Taking Food to Tonga: What You Need to Know

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Tips for Taking Food to Tonga

Whatever food you decide to take to Tonga, here are some tips we recommend for taking it:

• Declare on your Passenger Arrival Card if you are taking any food to Tonga, even if you think it is allowed
• Write a list of all of the food you are bringing into Tonga, so you can show it to Customs and Quarantine officers on arrival – this makes for a much quicker and easier process
• Pack food in your check-in luggage; not your carry-on, as many foods are not allowed through airport security
• Make sure all of your food is commercially packaged and clearly states the country of origin for a more seamless import process
• For restricted food imports like fruit and meat, make sure you also have the receipt as proof of purchase (see below).

For some general tips for your trip to Tonga, check out the 30 Tips for Travelling in Tonga.

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What Food Can You Bring to Tonga?

The good news is that arrival passengers can bring a wide variety of food into Tonga, whether it’s cheese, chocolate or a packet of your favourite chips. You can even bring alcohol to Tonga, as long as the quantity doesn’t exceed the duty-free allowance.

The conditions for most food imports by air passengers is that they must be commercially packaged and clearly state the country of origin – so this is a good rule to go by when choosing food to take with you to Tonga. Note that you must still declare all food you wish to bring into Tonga and Quarantine officers may still inspect food, even if it’s permitted.

There are some foods, however, that have certain restrictions, such as meat and fruit. Learn more about these restrictions in the sections below.

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The Meat You Can Take to Tonga (with Restrictions)

Arrival passengers can bring meat to Tonga, as long as it meets certain criteria and they pay an inspection fee. As well as being commercially prepared and packaged in unbroken packaging and accompanied by the receipt as proof of purchase, most meat must be from either Australia, New Zealand or the United States to go through Quarantine.

Although you can legally bring the below list of meat into Tonga, as long as it is for personal use and not for resale, you still must declare it. Quarantine officers will still inspect the food mentioned and charge a consignment fee, which ranges from TOP$13.80 to TOP$19.55.

The maximum quantity of meat products which may be imported must not exceed 20 kg (44 lbs) per person.

• Beef/venison/buffalo (e.g. sausage, luncheon, saveloy, meat, hot dogs, frankfurts, pies) can be cooked or uncooked including frozen, smoked, salted, dried and chilled. The country of origin must be Australia, New Zealand, the US or Vanuatu.
• Poultry (e.g. turkey, duck, chicken, ostrich and in the form of carcasses, pieces, sausage, luncheon meat, frankfurts and offal) can be cooked or uncooked including frozen, smoked, dried and chilled. The country of origin must be Australia, New Zealand or the US.
• Pig meats (e.g. ham, sausage, bacon, saveloy, luncheon meat, hot dogs, pies, salami and frankfurters) can be frozen or cooked from Australia, New Zealand or the US, or chilled ONLY can come from Australia or New Zealand.
• Sheep and goat meats (e.g. mutton and lamb) can be cooked or uncooked including frozen, smoked, salted, dried and chilled. The country of origin must be Australia or New Zealand.
• Sheep offal must be frozen or cooked. The country of origin must be Australia, New Zealand or the US.
• Milk products (e.g. yoghurt, cheese, milk, ice cream and UHT products) must be commercially packaged. The country of origin must be Australia, New Zealand or the US.

Note that meat from Samoa and Fiji is prohibited.

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The Fruit You Can Take to Tonga (with Restrictions)

Arrival passengers can bring New Zealand fruit to Tonga only. Fruit must be accompanied by receipts to prove that they were purchased in New Zealand. You must still declare New Zealand fruit on your Tonga Passenger Arrival Card. There is a limit of 20 kg (44 lbs) of New Zealand fruit per passenger.

Note that all other fresh fruit is prohibited from being imported into Tonga. Passengers found with fruit from other countries, including Australia, will likely have it confiscated and destroyed.

Fruit permitted to enter Tonga from New Zealand only:

• Apple (fresh fruit)
• Avocado (fresh fruit)
• Balsam pear
• Blueberry
• Cape gooseberry
• Cardoon
• Citrus (fresh fruit)
• Cranberry (fresh fruit)
• Currant (fresh fruit)
• Feijoa (fresh fruit)
• Grape (fresh fruit)
• Nashi fruit (fresh fruit)
• Olive
• Pear (fresh fruit)
• Nectarine (fresh fruit)
• Kiwifruit (fresh fruit)
• Pepino (pear melon)
• Persimmon (fresh fruit)
• Apricot (fresh fruit)
• Peach (fresh fruit)
• Cherry (fresh fruit)
• Strawberry (fresh fruit)
• Cumquat (kumquat) (fresh fruit)
• Lemon (fresh fruit)
• Mandarin (fresh fruit)
• Orange (fresh fruit)
• Plum (fresh fruit)
• Satsuma mandarin (fresh fruit)
• Citrus Seville orange (fresh)
• Lychee (fresh fruit)
• Mango (fresh fruit).

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What Food Can You Not Take to Tonga (Without a Permit)?

By this point, you’re probably wondering what food isn’t allowed in Tonga. The food that you cannot bring into Tonga without an import permit includes but is not limited to:

• Meat (unless from New Zealand, Australia, the US or Vanuatu depending on the type of meat)
• Fruit (unless from New Zealand)
• Vegetables
• Honey
• Herbs
• Seeds

Some of the food listed above may be allowed into Tonga with an import permit. Otherwise, you will likely be asked to either lodge an application for import, abandon the item, re-export the item, or the item will be destroyed at your expense. Note that you will not be entitled to re-export the item if you did not declare it.