DAFF’s stink bug measures apply to targeted goods shipped between 1 September and 30 April inclusive, and the date that counts is the shipped on board date on the bill of lading. For shipping from China to Australia that date sits on a document, not in the freight quote.
The date on the bill of lading sets the season
AQIS, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, was an operating group inside an earlier agriculture department, and the rules now sit with DAFF, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Its BMSB seasonal measures use the shipped on board date, and gate-in dates are not accepted, nor is container tracking as evidence of loading or sealing.
The tier decides how much the date costs. China is in the emerging risk tier for 2026-27, so eligible goods shipped from China can be picked for a random verification inspection without treatment unless BMSB is detected, and chapters 39, 94 and 95 join that random pool. Mandatory treatment lands on target high risk goods made in a target risk country, and that includes goods exported through China.
Target high risk goods in sealed hard-sided containers that arrive untreated are directed to onshore treatment at the container level, and break bulk, open top and flat rack cargo has no onshore option. Where in-container treatment will not work, DAFF’s arrival page gives export as one outcome and a secure unpack at a Class 4.7 site as the other, never as a first option. Untreated containerised goods that the importer sends for export may be moved to an approved arrangement site, with export within 7 days of arrival there. DAFF recommends offshore treatment because of the delay and cost of onshore work.
Timber packaging is checked separately, and timber found non-compliant with ISPM 15 is sent for treatment, export or destruction at the importer’s expense, and the BICON system lists what conditions a commodity carries.
Perth, Koala and the ANL notices
MSC’s Asia to Oceania presentation is undated and prints no unit, and its Wallaby table, read as days from Shanghai, gives 16 to Sydney, 21 to Melbourne and 26 to Brisbane.
MSC’s own wording for Koala is “only direct connection from China to Fremantle and Adelaide in the market” (a sailing search by port pair shows which services do call) and its table has Shanghai to Fremantle at 16, to Adelaide at 22 and to Melbourne at 25. Container News reported in March that the revised rotation runs Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Adelaide, Jakarta and back to Shanghai.
When Koala started in 2024, WAtoday reported that it cut shipment time to Western Australia from 30 days to 14. A C.H. Robinson director quoted in the same story put the direct run at 12 to 13 days from Shanghai, without any risk of hold-up or dwell time in a transhipment port, and the paper added that most services to Western Australia transship.
On 20 October ANL announced that Conti Crystal 641S/644N on the AAXS service would drop Fremantle “due to significant delays experienced recently through Australian ports”. The week before, its notices had OOCL Italy 158S/N dropping Melbourne and COSCO Hong Kong 210S/N dropping Sydney, again for congestion.
Fremantle had a weather problem of its own in September 2025, when the harbour master told agents that vessels at the inner anchorages would have to put to sea from 14 to 16 September, with exceptions decided case by case and towage and pilotage on the vessel’s account, according to the Daily Cargo News.
Brisbane and Melbourne: three services, three day counts
The same MSC presentation prints a table for each of its three China services, and the Brisbane and Melbourne columns differ by service. On Wallaby, Shanghai reads 26 to Brisbane and 21 to Melbourne, and Ningbo reads 23 and 18. Hong Kong reads 33 and 28 on the same string.
Panda from Shanghai reads 24 to Brisbane, 27 to Sydney and 31 to Melbourne, which is two days faster than Wallaby to Brisbane and ten to eleven days slower to Sydney and Melbourne. It starts further north, with Busan at 30 to Brisbane and Qingdao at 26, and it picks up Nansha at 17 and Yantian at 15. A Yantian box for Brisbane is 15 on Panda and 31 on Wallaby. The unit is again unprinted, and the numbers are read as days.
Melbourne is first on ANL’s China Australia Express, which ANL, COSCO and OOCL announced on 23 June as a weekly loop, with the first sailing from Qingdao on 27 July. Its rotation runs Qingdao, Shanghai, Shekou, Melbourne, Sydney and back to Qingdao. ANL says the loop gives the A3 product weekly double calls at Qingdao and Shekou and triple calls at Shanghai, and the notice prints no transit days. Brisbane is not on the ACX rotation, so a Brisbane box needs one of the other services.
What the border charges, and what it adds to GST
Under ChAFTA, DFAT says Australia’s tariffs on China’s exports were zero for 82 per cent from the start and reached 100 per cent on 1 January 2019. Goods seeking a ChAFTA preference must be accompanied by a certificate of origin or a declaration of origin, according to DFAT. The certificate comes from the General Administration of Customs or CCPIT, and the declaration is accepted for goods covered by an advance ruling on ChAFTA origin.
GST on shipping from China to Australia is 10 per cent of the value of the taxable importation, and that value adds duty, transport to the place of consignment and its insurance cost to the customs value.
Frequently asked questions
What does DAFF charge for a sea import declaration?
For 2026-27 the full import declaration charge by sea is AUD 71 per declaration, according to DAFF's fees and charges schedule. An inspection in the office during ordinary hours is AUD 42 per 15 minutes for each person. Treatment, inspection and clearance work is charged separately under the fee-for-service rates in the same schedule.
Does an importer pay duty and GST on a small order from China?
Often no border charge, but the sale can still be a taxable supply. The Australian Border Force says that for most goods valued at AUD 1,000 or less there are no duties, taxes or charges to pay. The Australian Taxation Office says such importations can be non-taxable at the border, yet the supply of low value goods can be a taxable supply if it is connected with Australia and the other taxable supply rules are met. Tobacco, alcohol and bulk orders are excluded from the low value treatment.