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Animal Feed including pet food, stockfeed, aquaculture and bait
This page outlines the information that must be included with an application to import various types of animal feed:
Livestock Feeds
The information below is required to accompany all applications to import stockfeed or stockfeed ingredients into Australia. Please note that the Imported Stockfeed Questionnaire should be completed by the manufacturer and submitted with all applications.
Stockfeed and Aquaculture Feed Questionnaire
Stockfeed of terrestrial animal or avian origin:
- Complete contents list including country of origin, species and processing of all animal derived products, and
- Full manufacturing information.
Please note that this product is currently only accepted from NZ. There are no conditions to import animal based stockfeed from other countries.
Stockfeed of aquatic animal origin:
- Complete contents list including country of origin, species and processing of all animal derived products, and
- Full manufacturing information.
Fermentation based stockfeed:
- Manufacturing details (preferably in a flow diagram) outlining the products used during manufacture and the methods used to sterilise the materials
- Species and country of origin for all ingredients (including culture media used in production)
- Details of any carriers used (and methods of sterilisation for the carriers), and
- Details of packaging (bulk or small bags).
Pet Feeds
The following information is required to accompany applications to import pet feeds. Please note that the Pet Food Application Declaration should be completed by the manufacturer and submitted with all applications.
Pet Food Application Declaration
Canned / retorted petfood:
- Complete contents of product, expressed in percentages and adding up to 100% (include water)
- Origin of each ingredient (ie. animal, plant, microbial, chemical, vitamin or mineral)
- Species of origin of all animal ingredients (eg. bovine, ovine, porcine, avian, fish)
- Country of origin of all animal ingredients
- Retort temperature and time held at this temperature, and
- Name of manufacturer (if different to exporter).
Dry or semi moist petfood:
- Full list of ingredients of product, expressed in percentages and adding up to 100% (include water)
- Origin of each ingredient (ie. animal, plant, microbial, chemical, vitamin or mineral)
- Species of origin of all animal ingredients (eg. bovine, ovine, porcine, avian, fish);
- Country of origin of all animal ingredients
- Full processing details. This usually includes mixing, pre-conditioning, extrusion, drying, and coating (eg. with a palatability enhancer). Please include all significant durations and measurements of product core temperatures and pressures
- Name of manufacturer of final product (if different to exporter)
- For products with a coating (eg. fat, digest, palatability enhancer), applied following the primary production steps outlined above, the following information is also required
- Full list of ingredients of the coating, expressed in percentages and adding up to 100%
- Origin of each ingredient (ie. animal, plant, microbial, chemical, vitamin or mineral)
- Species of origin of all animal ingredients (eg. bovine, ovine, porcine, avian, fish)
- Country of origin of all animal ingredients
- Full processing details relating to the coating. This usually includes cooking, homogenisation and air drying or spray drying. Please include all significant durations and measurements of product core temperatures.
- Name of manufacturer of the coating/s, and
- Date of last AQIS inspection of the final product and coating manufacturing facilities (inspections should be performed and approval renewed every 2 years). Exceptions:
- For New Zealand: The animal by-products must be derived from premises licensed pursuant to the Meat Act 1981 or approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and produced in accordance with New Zealand law.
- For the USA: The manufacturing facility/ies must be USDA approved and registered as approved for export to Australia. Approval should be renewed every 2 years.
Please note: Dry pet food products are often ‘coated’ with a palatability enhancer following the significant processing step (eg drying / extrusion). This ‘coating’ is usually of animal origin and the processing of the coating is generally performed at a suppliers premise (ie. not by the manufacturer of the final pet food product). Each supplier’s premise, must therefore have AQIS approval. Likewise, where the significant processing step (eg drying / extrusion) does not meet AQIS requirements, processing of the individual ingredients (eg. poultry meal, bovine liver) will be taken into account. Generally, this individual ingredient processing is performed at a suppliers premise (ie not by the manufacturer of the final pet food product). Each supplier’s premise, must therefore have AQIS approval.
Bird Feeds
The following information is required to accompany applications to import bird feed:
- Complete list of ingredients of product, expressed in percentages and adding up to 100%
- Origin of each ingredient (ie. animal, plant, microbial, chemical, vitamin or mineral)
- Species of origin of all animal ingredients (eg. bovine, ovine, porcine, avian, fish)
- Country of origin of all animal ingredients
- Species of origin (ie botanical name) of all plant material (eg. Phalaris canariensis)
- Form of all plant material (eg. seed/grain, peeled & cored fruit, stem, leaves, root)
- Full processing details. This may include pre-conditioning, extrusion, drying and baking applied to the final product. However, processing of the final product often includes nothing more than mixing of the component ingredients. In this case, please include any treatments applied to individual ingredients. This may include milling or grinding of seeds/grains (please include particle sizes), fermentation (please include 100% ingredients of fermentation broth), heat treatments, pressure treatments, or an application of steam. All treatments should include a measurement of the parameter (eg pressure of 300psi, core temperature of 100°C) and the duration of the treatment (eg. 30 minutes), and
- Name of manufacturer of final product (if different to exporter).
