An import permit issued by the Department of Health is required to import kava into Australia. Check guidance on completing applications for a permit.
Refer to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for further information about Australia’s kava pilot and fact sheets on import requirements.
Check our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) for biosecurity import conditions and imported food safety requirements.
All biosecurity import conditions must be met before imported food safety requirements apply.
We classify imported food that presents a potential medium or high risk to public health as risk food. All risk food is listed in the Imported Food Control Order 2019.
Kava products are classified as risk food
Kava products are those permitted by Standard 2.6.3 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code as food for sale and are either:
- a beverage obtained by the aqueous suspension of kava (Piper methysticum) root using cold water only, and not using any organic solvent
- dried or raw kava (Piper methysticum) root. This includes
- kava root chips
- kava root powder
- whole kava root
Kava products must:
- not contain as an ingredient or a component any substance used as either a food additive or a processing aid
- be derived from the peeled root or peeled rootstock of a Noble variety of kava.
Kava in any other form to that described and permitted by Standard 2.6.3 is not permitted to be imported as food for sale or as an ingredient in food.
Kava products from New Zealand are subject to the Imported Food Inspection Scheme.
Community Protection (CP) question
You will need to answer this CP question when lodging your full import declaration:
IFIS: Are the goods, or do the goods contain, kava (Piper methysticum) for human consumption?
Inspection
We refer consignments of kava for inspection to conduct a visual and label assessment. Labelling must comply with Part 1.2 and Standard 2.6.3 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and country of origin labelling requirements.
Kava must be labelled with the warning statements:
- Use in moderation
- May cause drowsiness.
Details on requirements for kava products can be found in the food safety requirements case in BICON under ‘Kava products’.
Refer to our kava fact sheet for further information about import and labelling requirements.
Kava—Import and labelling requirements
If you have difficulty accessing these files, contact us for help.
Food safety risks
Food Standards Australia New Zealand published advice about the risk of kava. This food presents a potential medium or high risk to public health.
Version history
| Date | Amendment details |
|---|---|
| 02/03/2026 | Updated to remove exclusions for kava and kava products from New Zealand. From date of publication, kava from New Zealand is classified as risk food and subject to the Imported Food Inspection Scheme. |
| 20/04/2022 | Added hyperlinks to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Department of Health for more information on importing kava |
| 31/03/2022 | Updated definition of permitted kava products consistent with amendments to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code |
| 18/02/2022 | Clarified inclusions and labelling requirements |
| 25/01/2022 | Clarified inclusions and exclusions |
| 01/12/2021 | First version of the webpage published on website |