6 August 2020
Purpose
This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise that the instructional material for the inspection of hay and straw for export has been updated.
Key points
- The following new instructional material is available on the Plant Export Operations Manual (PEOM):
- Guideline: Inspection of hay and straw for export
- Work instruction: Inspecting lose hay and straw for export in-line
- Work instruction: Inspecting hay and straw bales for export in-line and end point
- Work instruction: Inspecting bagged chaff and hay for export
- The following instructional material will be rescinded and removed from the PEOM:
- Volume 8A: Commodity inspections – Hay and Straw
- Work Instruction: Inspection of Hay and Straw
Summary of changes
The Guideline: Inspection of hay and straw for export replaces the hay and straw inspection policy previously contained in Volume 8A: Commodity inspections – Hay and Straw, changes include:
- Authorised Officer (AO) work health and safety reporting requirements
- categories for sampling and inspection have been removed – as every container will be inspected
- the coring technique has been removed for baled hay and straw (is allowed for silage)
- information and requirements for automatic in-line hay sampling systems and application process
- a statement about minimum requirements for the preparation of hay for export.
The Work Instruction: Inspection of Hay and Straw has been split into three separate work instructions
- Inspecting lose hay and straw for export in-line
- Inspecting hay and straw bales for export in-line and end point
- Inspecting bagged chaff and hay for export.
Changes to these work instructions include:
- every container lot must be sampled and inspected—there is no random sampling plan as per the previous work instruction.
- a revised sampling policy for
- bales in-line, for all countries including China—two bales sampled per ‘container lot’
- bales end-point, for Japan, Korea and other countries (excluding China)—one sample bale per container lot
- loose hay and straw (in-line)—0.5 kg over a minimum of five sub-samples per container lot for all countries
- bagged chaff
- silage (bagged)
- commercial sample bags—20 bags plus the square root of (total number of bags in the consignment minus 20 bags)
- end-point inspections for bales are permitted; however, will only be for Japan, Korea and other countries (excluding hay for China)
- hay for export to China must be sampled and inspected as bales in-line or loose hay in-line
- coring as a sampling method has been removed for baled hay and straw (is allowed for silage)
- clarified rejection requirements
- clarified flowpath inspection requirements—for continuous loading, a flowpath inspection must be completed once per day as minimum or between shifts
Implementation dates
Industry and AOs must ensure compliance with the new instructional material from 1 September 2020.
Certification: Export documentation will be assessed against the new instructional material for consignments inspected from 1 September 2020.
AO training: AO candidates will be trained against the new material from 15 August 2020.
AO assessments: AO candidates will be assessed against the new material from 1 September 2020.
AO audits: AOs will be audited against the new material for consignments inspected from
1 September 2020.
Important: Industry and AOs can begin to use the new material from today, however it is not compulsory until the implementation dates listed above.
Background
The department is undertaking a review of its instructional material published on the PEOM. This includes Volumes, Guidelines, Work Instructions, References and Candidate advices. This material is being reviewed to ensure its currency and to help it better meet industry’s needs.
This factsheet details the types of information and the audiences for the different types of instructional material.
Exporter and registered establishment responsibilities
Exporters and registered establishments should read and comply with the new instructional material from the date of implementation.
Authorised Officer responsibilities
AOs must comply with the new guideline and work instructions from the date of implementation.
AOs are able to contact the AO Hotline on 1800851305 or their local Regional Assurance Manager (RAM) should they require support in meeting the new requirements or assistance interpreting the new instructional material templates.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN please email the Grain and Seed Exports Program.
David Ironside
Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch