Can I Bring Chinese Medicine Into Australia? Not With Ganoderma

Can I Bring Chinese Medicine Into Australia?

It depends what is in it. Australia specifically prohibits traditional herbal medicines containing ganoderma fungus or cordyceps. Products with animal parts or CITES-listed species are also blocked, and raw herbs and seeds face plant biosecurity inspection. Declare every remedy on your Incoming Passenger Card.

Key restrictions

Traditional herbal medicines containing ganoderma fungus (lingzhi/reishi) or cordyceps are prohibited by name.

Products containing animal parts face seizure, and anything with a CITES-listed species is illegal to import.

Raw or dried herbs, roots, fungi and seeds are plant material and face biosecurity inspection regardless of the remedy.

Manufactured tablets and capsules with clearly labelled plant ingredients are the most likely form to clear.

Everything must be declared on the Incoming Passenger Card — both biosecurity and customs rules apply.

Why this matters

Most guidance on traditional Chinese medicine and the Australian border stops at "it depends on the ingredients", which is true and useless. Australia names two ingredients outright, and they happen to be two of the most common gift tonics: ganoderma fungus — sold as lingzhi or reishi — and cordyceps.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry lists "traditional herbal medicines containing ganoderma fungus or cordyceps" on its Lunar New Year do-not-bring list, alongside meat, eggs, dairy, fresh and dried fruit, and rice. If a remedy contains either, the answer is no before you get to any other question.

Both are fungi, and fungal material carries plant pathogens that Australian biosecurity treats as high risk. The prohibition follows the ingredient, not the packaging — a sealed box of lingzhi capsules is still a ganoderma product.

Restrictions

Prohibited by name: traditional herbal medicines containing ganoderma fungus (lingzhi, reishi) or cordyceps.
Blocked as animal products: remedies containing animal parts. Anything with a CITES-listed species — pangolin, tiger, seahorse, some deer products — is illegal to import, which is a customs matter, not just biosecurity.
Inspected as plant material: raw or dried herbs, roots, whole fungi and seeds, whatever the remedy claims to do. Seeds in particular are treated as planting material.
Most likely to clear: commercially manufactured tablets or capsules with a clear English ingredient list and none of the above.

Declare every remedy on the Incoming Passenger Card. Two separate regimes apply — biosecurity for the biological material and customs for restricted or prohibited substances — and the declaration is what starts the assessment rather than an infringement.

What the official guidance says

Under "Lunar New Year", the department's cultural and seasonal events guidance opens with the blunt line that common Lunar New Year gifts pose a high risk of introducing pests and diseases and that gifts should be purchased in Australia. Its do-not-bring list names meat products including chicken, beef and pork sausages whether fresh, frozen, dried, preserved or cured; whole eggs and products containing eggs; dairy products; fresh and dried fruit including citrus, persimmons, lychees and longans; other plant products including banana leaves and fresh bamboo shoots; traditional herbal medicines containing ganoderma fungus or cordyceps; and rice. That page was last updated on 1 July 2026.

For a remedy that is not obviously covered, check the Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) before travelling, and declare it regardless. New Zealand's rules differ in detail and are worth checking separately if you are travelling to both.

Frequently asked questions

Is lingzhi or reishi allowed into Australia?

No. Lingzhi and reishi are ganoderma, and the department's Lunar New Year guidance names traditional herbal medicines containing ganoderma fungus on its do-not-bring list. That applies whether the product is raw, sliced, powdered, or in a manufactured capsule.

What about cordyceps?

Also named on the same prohibited list. Cordyceps products are blocked alongside ganoderma, so a mixed tonic containing either is prohibited regardless of how much of it is in there.

Which Chinese medicine is most likely to clear?

Commercially manufactured tablets or capsules with a clear ingredient label in English, containing no ganoderma, no cordyceps, no animal parts and no raw plant material. Even then, declare it and let the officer confirm — clearance is never guaranteed in advance.

What about products with animal ingredients?

Animal-derived remedies face seizure as animal products, and any containing a CITES-listed species — pangolin scale, tiger bone, seahorse, certain deer products — are illegal to import, which is a customs offence rather than a biosecurity one.

Do I declare it if it is just tablets?

Yes. Medicines and herbal products are declarable on the Incoming Passenger Card. Declaring costs nothing if the product is permitted, and an undeclared prohibited remedy attracts an infringement notice on top of the seizure.