Akamai Arrival Declaration Form: How to File It

The Akamai Arrival declaration form is the digital version of Hawaii’s Plants and Animals Declaration Form. State law requires travelers flying in from the continental U.S. to file the declaration, even if they have nothing to declare, and you can submit it up to 5 days before your scheduled departure. One adult can usually cover a family on one form.

This guide shows who files it, what to tick, and what happens after you land. It also has the penalties printed on the form, the state’s pilot results (74% compliance on digital, against 60% on paper), a list of restricted plants, and a planner that counts the forms your group needs.

What the Akamai Arrival declaration form is

The paper card and the online form do the same job. Both tell inspectors what plants, animals and other living material you are bringing in. The state created the declaration in 1973 to protect native species and farm production. The official site, akamaiarrival.hawaii.gov, is run for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.

That agency name is recent. Act 236 renamed the Hawaii Department of Agriculture as the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, effective 1 July 2025. Older cards and web pages may still show the old name. It is the same declaration.

People search for this document under many names: the Hawaii agriculture form, the ag form, the Hawaii form before landing, or the “form C-6”. The state’s own names are “Plants and Animals Declaration Form” and “Agriculture Declaration Form”. Use the state address above rather than a third-party site that offers to file for you.

It is not a farm permit. It does not register land, set a tax class or license a farm. Landowners who want those should read the section on farmland paperwork below.

Who must file, and when

The state FAQ says all travelers arriving from the continental U.S. must complete the form before leaving the airport or harbor. That includes residents coming home. The same FAQ says international flights are handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and those travelers are not mandated to submit this form. The paper card itself is headed for all passengers, officers and crew members, so crew on covered flights file too.

There is no yearly filing or renewal. The state applies the form to all inbound flights from the continental U.S., so each inbound trip gets its own declaration. A family can use one form only under the state’s wording: online, the party must be in the same household, with the same address and, if there is one, the same lodging address. Friends sharing a holiday rental but living at different homes should file separately.

How to file the Akamai Arrival form online

The online form opens five days before departure and comes in six languages (as of the state’s May 2025 announcement). In the pilot, airlines could decide how to fit the form into their arrival process, so listen to your crew’s announcement too.

1. Open the state site. Go to the official Akamai Arrival address on your phone and choose the submit button.
2. Have your trip details ready. Keep your flight details, home address and any lodging address to hand. The state uses those addresses to decide who can share a form, and the paper card asks for your name and home address.
3. Tick what you carry. Mark every category that applies, or choose nothing to declare.
4. List the items and origin. The card asks for the specific item names and the state or country they came from.
5. Keep any confirmation. Save it on your phone and follow crew instructions on arrival.
6. Go to the counter if you declared. Take the items to the Agricultural Inspection Counter near the baggage claim exits.

If you travel in a group, decide before departure who files. That stops two adults filing for the same people, or nobody filing at all.

Paper card or digital form: what changed

Akamai Arrival began as a pilot on March 1, 2025, with Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, Southwest and United working with the state. It was first due to end on May 31, 2025. The pilot ran on 30% of incoming flights, more than 100 routes, and the state reported an average 74% compliance rate, against 60% under the paper-only system.

Chart

Declaration compliance: paper vs digital

Average percent compliance, paper-only system vs the March to May 2025 digital pilot flights

On those results the state kept the digital form going through the end of 2025 and said it would add flights. The state site now describes the form as required for inbound flights from the continental U.S. The state plant quarantine page also still describes a paper card that flight attendants hand out and collect before landing. So check your flight on the state site, and if your crew hands you a card, fill it in as they ask.

What to declare on the form

The printed card sets out two groups. Mark each that applies, then write down the specific item names and where they came from.

• Plants and related items: fresh fruit and vegetables; cut flowers and foliage; rooted plants, plant cuttings or algae; raw or propagative seeds or bulbs; soil, growing media and sand.
• Other living material: live seafood such as lobsters, clams and oysters; cultures of bacteria, fungi, viruses or protozoa; insects, live fishes and amphibians.
• Animals: dogs, cats, birds, reptiles (turtles, lizards, snakes) and other animals.

Live animals have their own rule. Tell a cabin attendant before you leave the plane. The carrier, not the passenger, turns the animal in to the Honolulu Airport Animal Quarantine Holding Facility. Pet owners should read the state’s animal import rules long before they book.

