1. Shipments to Australia with a value under 1,000 AUD will no longer be charged a formal entry processing fee of approximately 55USD due to a SOFA exemption implemented by Australian customs.
2. The SOFA exemption does not currently exempt the approximate 27USD AQIS bio inspection fee per house airway bill, so the shipment paperwork requirement is still recommended to cover the fee and ensure the shipment is not delayed.
3. The average Australian inbound clearance process takes 24 hours but can vary depending on the accuracy of the paperwork, itemized goods descriptions, and shipment value under 1,000 AUD.
2. Page 2
2018 Customs Information
1. All shipments with a value of 1,000 AUD will NO LONGER be charged the Formal Entry Processing Fee of
aprox. 55USD. The SOFA exemption has been implemented by AU customs.
2. The SOFA exemption however does not currently exempt the AQIS bio inspection fee of aprox 27USD
per House Airway bill. The shipment paperwork requirement (slide 2) to cover the fee and ensure the
shipment is not delayed, is still recommended.
3. The average AU Inbound Clearance process takes 24 hours, however, this will vary depending on the
accuracy of the paperwork. If all the required details (e.g.: accurate itemised goods descriptions) and
Shipment value under 1,000 AUD, we would aim to have shipments pre-cleared before arrival.
4. All shipments MUST be free of any dirt/soil
5. Contact DHL before shipping any medical shipments as certain medicines need import licenses.
6. All wooden crating/pallets need to have the heat treated/cured stamp
Finally, it is essential that all shipments have some type of accompanying invoice which clearly outlines the
contents of the respective shipment. In years gone by, there have been instances where a general
description has been given on the invoice (e.g.: ships spares), and the shipment has been found to contain
pharmaceuticals. Any shipment without a specific description will be delayed until all detailed goods
descriptions have been confirmed. Should there be any pharmaceuticals/medicines, we require the names
of the products for identification by Customs and AQIS
3. Page 3
“eligible for clearance under the Status Of Forces Agreement
(SOFA) provisions of Schedule 4 of the Customs Tariff Act 1995”
Statement required by AU customs to
identify SOFA shipment
4. Page
2018 Information
All shipments eligible to clear under the current AU/US SOFA should be marked with the
INCOTERM of DDP or DTP. This will ensure that your shipment will not be delayed/stopped at AU
customs for receiver fee collection.
If your shipping system does not give you the INCOTERM option, you can use emailship/Webship
to produce shipment paperwork.
It should also state on the commercial invoice:
“Eligible for clearance under the Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA) provisions of Schedule 4 of
the Customs Tariff Act 1995”
