Unfortunately, it's not easy - even with Permits. 4 years ago I spent numerous weeks, phone calls to AQIS in Canberra and lots of running around to arrange an import Permit to bring in 30kg of washed arabica from Asia for a trial. Having checked with AQIS that I have all bases covered, paid my permit fee, etc. then waited, waited, waited.........waited. AQIS had decided to seize my parcel, despite having the permit at our end, the senders documents were in a foreign language and AQIS then proceeded to place my parcel in quarantine in Sydney (very useful for me in Melbourne) and threaten me with a high fee to be charged for storage and disposal if I did not collect the goods - after paying for the contents to be Bromide because AQIS wanted to be extra safe. The whole experience was a wasted exercise (time, money, emotion) - almost 4 months from end to end. Having said all that, AQIS do a fantastic job - just getting through the process efficiently can be challenging. I did learn that some countries are trusted more than others.........according to AQIS (unofficially of course). If anyone intends to proceed down the path of import, just ensure you have a method of getting your goods from an AQIS compound to you, otherwise it can become expensive and very difficult, especially when you are interstate or remote. Sweet Marias sometimes have (in the past) listed similar lines to Zephyr, of which MTC may be able to assist (as the Aus agent), but only in decent volumes.
