Dear expert,
I and my uncle from Sydney have visited a food packaging machine factory in Guangzhou recently and the factory is a member of Alibaba (http://goodjx.cn.alibaba.com).
My worry is I am not sure there is any restriction for importing the food packaging machine to Australia. The factory said they can tailor-make the product to fulfill Australian's user standard but they have no safety/CE certificate.
Can I go ahead with the purchase? Can the machine pass through the custom clearance in Sydney without these certificates?
Anyone who can advice is appreciated.
Headlight. The machine must meet Australian Standards and pass electrical safety tests. Under our laws, the material in any machine part which comes in contact with food or drinking water must be proved to not contain certain toxic compounds. Also, all electrical components and cords/plugs must be approved by a State electrical authority.
Customs likely won't stop the import but your troubles will start with Government health and industrial inspectors after you start using the machine. Plus your insurance will likely be voided in the case of workplace accidents with uncertified machinery which could bankrupt you.
You need to either commission a qualified engineer to advise you on Australian Standards concerning this machine or buy a more expensive one from an Australian distributor which is already approved for the workplace.
Quoting from [Aussie]:
Headlight. The machine must meet Australian Standards and pass electrical safety tests. Under our laws, the material in any machine part which comes in contact with food or drinking water must be proved to not contain certain toxic compounds. Also, all electrical components and cords/plugs must be approved by a State electrical authority.Customs likely won't stop the import but your troubles will start with Government health and industrial inspectors after you start using the machine. Plus your insurance will likely be voided in the case of workplace accidents with uncertified machinery which could bankrupt you.
You need to either commission a qualified engineer to advise you on Australian Standards concerning this machine or buy a more expensive one from an Australian distributor which is already approved for the workplace.
Dear Aussie,
Thanks for the advice.
Would you mind also telling me what standard in Australia are you referring to? In Europe it's CE marking. I will need to ask my supplier whether he can obtain the certificate.
Quoting from [Headlight]:Quoting from [Aussie]:
Headlight. The machine must meet Australian Standards and pass electrical safety tests. Under our laws, the material in any machine part which comes in contact with food or drinking water must be proved to not contain certain toxic compounds. Also, all electrical components and cords/plugs must be approved by a State electrical authority.Customs likely won't stop the import but your troubles will start with Government health and industrial inspectors after you start using the machine. Plus your insurance will likely be voided in the case of workplace accidents with uncertified machinery which could bankrupt you.
You need to either commission a qualified engineer to advise you on Australian Standards concerning this machine or buy a more expensive one from an Australian distributor which is already approved for the workplace.
yes, you must know what is the real certificate you needs. then the factory can do it or not.
Yours Clark
Dear Aussie,
Thanks for the advice.
Would you mind also telling me what standard in Australia are you referring to? In Europe it's CE marking. I will need to ask my supplier whether he can obtain the certificate.
Quoting from [hiclark]:
Quoting from [Headlight]:Quoting from [Aussie]:
Headlight. The machine must meet Australian Standards and pass electrical safety tests. Under our laws, the material in any machine part which comes in contact with food or drinking water must be proved to not contain certain toxic compounds. Also, all electrical components and cords/plugs must be approved by a State electrical authority.Customs likely won't stop the import but your troubles will start with Government health and industrial inspectors after you start using the machine. Plus your insurance will likely be voided in the case of workplace accidents with uncertified machinery which could bankrupt you.
You need to either commission a qualified engineer to advise you on Australian Standards concerning this machine or buy a more expensive one from an Australian distributor which is already approved for the workplace.
yes, you must know what is the real certificate you needs. then the factory can do it or not.
Yours Clark
Dear Aussie,
Thanks for the advice.
Would you mind also telling me what standard in Australia are you referring to? In Europe it's CE marking. I will need to ask my supplier whether he can obtain the certificate.
Yes, Clark and Aussie,
Pls advise what certificate is required for food packaging machine.
Thanks!
Quoting from [Headlight]: Would you mind also telling me what standard in Australia are you referring to? In Europe it's CE marking. I will need to ask my supplier whether he can obtain the certificate.
The standards are called "Australian Standards". These are published by Standards Australia Ltd and can be purchased over the internet from "SAI". There are tens of thousands of different standards for different products. In dealing with a food machine, you are also subject to State Government and local Council laws. Your machine, if it plugs into mains power, must also be tested for electrical safety.
As many as 10 standards might apply to one product such as your food packaging machine. You then have associated standards for food packing material/wrappers and premises and food storage and food transport, etc, etc.
You must get advice from qualified engineers to identify exactly which Standards and food and electrical laws apply to the machine you have in mind.
Copies of Australian Standards are not free. You must purchase these from someone like SAI. But, they will not tell you which Standards apply to your particular machine. It will take you months of research to figure this out by yourself if you don't wish to engage professional help.
Just one of the very many Standards which touches your machine, can be found for free here:
http://www.health.sa.gov.au/pehs/Food/3_2_3.pdf\\
However, you will likely run into serious trouble if you try to figure certification of your machine without hiring professional help. Putting aside the highly regulated food aspects, just the electrical side can be a nightmare for which you need specific approval from a State Government electrical authority.
The overall cost to you or to your supplier to get one electrical food packaging machine properly certified for use in Australia would be in the vicinity of $50k to $100k so you would not consider this unless you are setting up as an Importer/Distributor to sell many of these in Australia. That's why you don't see much cheap Chinese food processing machinery in Australia.
Replying to [Headlight]
<p>Power plug must be SAA approved. Material needs to be Australia RoHS compliant. I think that's the major concerns. <br/>
Some further information could be found at <a href="http://www.ides.com/articles/rohs_directive.asp">here<a/>
</p>