BICON import conditions for coconut shell charcoal: no DAFF permit on the commercially packaged pathway

By Mohamad Sinno · Reviewed by Budi Hartanto, shipping specialist · Updated 10 August 2026

A DAFF import permit is not required for commercially packaged charcoal with a producible ingredients list

Coconut shell charcoal reaches a BICON pathway where “A Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry import permit is not required” — provided the goods are commercially packaged, an ingredients list is producible, and the use is not animal feed or fertiliser. Case effective 30 July 2026.

BICON's conditions, not a blanket rule, decide it. The resolved pathway prints as “Not for use as animal feed or fertiliser - Charcoal - Able to produce an ingredients list and goods are commercially packaged”, with the qualifier “For all uses other than as animal foods, fertilisers or for growing purposes.” Miss one condition and the biosecurity requirements are another branch's. Biosecurity is half of importing charcoal to Australia; customs duty and GST are the other.

The case is “Plant derived charcoal, wood pellets, briquettes and firewood”, effective 30 July 2026

The case description, read on BICON 8 August 2026, ends: it “also applies to fully carbonised charcoal in all forms made from wood or other plant material.” DAFF's commodity definition names coconut shell in that class, putting this product inside the case: “Fully carbonised charcoal includes carbonised briquettes and pellets made from compressed wood, charcoal, lump wood charcoal (which is fully carbonised timber, coconut shell, bamboo or any plant derived origin), extruded charcoal and heat beads.” Cases are versioned: re-run the BICON lookup at elementID 0000106040, elementVersionID 230, and check the case effective date.

Three pathway questions produce the answer

Yes, No and Charcoal, in that order, reach the pathway above. A loose search returns mostly unrelated cases, so work the sequence:

1. “Are you able to produce an ingredients list and are the goods commercially packaged?” — Yes.
2. “Will the product be used for animal feed or fertiliser?” — No.
3. “Which of the following best describes the goods?” — Charcoal. The alternatives are Firewood and “Wood pellets or briquettes”.

Question 3 for a briquette: why this walkthrough answers “Charcoal”

A coconut shell charcoal briquette arguably fits either answer. This walkthrough took Charcoal because the definition above places carbonised briquettes made from coconut shell inside the fully carbonised class — a reading, not the only possible answer. We did not retrieve the conditions attaching to the alternative “Wood pellets or briquettes” answer, so this page cannot compare the two branches. A broker or biosecurity agent can reach that branch in a browser.

Four conditions must be met before the consignment arrives

Four conditions attach before arrival, all documentary or physical. A manufacturer's declaration, commercial invoice, product label or supplier's declaration each satisfies the ingredient details. These are the import conditions charcoal must meet:

• “All consignments of charcoal must be accompanied by commercial documentation (e.g. invoice, manufacturer's declaration or label) that describes the product and lists the ingredients.”
• “All consignments of charcoal must be commercially packaged.”
• “The goods must be clean and free of bark, insects and other biosecurity risk material prior to arrival in Australian territory.”
• “Any packaging used with the consignment must be clean and new.”

BICON's declaration wording is a template, insert-marker included: “The <<insert product name>> has been packaged in commercial packaging.”

The timber-packaging rules bind the pallets, not the charcoal

Solid timber or bamboo, pallets and dunnage included, “must be treated and declared on the packing declaration”; untreated, it “will require a mandatory treatment when it arrives in Australia … or may be exported or disposed of at the importer's expense.” DAFF words the two container documents differently: a cleanliness declaration “is required for all containerised cargo imported into Australia”, while the packing declaration reads “Provide … a packing declaration to facilitate clearance” — withhold it and the container is inspected at an Approved Arrangement premises. Non-commodity concerns sit under their own case.

Our 20 ft is always floor-loaded, without pallets, so it presents no timber packaging to declare. The 40 ft is the only equipment taking pallets — ISPM-15 marked, 100 × 120 cm, 20 per container — and floor loading is preferred even there. The mark records a pallet treatment, not a certification we hold.

Inspection on arrival is discretionary, not automatic

An onshore inspection “may be conducted to verify freedom of biosecurity risk material”. Where “biosecurity risk material (BRM) is found, consignments will be treated according to the Contamination Treatment Guide”, and the department releases them “once all of the import requirements have been met.” DAFF's “random surveillance on all types of cargo” targets timber packaging compliance, not this cargo. Country Action List cargo draws a “mandatory six-sided inspection”; Indonesia's CAL entry reads “Indonesia (province of Papua only)”, and this factory is in Bogor. Fees are payable under the Biosecurity Regulation 2016; no amount is stated.

When this answer stops applying

These BICON import conditions hold on one branch, inside one regime. Five boundaries:

• Branch scope. No ingredients list, no commercial packaging, or an animal feed, fertiliser or growing use puts the consignment on another branch — a permit application, not this page.
• Currency. This is the case effective 30 July 2026, elementVersionID 230; re-run the lookup.
• BMSB seasonal measures. Chapter 44 goods “are subject to seasonal measures … if they are shipped between 1 September and 30 April (inclusive)”, dated by the bill of lading's shipped-on-board date, not gate-in. A second trigger is the vessel: berthing or transhipping at a target risk country inside the window. Read 10 August 2026, Indonesia is not among the 41 entries on DAFF's list, which is reviewed each season.
• A separate regime. A resolved BICON pathway settles biosecurity conditions only, not dangerous-goods carriage: Coco Reina declares and ships its coconut shell charcoal as UN 1361, Class 4.2, Packing Group III.
• Not customs. Biosecurity is not duty, GST or tariff classification.