Hi. This may be a funny question, but has anyone had difficulty bringing chocolate into Australia? I looked on the quarantine website and it said that chocolates have to be declared. But, will I get them back? Has anyone had trouble with this? My husband and I are planning to bring a bunch of American candy for a family that we are visiting who requested it, but we don't want to have it all end up in an amnesty container.<BR><BR>Thanks.

Hi Rachel!<BR><BR>When we arrived in Sydney from Bangkok, we had a huge bar of chocolate we had only nibbled on taken away from us at quarantine and we never got it back.<BR><BR>I dont know whether this is the norm!!!<BR><BR>Karen

Hi Rachel,<BR>I live in Australia & whenever I come back from overseas I always seem to have chocolate as well as other food (such as wine, jams, mustards, oils etc) & always declare it & get nothing more than a cursory glance from customs officials before being waved through...I actually find it quicker going through the 'something to declare' lines as there's much less of a queue!!!!<BR>

I meant to also add I think customs are more interested in not letting through fruit/veges/meat or products made out of wood etc that could contain diseases or pests that could threaten our livestocks.

Hi, Rachel!<BR>I think that for reliable advice here you should contact your airline or the Australian Tourism office in your hometown. I always thought chocolates were okay to bring in, but maybe we've just been lucky. I think a lot depends on the individual inspector... on our last visit, he confiscated a packet of biscuits, saying "We'll have to keeep those", and then, when he had finished his search, he handed them back, with a smile, to one of my daughters! Maybe it pays to go through the gate with kids!<BR>One thing is for certain, Lucy's advice is spot on: even if you have nothing to declare, ALWAYS look through your bag and find something you think MIGHT be questionable, and then head straight for the "something to declare" gate with it in your hand. They will appreciate your forthrightness, and you will get through without waiting in the inevitable queue at the other gates. And I have a feeling you are MORE likely, not less, to be able to get your chocolates through if you declare them before they find them.

Thanks for the advice. I think that I'll telephone my airline and try to call the embassy here in NYC as well to ask. I really don't want to disappoint those kids .<BR><BR>

Rachel, I'm an Australian who just recently returned from holidays in the US. I was carrying some chocolates with wine filling (yum!) as a gift that I'd bought in the Napa Valley.<BR><BR>I "declared" it; went to the "Something to Declare" queue, the Customs officers just glanced at it and waved me through.<BR><BR>And the others are right - the "Something to Declare" line is MUCH quicker!