High Commission of the Republic of the Fiji Islands

United Kingdom

LIST OF FOODS THAT CAN BE TAKEN INTO FIJI

Help Protect Fiji’s Unique Environment.

Foreign pests and disease pose a huge danger to Fiji’s plants, animals & environment. Fiji is free of most dangerous pests and diseases. Let’s keep it that way.

Protection begins with you!

Even the most innocent souvenirs or food that you bring back from overseas could carry pests and diseases that may be harmful to Fiji.

Declare it for Fiji!

Don’t take any risks. Declare all restricted and prohibited items or goods on arrival.

Remember – The future of our country depends on your co-operation.

The following goods are prohibited or restricted

• Animal and animal products
• Birds
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Fresh flowers and dried leis
• Seeds and plant cuttings
• Root crops
• Bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers
• Coconuts
• Live fish (including all marine products)
• Meat – any kind (Fresh, chilled or canned)
• Poultry (meat, egg, feathers or bones)
• Honey
• Mushrooms
• Noodles
• Rice and other grains
• Nuts and kernels
• Dairy products
• Herbs, spices and pulses
• Handicrafts and artifacts (including snail and sea shells)
• Furs, feathers, bones and horns
• Cultures, organisms, biological specimens
• Insects, reptiles and embryos (live or dead)
• Used machinery and equipment
• Soil, sand and rocks
• Any other quarantine related materials.

When you arrive in Fiji

• Fill out your Passenger Declaration Form honestly. (It is a legal document and any false declaration can lead to prosecution resulting in heavy fines or imprisonment or both).
• Deposit any restricted or prohibited plant/plant products, animal/animal products, food or other matter you no longer with to keep into the Quarantine Amnesty Bin provided at the airport/seaport.
• Declare any plant or plant products, animal or animal products, marine and forest products you wish to bring back into Fiji to the Agricultural Quarantine Inspectors.

FIJI QUARANTINE AND INSPECTION SERVICES.

Protecting Fiji.

Quarantine laws help all to live a better life by protecting the plants and animals that provide our food, drink, furniture and the plants and animals that we just enjoy. They are all worth saving.
If we don’t stop pests and disease coming into Fiji, our plants and animals could die. We need your help to keep Fiji a safe and beautiful place for everyone to live in or visit. Most importantly, remember to declare all prohibited or restricted goods to Quarantine when you arrive in Fiji.

If you have any doubts about Quarantine laws when you arrive in Fiji, speak to Quarantine officers. You will find them helpful and understanding. We need your help to keep Fiji growing.

Declare it for Fiji!

For enquiries contact:
Suva: Ph (679) 312 512 Fax 305 043
Lautoka: Ph (679) 665 984 Fax 650 084
Nadi: Ph (679) 722 384 Fax 720 053
Nausori: pH (679) 478 484 Fax 478 484
Savusavu: pH (679) 850 864 Fax 850 874
Email: quarantine@suva.is.com.fj

PENALTIES – A MISTAKE COULD COST YOU A LOT. THERE ARE HEAVY PENALTIES (LONG JAIL TERMS AND EXPENSIVE FINES) FOR PEOPLE WHO FAIL TO OBSERVE FIJI’S QUARANTINE LAWS. BRINGING FOOD, PLANT AND ANIMAL MATERIALS INTO FIJI WITHOUT DECLARING IT IS NOT ONLY ILLEGAL – IT IS DANGEROUS!
 

IMPORTATION OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS INTO FIJI
 

I) Small Animals

Small animals i.e. cats and dogs, may be imported directly into Fiji BY AIR only from the following countries:

• Australia
• Hawaii
• New Zealand

Please note there are no exceptions to this list. If you wish to import your animals from a country that is not listed, you may do so by first exporting the animals to one of the above countries, satisfying ALL their quarantine requirements and then applying to re-export the animals to Fiji from that country. All of Fiji’s quarantine requirements will then have to be fulfilled for importing from this country.

The conditions of importation including the period of quarantine differ for all of the countries listed above. It is a minimum of seven days if imported from Australia and New Zealand, and a minimum of thirty days if imported from Hawaii. All imported dogs and cats will be quarantined at the government Post-entry station located in Koronivia, near Nausori (Fiji). PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST HOME QUARANTINE AS THIS IS NOT PERMITTED.

If you wish to import a small animal, i.e. dogs and cats, into Fiji, the first step is to obtain an “APPLICATION TO IMPORT LIVE ANIMALS INTO FIJI” form from the office of the Director of Animal Health and Production in Fiji and or the Embassy of Fiji in Washington, DC. The phone operator or the typists will provide this form upon request.

Once you have obtained the form please fill it in and return it to the office of the Director of Animal Health and Production Division, Suva, Fiji, for processing. If the application is approved, an Import Permit will be issued together with the conditions of importation and other relevant information. Once you receive this, if you have queries, please contact a veterinary officer in the Animal Health and Production Division for assistance. Due to a shortage of veterinary staff in the Animal Health and Production, they are not available for consultation until you have reached this stage of the process.

For queries on the quarantine and other associated costs please contact the Quarantine section of the Animal Health & Production Division

Telephone : (679) 312512
Fax : +(679) 305043 or the;


Post-Entry Quarantine Station in Koronivia

Telephone : (679) 430317
Fax : (679) 400408; where the animals will be quarantined.


