Coronavirus: undeclared shipments of hand sanitiser rising, but could land you in jail for seven years

Bulk amounts of hand sanitiser have been discovered in undeclared airfreight as virus fears grow.

Many businesses are now providing hand sanitiser as anxiety over coronavirus rises. Picture: Getty Images

Authorities have swooped on two attempts to smuggle almost 1500 litres of hand sanitiser out of Australia in the latest twist in a round of coronavirus-induced panic buying that has seen staples such as toilet paper and rice stripped from supermarket shelves.

The attempts to smuggle the hand sanitiser out of the country emerged as supermarket giant Woolworths warned it may have to restrict sales of more items if they were subject to panic buying after this week placing limits on the sale of hand sanitiser, toilet rolls and large bags of rice.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said it had been made aware of people trying to fly large, undeclared shipments of hand sanitiser overseas, in a move that could land them in jail for seven years. Inspections of aircraft freight in Melbourne revealed two undeclared shipments of hand sanitiser — one of 460 litres and another of 1000 litres.

It was also understood there have been numerous attempts to send hand sanitiser through the post, but these have been intercepted by Australia Post before being loaded on to aircraft.

The coronavirus has sparked panic buying in supermarkets around the world.

People have also tried to ship staples out of the country, with Australian toilet paper surfacing as far afield as Tokyo Airport.

Coronavirus panic has sparked angry scenes in supermarkets. A man was tasered by police in Tamworth in a dispute over empty supermarket shelves and a knife was pulled in a separate dispute in a supermarket toilet paper aisle in Parramatta in Sydney’s west.

Woolworths has limited customers to four packs of toilet paper per transaction and large packs of rice (2kg and over) to one per transaction. Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said toilet paper manufacturers had ramped up production “to meet this very unusual demand”.

Mr Banducci said the makers of Kleenex was now manufacturing 24/7 at its Millicent, SA, factory, as was Sorbent in its NSW and Victorian facilities. Quilton had trip­led production across its fac­tories in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia.

Woolworths has placed hand sanitisers behind its customer service desk and limited customers to two per transaction.

The hand sanitiser shipments came to the attention of authorities because it is regarded as a dangerous good due to it being 75 per cent ethanol and considered highly flammable. As such, the product must be consigned as a dangerous good using a freight-forwarding company.

A CASA spokesman said hand sanitiser could still be carried by airline passengers both on board or in checked luggage, in limited quantities.

“Anyone carrying hand sanitiser is restricted to a maximum of two litres, in containers of no more than half a litre each,” he said. “They must also ensure the release valve is protected by a cap or other suitable means, to prevent the inadvertent release of the contents.”

The spokesman said CASA would urge people not to try to send hand sanitiser overseas by post, or as undeclared freight.

“It is a safety risk to aircraft and those on board,” he said.