Tweet
Over the recent weeks, many have bemoaned the loss of their meat products which they had brought from abroad (mainly New Zealand) and were destroyed by the Quarantine Department because they did not comply with its requirements.
These regulations have been around for years but the increasing risks of diseases like the mad-cow disease and bird-flu being transferred across borders has made it necessary to enforce these regulations. The lack of equipment to detect such diseases should it arrive at our borders deems it necessary to ensure meat importers comply with these requirements.
So if you are considering bringing meat to Tonga, you must ensure that you adhere to these requirements. Failure to do so is not only economically costly for you but can be a cause of a lot of frustration when you are informed upon arrival that your meat products will be destroyed.
Bringing meat as part of your luggage
If you are bringing meat into Tonga as part of your luggage, you must comply with the following:
1.A maximum of 20 kilograms of meat
2.Meat must still be in its commercial packaging from the butcher or supplier in the foreign country you bought it from. (This means you cannot remove the meat products, e.g. sausages from the plastic containers or plastic wrappers they came in from the butcher, and put them loose in the chilli-bin or container).
3.Bring with you the receipt of your purchase (the receipt from the butcher or the supplier).
4.If you have more than 20 kilograms of meat, this will be treated as commercial importing and you will have to adhere to the requirements for commercial import of meat products.
Commercial import of meat products:
You must comply with the following:
1.Import permit: Get an import permit from the Quarantine Division of the Ministry of Agriculture. Quarantine Division?s Office is at Queen Salote Wharf and costs TOP$4.60. (This means if you are overseas, you have to ask your relatives/friends in Tonga to get the import permit on your behalf and fax it to you)
2.Health certificate: You can get this from suppliers or butchers who are registered to export meat products. This means you have to buy your meat products from the registered supplier and be issued with a health certificate. (Tonga-Now understands you have to pay for the health certificate).
3.Meat products to be packed in their commercial packaging (the packaging that they came in from the butcher or supplier).
Sending meat products to Tonga via cargo companies:
If you are sending your meat products via cargo companies, you must follow the requirements for Commercial import of meat products above.
These regulations have been around for years but the increasing risks of diseases like the mad-cow disease and bird-flu being transferred across borders has made it necessary to enforce these regulations. The lack of equipment to detect such diseases should it arrive at our borders deems it necessary to ensure meat importers comply with these requirements.
So if you are considering bringing meat to Tonga, you must ensure that you adhere to these requirements. Failure to do so is not only economically costly for you but can be a cause of a lot of frustration when you are informed upon arrival that your meat products will be destroyed.
Bringing meat as part of your luggage
If you are bringing meat into Tonga as part of your luggage, you must comply with the following:
1.A maximum of 20 kilograms of meat
2.Meat must still be in its commercial packaging from the butcher or supplier in the foreign country you bought it from. (This means you cannot remove the meat products, e.g. sausages from the plastic containers or plastic wrappers they came in from the butcher, and put them loose in the chilli-bin or container).
3.Bring with you the receipt of your purchase (the receipt from the butcher or the supplier).
4.If you have more than 20 kilograms of meat, this will be treated as commercial importing and you will have to adhere to the requirements for commercial import of meat products.
Commercial import of meat products:
You must comply with the following:
1.Import permit: Get an import permit from the Quarantine Division of the Ministry of Agriculture. Quarantine Division?s Office is at Queen Salote Wharf and costs TOP$4.60. (This means if you are overseas, you have to ask your relatives/friends in Tonga to get the import permit on your behalf and fax it to you)
2.Health certificate: You can get this from suppliers or butchers who are registered to export meat products. This means you have to buy your meat products from the registered supplier and be issued with a health certificate. (Tonga-Now understands you have to pay for the health certificate).
3.Meat products to be packed in their commercial packaging (the packaging that they came in from the butcher or supplier).
Sending meat products to Tonga via cargo companies:
If you are sending your meat products via cargo companies, you must follow the requirements for Commercial import of meat products above.
