Case Glossary

The Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods) Determination 2016 defines animal tissue as follows:

Animal tissue does not include:

1. a living animal; or
   

2. any of the following, if without adhering tissue:
   

   2.1. skin;
   

   2.2. hide;
   

   2.3. wool;
   

   2.4. hair;
   

   2.5. bristles;
   

   2.6. feathers;
   

   2.7. tusks;
   

   2.8. teeth;
   

   2.9. antlers;
   

   2.10. horn;
   

   2.11. glue pieces;
   

   2.12. bones.
   

Goods include:

1. An animal.

2. A plant.

3. Any other article, substance or thing (including, but not limited to, any kind of moveable property); and, to avoid doubt, includes mail of any kind and ballast water.

The department will assess the application and on the basis of that assessment may decide to grant an import permit subject to any conditions deemed necessary for safe importation, use and disposal of those products.

It should be noted that applying for an import permit does not automatically result in an import permit being issued. The Director of biosecurity or their delegate issues the import permit. You should ensure that an application is submitted for each product type and that the prescribed fee accompanies the import permit application.

Taxidermy - The process involving preparing stuffing and mounting the hides, skins, skulls, horns, etc of dead animals for display in a lifelike state or form.

Fully processed - Hides/skins that have undergone both liming and acid pickling. This includes fully tanned hides and skins, wet whites and wet blues.

Tanning - Process that strengthens the cross linkage bonds between collagen fibres and renders the fibres resistant to putrefaction. The most common method involves the use of chromium salts (used for rugs, mats, blankets, etc). At the end of tanning, the pH is typically about 3.5

Wet blues - Hides/skins that have been lightly or fully chrome tanned but have not yet been dried. These types of hides/skins are considered to be fully processed.

Wet whites - Hides/skins are alum sulphate pre-tanned skins. They have been limed and pickled only. These types of hides/skins are considered to be fully processed.

Partially processed - Hides/skins that have undergone either a liming process or acid pickling but not both.

Liming or lime/alkaline - Process that uses an alkaline medium to loosen cross linkages between collagen fibres for the tanning salts to enter the tissue. Also raises the pH throughout the thickness of the skin, usually above a pH of 12.

Acid pickling - Process that reduces the pH of the hides/skins prior to tanning, usually to a pH of 4 or lower. This type of solution is commonly used for storing hides/skins for several years as the properties of the solution act as a preservative.

Unprocessed - Hides/skins have not undergone liming or acid pickling. See also Rawhide.

Raw hides - Hides/skins that have not undergone processing beyond drying or salting.

Salting - Short-term preservation of skins immediately after slaughter so that they may be stored and transported. This is not a process that destroys viruses or bacterial spores, but inhibits the growth of putrefactive bacteria in the skin.

Untanned - Hides/skins that have had no processing, or which are partially processed but not tanned.