Can you bring it? Common items

The answers below come from the state guidance on traveling from the mainland. The department notes that most plants and plant parts are allowed after inspection, if they carry no insects, disease, soil or other pests. Rules change, so call the Plant Quarantine Branch on (808) 832-0566 about anything unusual.

The restricted list also covers taro and dasheen, coconut plants and parts, banana plants (not the fruit), grasses such as sugar cane and bamboo, myrtle family plants such as eucalyptus and guava, sorghum, and aster, chrysanthemum, hollyhock, dahlia and gladiolus plants. Restricted means you cannot bring the item without prior permits, quarantine, treatment or certification, as applicable.

Sending items by mail? The state asks you to mark parcels on the outside as containing agricultural material that may be opened for inspection, and to put a list of the plant material inside. The declaration form covers what you carry and what cargo agents submit, so it does not replace these steps.

Penalties for false or missing declarations

The penalties are printed on both the digital form page and the paper card. Giving false information, defacing the form, or not declaring prohibited or restricted items breaks Chapter 150A of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. In certain instances that may be a misdemeanor, with a maximum of $25,000 and/or up to one year in prison. Intentionally smuggling a snake or other prohibited or restricted item is, in certain circumstances, a Class C felony, with a maximum of $200,000 and/or up to five years in prison.

Those are maximums. The form wording does not give a set fine for a forgotten orange. The safe course is simple: declare anything you are unsure about, and hand it over for inspection. The card says items meeting state requirements are inspected and released. If you face a charge, get advice from a lawyer licensed in Hawaii.

Plan your forms before you fly

Mixed groups are where people slip. Use this planner to count forms and allow time at the inspection counter. The minutes are your own estimates, not state figures.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

Worked examples: who files what

The rules are short, but real trips are messy. These examples apply the state wording to common situations.

Family of four from Seattle

Two adults and two children live at one address and share one flight. One adult files one form for all four. If nobody carries plants or animals, that adult chooses the nothing-to-declare option. It takes one form, and nobody needs to visit the counter.

Two couples sharing a rental

They have the same lodging address but different home addresses. The online rule asks for the same household and the same address, so the safe choice is two forms, one per couple. Use the planner above to count them.

Resident returning with a mango and a cutting

Living in Hawaii changes nothing. The resident marks fresh fruit and plant cuttings, writes both item names, and gives the state or country they came from. Both go to the inspection counter. A cutting from a restricted plant group, such as an orchid or a palm, needs arrangements before travel. So does citrus or pulpy fruit from Florida or Puerto Rico.

Traveler with a dog

The owner marks dogs on the form and tells a cabin attendant before leaving the plane. The carrier hands the dog to the airport holding facility. The state has strict animal import rules, so plan this well ahead of the trip.

Passenger with packaged snacks only

Crackers, canned goods and other manufactured food from within the U.S. do not need declaring or inspecting. The passenger still files and chooses nothing to declare, because the form itself is required.

Why Hawaii checks arrivals

Plant quarantine in Hawaii is old. The state traces it to 1888, when King David Kalākaua barred new coffee plants from entering, to protect the islands’ coffee. Laws against harmful insects and plant diseases came two years later. In 1905, after 14 snakes were seized, the program also took on animals. The state calls Plant Quarantine its “First Line of Defense”.

The money shows how seriously the state takes this. In 2024 the department said its general funds for biosecurity had more than tripled to $19.2 million since fiscal 2023. Act 231 alone gave $10 million for targeted work. Named pests included the coconut rhinoceros beetle, the little fire ant and the coqui frog.

Pests also move inside the state, which is why inspection does not stop at the airport. In 2025 officials reported two incidents of coconut rhinoceros beetles on Lānaʻi in plants sent from Oʻahu. In one shipment, inspectors unpacked every plant and the shipment was buried under at least seven feet of dirt. Act 236 also lets the governor declare a biosecurity emergency to act quickly against pests.

The digital form was also meant to teach travelers earlier. A law, Act 196 of 2024, authorized the program, and Senator Glenn Wakai said it would tell passengers what is not acceptable before they board. That matters, because an item left at home never reaches the counter. The state also says the digital form gives it real-time data to spot possible biosecurity threats.

