13 September 2024
Purpose
This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise industry of upcoming changes to Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor) cases for plant and plant products and potential updates to relevant Request for Permits (RFPs).
Summary of changes and key points
- On Monday, 16 September 2024, there will be updates to some Micor plant cases. These updates are to support a more harmonised approach.
- There will be updates to ‘Group’ and ‘End use’ in applicable Micor cases.
- Updates to ‘Group’:
- ‘Cut flowers – fresh’ and ‘Cut foliage – fresh’ groups will be combined into a new Group ‘Cut flowers/foliage’
- ‘End use’ currently listed as ‘Bark’, ‘Logs’, ‘Timber’, ‘Processing timber’, ‘Wood packaging’, and ‘Woodchips’ will be moved to ‘Group’.
- Updates to ‘End use’:
- ‘Cut flowers – fresh’ and ‘Cut foliage – fresh’ will be removed and replaced with ‘Fresh’.
- ‘Bark’, ‘Logs’, ‘Timber’, ‘Processing timber’, ‘Wood packaging’, and ‘Woodchips’ will be removed.
- The group ‘Processed plant products’ will now have end uses.
- Several grain cases that have an end use of ‘Consumption’ will be updated to ‘Processing’.
- These changes may impact existing RFPs. Refer to section EDI/Exporter responsibilities for more details.
Background
We have been reviewing Micor cases as part of wider changes to phytosanitary certification and the introduction of the ePhyto solution.
More information on the changes we are making in preparation for the ePhyto solution can be found at 2024-46: Plant Export Operations – Updates to phytosanitary certification.
Industry responsibilities
- Familiarise yourself with the scheduled date of updates and the potential impacts.
- Familiarise yourself with the updated ‘Group’ and ‘End use’ fields in Micor.
EDI/Exporter responsibilities
From Monday, 16 September 2024, review and check any active horticulture and grain RFPs to see if they are impacted by the Micor updates, ensuring RFPs align with updated Micor cases.
The following actions will apply to grain RFPs:
- If you are creating new RFPs, ensure that the RFP and the Micor case are in alignment.
- If your existing RFP requires an update and is at post inspection (INIT or FINL), request an amendment to update the ‘Intended use’ to ‘Processing’ when you request authorisation.
- If your existing RFP is post-inspection (HCRD or INSP) and requires an update of the ‘Intended use’ to ‘Processing’, we will update this on your behalf and advise once it has been actioned.
- If your RFP is at COMP, no further action is required.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN, please email Micor Plants.
Gaylene Podhajski
Acting Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch