks if they contain plant or animal material.

Biosecurity risk items are either exported back to the sender or destroyed, to ensure they do not harm Australia’s agriculture or environment.

If you are expecting gifts this year, make sure you do your biosecurity research and help spread awareness of Australia’s biosecurity conditions with your family and friends.

Australia has recently strengthened import requirements on a range of plant products to address the risk of khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium), a major threat to our grains industry, entering Australia.

High-risk plant products, include untreated rice, chickpeas, seeds and lentils.
Diwali items that are considered a biosecurity risk include:
 Indian sweets (mithai) such as barfi, rasmalai and pedas
 products containing dairy
 fresh and dried fruit; nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and tea
 plants, flowers and plant material.