Chart

Selected Act 231 biosecurity funds by pest

US$ million, selected targeted items named by the department, 2024; beetle total adds its three listed items

If you wanted a farm or land form instead

Some searches for a “Hawaii agriculture form” come from landowners. The arrival declaration does nothing for them. Agricultural property tax classes and dedications are handled by each county’s real property tax office, and forms and deadlines differ by county. Ask your county office, and get advice from a tax professional before relying on a classification.

Farm businesses importing plants, feed or animals should call the Plant Quarantine Branch before ordering, since the restricted list above can require permits, treatment or quarantine. Traceability records can help buyers follow a shipment, but they do not replace a state permit or inspection.

▶ How to draw or upload a field boundary in a farm mapping app. · 2:21

What the form protects: Hawaii farm numbers

The most recent full count is the USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture for Hawaii. It recorded 6,569 farms on 1,053,302 acres, down from 7,328 farms and 1,135,352 acres in 2017. That is about 82,000 fewer acres in five years. Agricultural product sales reached $673.8 million in 2022. Most farms are small: 4,231 had 1 to 9 acres.

Chart

Land in farms in Hawaii

Thousand acres, USDA census years 1992 to 2022; 1992 to 2002 not adjusted for coverage

Only 158,053 of those acres were cropland. Coffee, the crop behind the first quarantine order, was grown on 1,111 farms and 9,422 acres. The next census results are still ahead, so for newer crop figures use the USDA NASS Hawaii publications page.

Border checks aim to stop pests before they land. Once crops are in the ground, growers watch for trouble in the field. Farmonaut gives satellite vegetation maps for mapped fields on web, Android and iOS, through the web and mobile app. A map shows where plant cover changes, not which pest caused it, so someone still needs to walk the spot.

Most Hawaii farms are small. Nearly two in three have 1 to 9 acres. The table uses the same census.

The fall in farm numbers from 2017 to 2022 came mainly from the smallest group, which lost 637 farms. The two largest groups moved far less, and the 1,000 to 1,999 acre group grew by four. Census years are snapshots, so these changes do not show why any one farm closed.

▶ How crop health monitoring from space helps growers spot trouble across a farm. · 4:09

Quick checklist before you board

• Check your flight on the state site, and open the online form within 5 days of departure.
• Agree who files for your household.
• Empty bag pockets of fresh fruit, seeds, soil and plant material you forgot about.
• Look up anything on the restricted list, and call the branch if unsure.
• Clean soil off plant material you plan to declare.
• Write down each item’s name and where it came from.
• If you travel with an animal, tell the crew before leaving the plane.
• On landing, take declared items to the counter near the baggage claim exits.

Common mistakes with the declaration

• Skipping it because you carry nothing. You still file, and you choose the nothing-to-declare option.
• Assuming online filing clears your items. Declared items still go to the inspection counter.
• Filing for the wrong group. The online household form needs the same address. Separate households file separately.
• Forgetting snacks from the trip. A piece of fresh fruit in a carry-on counts, while canned or commercially packaged food from the U.S. generally does not need declaring.
• Writing “plants” and nothing else. The card asks for specific names and the origin.
• Using a look-alike site. Check the address ends in hawaii.gov.
• Bringing soil on plants. Plant material must arrive clean of soil, insect pests and signs of disease.

FAQ

Is the Akamai Arrival declaration form required?

Yes, for travelers arriving from the continental U.S., according to the state FAQ. You file even with nothing to declare.

How early can I fill out the Akamai Arrival form?

Up to 5 days before your scheduled departure date. State law requires the declaration before you leave the airport or harbor, so do not leave it until you are at the exit.

Do I need one form per person?

No. One adult may declare for family. Online, one form covers a party from the same household with the same address and, if applicable, the same lodging address.

What happens if I declare fruit?

You take it to the Agricultural Inspection Counter near the baggage claim exits. The card says items that meet state requirements are inspected and released. Restricted items without prior arrangements may not be allowed in.

Do I file on a flight from outside the U.S.?

The state FAQ says international flights are subject to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and are not mandated to submit this form. Those officers enforce both federal and state law, so tell them about any plants or animals you carry.

Is this form the same as a farmland tax filing?

No. It is a traveler declaration under the plant and animal quarantine law. Land classification goes through your county real property tax office.

Related pages on our site: large-scale farm management, fleet management, carbon footprinting, satellite and weather API docs, satellite data API, web app button.