Indonesian Seafood to Australia: BICON Import Guide 2025

A step-by-step guide to importing cooked prawns from Indonesia to Australia in 2025. What BICON actually requires, which certificates DAFF accepts, how to avoid white spot-related holds, and how to classify products correctly.

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We’ve moved a lot of Indonesian seafood into Australia, and cooked prawns are where we see the most avoidable delays. The good news? When you follow BICON’s cooked prawn pathway precisely, clearance is straightforward. In our experience, 9 out of 10 border holds come down to two things: labels that say “blanched” instead of “cooked,” and heat-treatment proof that doesn’t actually prove anything. Let’s fix both.

The 3 pillars of a clean BICON outcome for cooked prawns

1. Choose the correct BICON case. Use “Prawns and prawn products for human consumption – cooked.” Do not use the raw or bait pathway.
2. Prove it’s fully cooked. Provide verifiable time-and-temperature evidence for each batch and make sure the label says “cooked.”
3. Match documents to the shipment. Batch numbers, species names, pack sizes, and product descriptions must align across the invoice, packing list, health certificate, and heat-treatment certificate.

Quick reality check. Australia’s DAFF still treats prawns as a white spot risk commodity in 2025. Cooked prawns clear far more smoothly than raw, but only when you can document the cooking step properly.

Week 1–2: Confirm eligibility in BICON and classify your product correctly

Here’s the exact path we use in BICON:

• Commodity: “Prawns and prawn products for human consumption – cooked.”
• End use: Human consumption.
• Country of origin: Indonesia.
• Product type: Cooked prawns/shrimp. Select the form that matches your goods (peeled and deveined, tail-on/off, breaded if fully cooked, etc.).

Do I need a BICON import permit for cooked Indonesian prawns in 2025?

For fully cooked prawns for human consumption, BICON typically does not require an import permit when all documentary conditions are met and verified. You still need to lodge in the Import Management System and your consignment will undergo documentary assessment (and often inspection), but a separate import permit is usually not required for cooked product. Always run your exact answer set through BICON before shipping, because DAFF periodically updates the conditions.

How do I classify peeled and deveined cooked prawns correctly in BICON?

Don’t classify by HS code alone. In the BICON tool, select the cooked prawn human-consumption pathway and then match your exact presentation:

• Peeled and deveined, tail-off: choose “cooked, peeled.”
• Peeled and deveined, tail-on: choose “cooked, peeled tail-on.”
• Breaded/battered: only use this if the prawn itself is fully cooked as part of the finished product. If the crumb is cooked but the prawn wasn’t heat-treated to BICON specs, DAFF treats it as uncooked risk.

Takeaway: If your label or commercial docs say “blanched,” “parboiled,” or “partially cooked,” the system will not treat it as cooked. Fix that at source.

Week 3–6: Lock in proof of cooking and the right certificates

This is where most importers stumble. DAFF will ask for documentary proof that the prawn meat is fully cooked and safe from white spot transmission.

What proof of cooking does DAFF accept for prawn imports?

Provide a batch-specific heat-treatment certificate or manufacturer declaration that includes:

• The words “cooked” and “for human consumption.” Avoid “blanched” or “parboiled.”
• Time and core temperature actually achieved during the cooking step. List the validated time/temperature combination, not just “boiled.”
• The monitoring method. Core temperature probe, sample size, and calibration reference of the thermometer.
• Batch/lot number(s), production date, product description, net weights, pack sizes.
• Confirmation that product was packed to prevent post-cook contamination.

In parallel, keep the internal cook logs that show probe readings by time stamp for each batch. You usually won’t need to submit the raw logs if your certificate is clear, but if there’s any doubt, DAFF may ask for them. We build a one-page “heat-treatment summary” for each shipment so the auditor can verify at a glance.

Does blanched shrimp count as cooked under BICON rules?

No. Blanching is not accepted as full cooking for BICON. If your label or certificate uses “blanched,” expect a hold. Update the process and documentation to a validated cooking step that meets BICON’s heat-inactivation settings for prawn viruses.

What should the Indonesian health certificate include for cooked prawns to Australia?

You’ll need an official health/export certificate issued by Indonesia’s competent authority for fish and fishery products (BKIPM/Barantan). In our experience, smooth clearance happens when the certificate includes:

• Species name (e.g., Litopenaeus vannamei or Penaeus monodon) and common name “prawns/shrimp.”
• Product form and state: “cooked,” peeled/deveined if applicable, frozen.
• Lot/batch numbers and production date that match the invoice and packing list.
• Statement that the product is safe for human consumption and produced under HACCP.
• Country of origin and establishment identification.

Tip: Pair this with a separate “prawn heat treatment certificate” from the plant that sets out the time/temperature details and thermometer calibration. Keeping them as two documents reduces re-issue risk if one needs an edit.

Are Indonesian plants required to be listed or approved to export cooked prawns to Australia?

