The Australian agency responsible for stopping asbestos at the border has revealed it is only testing a fraction of shipments each year for the deadly substance.

Key points: In China, products can be legally labelled "asbestos free" if the asbestos content is less than 5 per cent

In China, products can be legally labelled "asbestos free" if the asbestos content is less than 5 per cent Australian Border Force tests shipments coming into Australia based on a risk assessment

Australian Border Force tests shipments coming into Australia based on a risk assessment Since 2013, 17 shipments have tested positive for asbestos

Asbestos is slipping into the country from China and other Asian countries despite an import ban since 2003.

This week, construction firm Yuanda was found to have unknowingly used asbestos-tainted gaskets sourced from China on a Brisbane high rise.

The company has also been linked to the discovery of asbestos in roof panels in Perth's new children's hospital.

The materials were also imported from China.

Australian Border Force (ABF) Commander Erin Dale said asbestos was not illegal in China.

"In China, for instance, a product can be asbestos-free even if it contains 5 per cent asbestos material," she said.

Commander Dale said every shipment underwent a risk assessment on arrival, after which a decision was made on whether products were tested for asbestos.

She said more than 1,000 shipments had been flagged as fitting or being similar to a high-risk profile, of which 100 had been sent of for testing.

When asked how the number of asbestos tests compared to the total number of shipments to Australia each year, Commander Dale could not answer.

Xenophon calls for Senate inquiry

South Australian senator Nick Xenophon wants a Senate inquiry.

"I understand Border Force's priority has been to stop the boats with asylum seekers, but perhaps they should also have a priority of stopping boats full of asbestos products that can kill Australians in years to come," he said.

"When Border Force talks about having a targeted regime of enforcement, I'm pretty sceptical it seems that their target is an increasingly shrinking one and that's not good enough."

Commander Dale said the ABF took the asbestos import issue seriously.

"Of course it bothers me. I have family too and I don't want my child to be standing on a building site and be exposed to asbestos," she said.

"That's why we are very vigilant and we are looking at different angles to see what is going to be most effective," she said.

Border Force said that since 2013, it has had 17 positive matches for asbestos and has finalised 10 investigations.

It declined to detail the number of prosecutions.

"We are ramping up our efforts ... it is important that we can actually do the infringements and prosecutions," Commander Dale said.

She said she had visited China in May to discuss the issues with government agencies and information about Australian requirements was now available to exporters and manufacturers.

Contaminated materials sent to two Adelaide companies

The ABC has identified one Chinese manufacturer of asbestos-tainted building materials: Shandong Lutai.

Shandong Lutai has been exporting into Australia. ( ABC News )

It claims to make 100 per cent asbestos-free products, but exported contaminated fibre cement board to two Adelaide companies.

Robin Johnson Engineering alerted the state's workplace safety authority to the use of the material in more than 60 portable buildings across Australia.

The other business is Australian Portable Camps.

Safework SA is investigating how many of the company's portable structures made for the mining industry are contaminated with asbestos and where they are located.

Australian Portable Camps said most of the tainted product was not used.

When the ABC asked Border Force for details about Shandong Lutai's exports — how much it had sent to Australia and to which companies — under a freedom of information request, it refused, citing privacy.

Border Force also would not say how the Chinese company's products escaped detection on entry.

Inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause deadly diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis.

Peter Tighe from the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency said workers were being put at risk.

"There are young people in the industry today who will not know they've been affected at least until 15 years down the track and probably longer," he said.

"What a shock it'll be to them when they think, 'well, hang on, I worked in the industry when there was no asbestos products' and they'll find that unfortunately they've been caught in the same net that people of 20 and 30 years ago were caught in."