21 June 2023
Purpose
This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise industry that applications are now open for the accreditation of farms and packhouses to export persimmons to Thailand in 2024.
Summary of changes and key points
- Only farms located in Queensland are eligible to apply for accreditation under the protocol agreement.
- Farms and packhouses must complete the appropriate application form/s below and submit the completed form to the Audit and Assurance Group by 1 September 2023. Note: Late submissions will not be accepted.
- Application for plant export accreditation of farms
- Application for plant export accreditation of packhouses
- Farms and packhouses will be subject to audits by us.
- Crop monitors must complete the training and assessment for persimmons by 29 September 2023 to be eligible to conduct crop monitoring.
Note: Crop monitor training will be transitioning into a new system in June. This will impact on which system you use to access the training modules. Please see crop monitor responsibilities for more information.
Background
Countries with protocol markets have specific requirements for importing Australian produce. The protocol for exporting persimmons to Thailand mandates that farms and packhouses are accredited prior to the beginning of the export season.
The protocol requires that persimmons must be produced in Australia and sourced from a Thailand approved production area. Currently, only persimmons produced in Queensland are permitted to export to Thailand under the protocol.
For specific market requirements, refer to the relevant protocol on the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor) Plants. Work plans and protocols can be found in the ‘Documents’ section. To access these documents, you must be a registered Micor Plants user. To register for Micor go to the registration webpage, complete all fields and then click ‘Submit’. You will be provided with your login details by email.
Accredited property responsibilities – Farms and packhouses
- Farms and packhouses must apply for accreditation annually (unless otherwise advised).
- Farms may divide their orchard into blocks. Each block must be clearly identified on the application form and on the farm map by its physical address or geographic co-ordinates. A block must be a contiguous unit and not be separated by structures such as a building, public road or body of water.
Note: For further information, refer to the Guideline: Management of horticulture export accredited properties. - Audits may occur pre-season and/or during the season (during harvest). Any farm or packhouse that was not accredited for the 2023 season will be audited pre-season.
- Packhouses must provide evidence of adherence to one of the following industry food safety accredited schemes that comply with Thailand’s ‘good practices’ requirements for packhouses:
- Requirements for accredited properties, including management guidelines, audit guidelines and performance standards, can be found on the Plant Export Operations Manual.
- We will notify all applicants of audit dates and provide an audit briefing. Audits will be carried out against the requirements of the protocol and applicants will be advised of the outcome. Accredited property numbers will be issued to farms and packhouses that pass audit.
Crop monitor responsibilities
- Only crop monitors who have completed the online training and passed the assessment are eligible to conduct crop monitoring for protocol markets.
- Online crop monitor training for persimmons is now open.
- We are currently working on releasing new crop monitoring modules to better support crop monitors.
- If you are completing the training and assessment prior to Sunday 25 June 2023, please complete the training via the existing Tocal College online eLearning hub.
- If you are commencing training and assessment on or after Monday 26 June 2023, you will need to complete this in LearnHub. Refer to IAN 2023-34 Horticulture – Changes to access crop monitor training for protocol markets for more information.
- Crop monitors must complete the assessment by Friday 29 September 2023.
- Crop monitors must be audited for compliance at the relevant accredited property audit.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN please email Horticulture Exports Program.
Rossana Carr
A/g Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch