AQIS and the Cleaning of Man.
Because of Australia's unique flora and fauna the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) are extremely demanding!
"All vehicles must be thoroughly cleaned, both internally and externally before arrival in Australia. It is the importer's responsibility to ensure each consignment is clean and free of all quarantine risk material (QRM), including live insects, seeds, soil, mud, clay, animal faeces, animal material, plant material such as straw, twigs, leaves, roots, bark, food refuse and other debris prior to arrival in Australia. For the purposes of this import condition, 'clean' means 'clean as new'."
This page is a summary of, and an index to, the cleaning of Man (my Bimobil EX480 expedition campervan). Even though Man is a relatively new vehicle and has not (yet) been to many countries the process of cleaning it inside and out "as new" has taken more than 130 hours!
- Wheels and Tyres. (9 Hours)
- Rear Storage Boxes. (5 Hours)
- Wheel arches and mud guards. (7 Hours)
- Air Filter. (3 Hours)
- Toilet. (5 Hours)
- Gas Locker. (1 Hour)
- Table Locker. (2 Hours)
- Battery Compartment. (3 Hours)
- Underrun Bar. (1 Hour)
- Water and Water Tanks. (2 Hours)
- Engine and Under Cab. (6 Hours)
- Cab Interior. (10 Hours)
- Dirty Things.
- The Roof. (6 Hours)
- Storage Locker. (4 Hours)
- The Cabin Interior. (16 Hours)
- Fumigation and Insects. (2 Hour)
- Outside, Windows and Doors. (6 Hours)
- Electric Steps. (7 Hours)
- The Chassis. (30 Hours)
The best source of detailed information I found about how to clean a vehicle destined for Australia was this one prepared for the Australian military. (Read, weep and think hard if you really want to take your vehicle to Oz!).
Note: If you were wondering if I had someone standing around all the time taking photographs, no I didn't. I often just set my camera up on a tripod to take one photograph every 10 seconds and selected the best shots afterwards.