I want to bring some medicines / dietary supplements / herbal preparations into Australia through the mail from overseas - what restrictions are there?
You may bring a 3 month supply (at the maximum dose recommended by the manufacturer) of unapproved medicines into Australia in any one importation without any approval required by the TGA provided that: [*] the goods are for the use in the treatment of the importer or their immediate family; and [*] you do not supply (sell or give) the medicine to any other person; and [*] the goods do not contain a controlled substance in Appendix A or Appendix B; and [*] the goods are not injections that contain material of human or animal origin (except insulin); and [*] the total quantity of the medicine imported within a 12 month period does not exceed 15 months supply of the drug (at the maximum dose recommended by the manufacturer); and [*] if the goods are in Schedule 4 or 8 of the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drug and Poisons a prescription from a registered medical practitioner is held for the goods.
To establish if the goods are subject to the Customs legislation you need to know what are the ingredients in the product. You can then look up the controlled substances in Appendix A and Appendix B which require import licences / permits. Each State and Territory of Australia also has its own Poison and Drugs legislative controls. You should also check these requirements before importing these types of goods. An import permit will not be issued for substances in Schedule 4 or Schedule 8 of the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons unless a prescription from a registered doctor in Australia has been submitted to the Treaties and Export Section.
From:
http://www.health.gov.au/tga/docs/html/bringmed/persimp.htm#question
The Appendices mentioned in the quote are hyperlinked within the above URL to lists of approved and scheduled chemicals.
BigTrancer
[ 12 February 2002: Message edited by: BigTrancer ]
