18 October 2021
Purpose
This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to notify stakeholders of updates to the Plant Exports Management System (PEMS).
Summary of changes and key points
- PEMS will now automatically validate the ‘Accredited Farm Block Numbers’ and ‘Accredited Packhouse Numbers’ for cherry protocol markets.
- Vapour heat treatment (VHT) supervision and sensor calibrations for mangoes can now be recorded in PEMS. This functionality replaces the two manual forms, Vapour heat treatment sensor calibration record and Vapour heat treatment record, adding transparency and accuracy to VHT treatments.
- A video tutorial explaining how to complete the VHT supervision and sensor calibration record is available for Authorised Officers on LearnHub.
- AOs will have one month to familiarise themselves with the VHT process in PEMS. From 18 November 2021, all VHT supervision and sensor calibrations must be recorded in PEMS unless an exception applies.
- The horticulture inspection record has also been updated to accommodate the vapour heat treatment process in PEMS, but these changes will only appear for the relevant RFPs.
Background
PEMS is an IT system that is used to capture and store information relating to the export of plants and plant products from Australia, including plant product export inspection, calibration results and transport units.
As part of our commitment to continually improving our services to industry, PEMS is regularly updated. The most recent updates have been made based on user feedback.
In July 2021, a pilot of the accredited properties validation was conducted for citrus protocol markets. The validation had demonstrable benefits for industry by reducing errors and resubmissions, as the system generates an error if an incorrect number is entered. The validation exists for the commodity – country – property relationship.
In September 2021, the same enhancement was applied for avocado and mango protocol markets. All other commodities will be added at the beginning of their export seasons.
Further information about PEMS is available on the Plant Export Management System webpage.
User responsibilities
All users of PEMS should clear their cache after each release to ensure they are using the latest version of PEMS, this will ensure fewer issues are encountered.
All users of PEMS should familiarise themselves with what has changed and follow updated PEMS user guides.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN please email PEMS Administrator.
For more information about PEMS system integration, please contact the PEMS Technical Support team.
Rossana Carr
Assistant Secretary (a/g)
Plant Export Operations Branch