Australian packaging and labelling rules aren't complicated, but they're easy to get wrong if nobody tells you what to watch out for. This guide covers exactly what you need to know before your next shipment leaves China.
For years, I've watched Aussie business owners nail the sourcing side of things — great price, solid supplier, decent quality — only to get completely blindsided when their goods arrive at the Australian border with the wrong labelling. Sometimes it's a missing country of origin. Sometimes the instructions are only in Mandarin. Sometimes there's no safety marking that Australian law requires.
The result? Goods held up at customs. Re-labelling costs. Fines. Lost sales. And a very bad Monday morning.
Here's the truth: Australian packaging and labelling rules aren't complicated, but they are easy to get wrong if nobody tells you what to watch out for. This guide covers exactly what you need to know before your next shipment leaves China.
In Australia, labelling isn't just about looking professional on the shelf. It's a legal obligation. The Australian Border Force (ABF), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and various product-specific regulators all have a say in what needs to appear on your product before it can be legally sold.
Get it wrong, and the consequences range from annoyance (re-labelling at the warehouse) to serious (penalties under Australian Consumer Law, or goods that cannot legally be sold at all).
The good news: if you know the rules before you place your order, it costs almost nothing to get it right. You brief your supplier, they adjust the packaging, done. The problems start when you find out at the wrong end of the supply chain.
This is the one that catches the most importers out, and it's one of the simplest to fix.
Under Australia's Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations, goods imported in packages that are customarily sold must be clearly marked with the country in which they were manufactured. So if your product is made in China, the label needs to say "Made in China" in prominent, legible characters.
For food products, the rules are even stricter. The country of origin food labelling system (introduced in 2016 and still fully in effect) requires clear, standardised labelling showing where food was grown, produced, made, or packaged. This includes a bar chart showing the proportion of Australian ingredients.
Practical tip: Brief your Chinese supplier early. "Made in China" or "Product of China" needs to be printed directly on the product or its packaging — not just on a separate sticker added later.
For most consumer goods, you'll also need to include the Australian importer's name and address on the packaging. This applies especially to goods regulated under mandatory safety standards — think children's products, electrical goods, and cosmetics.
If you're importing under your own brand, this is usually your business name and registered address. If you're importing products to resell under someone else's brand, make sure this requirement is sorted before goods leave the factory.
Products sold in Australia must have any safety-critical information and mandatory disclosures in English. Chinese-only instructions are not acceptable for most consumer goods — particularly anything that involves safety warnings, usage instructions, or ingredient lists.
This doesn't mean the entire label needs to be in English, but all required information must be legible and in English. For toys, children's products, and electrical items especially, this is non-negotiable.
The ACCC maintains a list of mandatory product safety standards in Australia. These are legal requirements — not guidelines. If your product falls under one of these categories, it must meet the relevant standard before it can be sold in Australia.
Some of the most common categories for importers include:
You can check the full list of mandatory standards on the ACCC Product Safety website at productsafety.gov.au.
Food imports are regulated under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (managed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand — FSANZ). Requirements include ingredient lists, allergen declarations, nutrition information panels, best-before or use-by dates, and country of origin labelling. If you're importing any food product, this is a separate, detailed compliance exercise in its own right.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulates therapeutic goods — products that make therapeutic claims. Standard cosmetics (making only cosmetic claims) don't require TGA registration, but must still comply with labelling rules including INCI ingredient lists, warnings, and the Australian importer details.
If your product crosses into the therapeutic space — say, a sunscreen with SPF 50+, or a skin treatment making claims about healing or treating a condition — it requires TGA approval, which is a whole different process.
All electrical and electronic goods sold in Australia must carry the RCM mark. This shows the product complies with relevant electrical safety and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standards. Before your goods can legally enter the Australian market, you need to either have the product tested and certified, or use a recognised certification from a country with a mutual recognition agreement.
This is an area where a good sourcing agent earns their keep. Getting the RCM certification sorted in China — before goods ship — is far cheaper and faster than dealing with it at the border.
Products covered by the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) require specific Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and labelling in accordance with the Globally Harmonised System (GHS) of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals.
Here's the short version: it ranges from frustrating to very expensive.
At the border, the Australian Border Force can detain or seize goods that don't meet labelling requirements. In some cases, goods can be re-labelled under Customs supervision (at your cost) and then released. In other cases, goods that fail to meet mandatory safety standards may be prohibited from entering altogether.
Once goods are in the market, the ACCC can issue recalls, fines, or injunctions for products that breach mandatory standards. Under Australian Consumer Law, supplying goods that don't meet mandatory standards is an offence.
And beyond the legal risk — there's the reputational damage. If your product gets flagged or recalled, that story follows your brand.
The best approach is to build compliance into your sourcing brief from day one. When you're working with a Chinese supplier, clearly specify:
Get packaging artwork signed off with your sourcing partner before production begins, not after.
If you're not sure which mandatory standards apply to your product, the ACCC Product Safety website and the ABF's importer guide are both solid starting points. Alternatively, a good sourcing agent who understands Australian compliance can help you map requirements before your first order.
Most established Chinese manufacturers who export regularly already know the drill. They've dealt with EU CE marks, US CPSC requirements, and Australian RCM certification for years. What they need from you is clear direction.
The challenge comes with smaller or newer suppliers who predominantly serve the domestic Chinese market. These manufacturers may not know Australian labelling rules and may not flag potential compliance issues proactively.
This is one of the reasons many Australian businesses choose to work with a dedicated China sourcing agency rather than going direct on Alibaba. An experienced sourcing partner knows what to specify in the product brief, what questions to ask during supplier qualification, and how to build compliance checks into the quality control process before goods leave the factory.
For a deeper look at why professional sourcing support makes sense, check out our guide on why you should use a sourcing agent when importing from Asia.
Australian packaging and labelling compliance isn't as scary as it sounds — but it does require attention to detail before production begins, not after goods arrive at the wharf.
The core things to sort out for every product:
The golden rule: brief your supplier at the start of the sourcing process, include compliance specifications in your purchase order, and don't assume because a product is already exported to Europe or the US that it automatically meets Australian requirements. The rules are different here, and that matters.
If you're importing products to Australia and want to make sure your packaging, labelling, and compliance is sorted before your goods ship — give us a bell. At Epic Sourcing, we've helped hundreds of Aussie businesses get their imports right from the ground up.
Check out our OutSource and SecretSource services to see how we can take the compliance headache off your plate.
Or if you want to dive deeper into the sourcing process, our free ebook "How to Import Products from China from Verified Suppliers" is a great place to start.
G'day and good importing!
— The Epic Sourcing Team
