23 May 2008
This notice is to remind industry of the information that is permitted in the Consignee box of government certificates issued for horticultural and grain and plant product exports.
The International Plant Protection Convention, ISPM 12 Guidelines for Phytosanitary Certificates states that the purpose of phytosanitary certificates is:
Phytosanitary certificates are issued to indicate that consignments of plants, plant products or other regulated articles meet specified phytosanitary import requirements and are in conformity with the certifying statement of the appropriate model certificate. Phytosanitary certificates should only be issued for this purpose.
The limited ‘commercial’ information that is permitted in the Consignee box of the phytosanitary certificate is as follows:
- The name and address of the consignee should be specified on the certificate and should be in sufficient detail to enable the importing National Plant Protection Organisation to confirm the identity of the consignee.
- "To order" should be avoided where possible but is permitted where the Consignee is to be that of a bank entity. Inclusion of text such as CONSIGNEE is not permitted.
- The address of the consignee is to be either a physical or a postal address. Inclusion of both a physical and postal address is not permitted.
- Notify Party details permitted to be included in the Consignee box of the phytosanitary certificate relate to the name and address of the buyer of an associated Letter of Credit, when the consignee is shown as To Order or Bank details. Inclusion of text such as NOTIFY PARTY is not permitted.
- Notify Party details are permitted for phytosanitary certificates issued for Grain commodities only, they are not permitted for Horticulture commodities.
- Inclusion of telephone numbers, facsimile numbers and/or ABNs is not permitted.
- Inclusion of names of persons is only permitted if the consignment being exported is non-commercial. (eg: Orchids in flasks.)
- Letter of Credit reference numbers may be entered in this area of the certificate only. The details permitted to be entered are the associated LC reference number and date only. Inclusion of text such as LETTER OF CREDIT; L/C; IRRECOVERABLE DOCUMENT are not permitted.
- The Consignee box is not to be left blank.
Note: Some countries have specifically prohibited the application of To Order or Bank details applied to the phytosanitary certificate as the Consignee details, eg: United Kingdom.
The Phytosanitary Certificate Completion Work Procedure has been updated to include this information and Version 11 is available on the AQIS web.
Note: The information provided in this Industry Advice Notice also applies to all other export certification issued by the Horticulture Export Program and Grain and Plant Product Program.
All exporters and their agents are requested to note the above information in relation to government certificates issued for horticultural and grain and plant product exports.
Jeanine Crowther Mike Gilbert
Program Manager Program Manager
Horticulture Exports Program Grain & Plant Products Export Program
Contact Officers:
Bev Beacham Laura Hickey
Telephone: 03 8318 6955 Telephone: 02 6272 4433
Facsimile: 03 8318 6944 Facsimile: 02 6272 5423
Email: Horticulture Exports Email: Grain Exports