For cooked prawns, DAFF does not maintain a public “approved plant list” the way it does for some meat commodities. However, the facility must be authorized by the Indonesian competent authority and operate under a recognized HACCP program. DAFF will assess compliance through documents and inspection. If you’re shipping raw prawns, that’s a different risk category with far stricter controls. This guide covers cooked only.

Will cooked prawns still be tested for white spot at the border?

Generally, no PCR testing is required for fully cooked prawns. DAFF focuses on documentary assessment and inspection to confirm the product is cooked, packaging is intact, and there’s no risk of cross-contamination. If documents are unclear or labels indicate partial cooking, sampling and testing can occur, which adds cost and delays.

Practical takeaway: Put the word “cooked” prominently on the master carton and inner packs. Keep it consistent across invoice, packing list, health certificate, and heat-treatment certificate.

Week 7–12: Ship, clear, then scale without surprises

Once your documentation is tight, clearance is usually predictable. Here’s how we keep it that way as volumes grow:

• Bundle your documents into one PDF with logical naming: 01 Invoice, 02 Packing List, 03 Health Certificate, 04 Heat-Treatment Certificate, 05 Labels. Auditors love clarity.
• Use consistent English descriptors on labels: “Cooked peeled deveined prawns, tail-on/off,” not marketing-only phrases.
• Maintain a calibration schedule for cooking thermometers and log it. If DAFF queries your process, having a calibration record is a lifesaver.

What’s interesting is that DAFF scrutiny has stayed elevated into late 2024 and 2025 due to white spot risk management. We don’t see that easing soon. The workaround isn’t a workaround. It’s solid paperwork plus a real, validated cook.

The 5 biggest mistakes that trigger border holds (and how to avoid them)

1. “Blanched” on any document or label. Fix: Use “cooked.” Align every document to that wording.
2. Vague heat statements. “Boiled until done” doesn’t fly. Fix: State exact time and core temperature achieved and the monitoring method.
3. Mismatched batch numbers across documents. Fix: Reconcile batch/lot numbers on the health certificate, heat certificate, and packing list before shipment.
4. Mixed products in one line item. Fix: Separate SKUs for tail-on vs tail-off, different sizes, or breaded vs unbreaded. Clarity reduces queries.
5. Post-cook contamination risk. Fix: Affirm in the certificate that cooked product was protected from recontamination and packed in a sealed food-grade environment.

Quick answers to the top questions we get

• Do I need a permit? For the cooked human-consumption pathway, usually no import permit when you meet all BICON conditions. Always confirm in BICON for your exact scenario.
• What proof of cooking is accepted? Batch-specific time/temperature records, thermometer calibration, product description, and a clear “cooked” statement on a heat-treatment certificate or manufacturer declaration.
• Does blanched count? No. DAFF treats blanching as insufficient.
• Health certificate wording? Include species, “cooked” product form, batch numbers, HACCP, origin, and alignment with commercial docs. Pair with a separate heat-treatment certificate.
• Plant approval? Indonesian competent-authority authorization and HACCP are expected. No separate DAFF plant listing for cooked prawns.
• White spot testing at border? Not usually for fully cooked product. Expect documentary and label checks.
• Classification in BICON? Use “Prawns and prawn products for human consumption – cooked” and then choose the exact presentation that matches your goods.

If you want a practical template, we can share our one-page “Heat Treatment Summary” that DAFF officers understand at a glance. Need help tailoring it to your process? You can Contact us on whatsapp and we’ll send a draft with the fields DAFF asks about most often.

When this advice applies (and when it doesn’t)

• Applies: Frozen, fully cooked prawns from Indonesia intended for human consumption. Peeled or unpeeled. Tail-on/off. Breaded if fully cooked.
• Doesn’t apply: Raw prawns, bait, pet food, semi-processed items where the prawn itself wasn’t heat-treated to BICON settings. Those follow different rules, often with permits and testing.

If you’re building a cooked prawn line for the Australian market, we can produce to spec and pack under your brand. See our formats under Frozen Shrimp (Black Tiger, Vannamei & Wild Caught). We routinely supply cooked PD and PDTO vannamei aligned with Australian documentation expectations.

Resources and next steps

• Run your exact scenario in BICON: choose the cooked human-consumption pathway and print the outcome for your file.
• Align your label set to say “cooked” and match documents line by line.
• Prepare a batch-level heat certificate plus logs and calibration proof.

Questions about your current labels or certificate wording? We’re happy to review a draft before you book space. View our products to see standard specs we can produce for Australia, or just Contact us on whatsapp if you need a quick check on BICON conditions for your SKU.

Final thought. BICON can feel bureaucratic, but once you align your process to those three pillars, cooked prawns from Indonesia move cleanly. And when DAFF sees consistent, accurate paperwork from you shipment after shipment, clearance speeds up. That’s been our experience across dozens of consignments—and it’s why buyers keep scaling their programs with us.