Pet Fish Feed
The following information is required to accompany applications to import pet fish feeds.
Pet fish feed for use in enclosed aquaria (and in individual packages ≤ 30kg):
- Complete list of ingredients of product, expressed in percentages and adding up to 100%
- Origin of each ingredient (ie. animal, plant, microbial, chemical, vitamin or mineral)
- Species of origin of all animal ingredients (eg. bovine, porcine, avian, salmo spp (salmon))
- Country of origin of all animal ingredients
- Full processing details. This may include pre-conditioning, extrusion, drying and baking applied to the final product. However, processing of the final product often includes nothing more than mixing of the component ingredients. In this case, please include any treatments applied to individual ingredients. This usually includes, heat treatments and sometimes pressure treatments. All treatments should include a measurement of the parameter (eg pressure of 300psi, core temperature of 100°C) and the duration of the treatment (eg. 30 minutes), and
- Name of manufacturer of final product (if different to exporter).
Pet fish feed for use in enclosed aquaria (and in individual packages > 30kg):
Please refer to the "Processed aquaculture feed" section below.
Aquaculture Feeds and Baits
The following information is required to accompany applications to import aquaculture feeds and baits. Please note that the Imported Stockfeed Questionnaire should be completed by the manufacturer and submitted with all applications for permits to import any stockfeed or stockfeed ingredient (including aquaculture feeds).
Stockfeed and Aquaculture Feed Questionnaire
Processed aquaculture feed:
- Complete list of ingredients of product, expressed in percentages and adding up to 100%
- Origin of each ingredient (ie. animal, plant, microbial, chemical, vitamin or mineral)
- Species of origin of all animal ingredients (eg. bovine, porcine, avian, salmo spp (salmon))
- Country of origin of all animal ingredients
- Full processing details. This may include pre-conditioning, extrusion, drying and baking applied to the final product. However, processing of the final product often includes nothing more than mixing of the component ingredients. In this case, please include any treatments applied to individual ingredients. This usually includes, heat treatments and sometimes pressure treatments. All treatments should include a measurement of the parameter (eg pressure of 300psi, core temperature of 100°C) and the duration of the treatment (eg. 30 minutes), and
- Name of manufacturer of final product (if different to exporter).
Processed aquatic baits (eg. lures containing components of biological origin):
- Complete list of ingredients of product, expressed in percentages and adding up to 100%
- Origin of each ingredient (ie. animal, plant, microbial, chemical, vitamin or mineral)
- Species of origin of all animal ingredients (eg. bovine, porcine, avian, salmo spp (salmon))
- Country of origin of all animal ingredients
- Full processing details. This may include pre-conditioning, extrusion, drying and baking applied to the final product. However, processing of the final product often includes nothing more than mixing of the component ingredients. In this case, please include any treatments applied to individual ingredients. This may include milling or grinding of seeds/grains (please include particle sizes), fermentation (please include 100% ingredients of fermentation broth), heat treatments, pressure treatments, or an application of steam. All treatments should include a measurement of the parameter (eg pressure of 300psi, core temperature of 100°C) and the duration of the treatment (eg. 30 minutes), and
- Name of manufacturer of final product (if different to exporter).
Unprocessed aquaculture feed (eg. squid, fish - including fish heads, etc):
Please refer to the "Unprocessed aquatic baits" section below.
Unprocessed aquatic baits (eg. squid, fish - including fish heads, etc):
- Full scientific name and common name of each species
- Country or countries of export and origin (if various countries each country must be listed)
- Information regarding the level of processing (ie. whole or eviscerated, head-on or head-off), and
- Whether the product is wild caught or farmed.
Agricultural Baits (eg rodent bait)
The following information is required to accompany applications to import agricultural baits:
- Complete list of ingredients of product, expressed in percentages and adding up to 100%
- Origin of each ingredient (ie. animal, plant, microbial, chemical, vitamin or mineral)
- Species of origin of all animal ingredients (eg. bovine, porcine, avian, fish)
- Country of origin of all animal ingredients
- Full processing details. This may include pre-conditioning, extrusion, drying and baking applied to the final product. However, processing of the final product often includes nothing more than mixing of the component ingredients. In this case, please include any treatments applied to individual ingredients. This may include milling or grinding of seeds/grains (please include particle sizes), fermentation (please include 100% ingredients of fermentation broth), heat treatments, pressure treatments, or an application of steam. All treatments should include a measurement of the parameter (eg pressure of 300psi, core temperature of 100°C) and the duration of the treatment (eg. 30 minutes), and
- Name of manufacturer of final product (if different to exporter).