II) Large Animals

Large animals (cattle, horses, sheep and goats) may be imported from:

• Australia;
• New Zealand.

Cattle may be imported from New Caledonia.

Please note that the large animals may not be imported from countries other than the three listed above.

If you wish to import large animals into Fiji from one of the three countries listed above, the first step is to obtain an “APPLICATION TO IMPORT LIVE ANIMALS INTO FIJI” form from the office of the Director of Animal Health and Production. The phone operator or the typists will provide this form upon request.

Once you have obtained the form please fill it in and return it to the office of the Director of Animal Health and Production for processing. If the application is approved, an Import Permit will be issued together with the conditions of importation and other relevant information. Once you receive this, if you have queries, please contact a veterinary officer in the Animal Health and Production Division for assistance. Due to shortage of veterinary staff, they are not available for consultation until you have reached this stage of the process.

For queries on the quarantine and other associated costs please contact the Quarantine section of the Animal Health and Production Division:

Telephone: 312512
Fax : 305043 or the;

Nawaicoba Quarantine Station in Nadi, Fiji:

Telephone: 723014
Fax: 723014 where the animals will be quarantined.


III) Pet Birds

Import of birds is currently not permitted into Fiji.


IV) Poultry

Live chickens may only be imported from New Zealand. The first step in importing is to obtain an “APPLICATION TO IMPORT POULTRY INTO FIJI” form from the office of the Director of Animal Health and Production. The typists will provide this form upon request.

Once you have obtained the form please fill it in and return it to the office of the Director of Animal Health and Production Division for processing. If the application is approved, an Import Permit will be issued together with the conditions of importation and other relevant information. Once you receive this, if you have any queries, please contact a veterinary officer in the said Division for assistance. Due to shortage of veterinary staff, they are not available for consultation until you have reached this stage of the process.

V) Other Species of Animals

If you wish to import other species of animals not included in the list above, please obtain an “APPLICATION TO IMPORT LIVE ANIMALS INTO FIJI” form from the office of the Director of Animal Health and Production Division. The phone operator or the typists will provide this form upon request.

Once you have obtained the form please fill it in and return it to the office of the Director of Animal Health and Production. Such applications will be processed on a case-by-case basis.


VI) Small Animals Brought on Yachts

All animals brought into Fiji by yacht MUST REMAIN ON BOARD THE YACHT DURING THE ENTIRE DURATION of their stay in Fiji. It is an offense to permit the animals to leave the yacht at any stage while the yacht is in Fiji.

Please note that there is no minimum period of quarantine for such animals as Fiji does not permit these animals to leave the yachts at all, except to fly out of Fiji to another country.

In cases where the animals are to fly out, the animals must be on yachts that are neither at Vuda Marina or the Suva Yacht Club in Fiji. Fiji Quarantine officers will escort the animals from the yacht to a specified vehicle and transport them directly to Nadi Airport for transfer to the aircraft. All quarantine and associated costs are to be borne by the animal owner.

For details of quarantine and other associated costs please contact the Quarantine section of the Animal Health and Production Division

Telephone: 312-512
Fax: 305-043


WARNING
It is a serious offense to breach Fiji’s Quarantine Laws and Regulations.

Failure to observe all the quarantine laws and regulations of Fiji will result in animals being either destroyed or reshipped out of Fiji at the owner’s expense, AND prosecution of the owners.
 

SHIPMENT OF HUMAN REMAINS TO FIJI

Prior consent is required for shipment into Fiji of human remains. Consent will be obtained through the process below from the Doctor in Charge of health and quarantine services at the Nadi International Airport (telephone (679)-672 2362: fax 679 – 670 0563).

Process to get approval

The Shipper or Funeral Director will have to liaise directly with the airline from point of origin (i.e. local airline). The above will request the Airline for space and further provide information on the cause of death; age and all necessary certificates regarding the human remain.

The airline will then liaise directly with the International carrier in this case Air Pacific or Air New Zealand in Los Angeles. The International carrier will subsequently liaise with their counterpart in Fiji or the Air Terminal Services (handling agent) to get an authority for the human remain into Fiji. The carriers will advise Air Terminal Services the cause of death, age including the incoming flight details of the deceased and also phone contact of the consignee

Air Terminal Services will then advise the Health Authority in Fiji on all information pertaining the deceased. The Health Authority (which is the Doctor on Duty at Nadi International Airport) will in turn approve permit or reject the above entering the country. ATS will also contact the consignee for the deceased to ensure the above is collected on the day of arrival.

Requirements from the Funeral Directors

The remains must be accompanied by a certified copy of the death certificate and a statement by the local health authority at the place of death stating that the decedent did not die of a contagious disease. There also must be a notarised statement by the embalmer stipulating the embalming process and a notarised statement by the local health authority at the place of death that the embalming was carried out in accordance with standard US procedures.

The embalmed remains must be placed within a hermetically sealable container or casket, which in turn must be placed within an outer box constructed entirely of wood.

If the remains arrive in an unsatisfactory state, they will not be cleared through customs and health inspections and entry into the country will be refused. The casket remains will be returned to the point of origin at the sender’s expense.

fijihighcommission@btconnect.com with questions or comments about this web site.