10 August 2015
Purpose
To advise industry of the exportation requirements for the 2015 Japan citrus season.
Background
All citrus exports to Japan must comply with standards stipulated in the agreement (protocol) between the Department of Agriculture and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF).
Summary of key points
Exporters, shipping companies and freight forwarders must consider the following when exporting citrus to Japan:
- In-transit cold treatment must start in Australia and finish prior to arrival in Japan.
- MAFF will reject consignments that require the continuation of cold treatment in Japan.
- Consignments with multiple time gaps or time gaps greater than four hours may be rejected by MAFF.
- If more than one container is included on a phytosanitary certificate, it is preferable that the same cold treatment schedule applies to all containers to avoid delay during certification.
- The department will assess and certify cold treatment data on the same day if data are received by 2:00 pm. Any data arriving after 2:00 pm will be assessed the next business day
- The Australian Embassy in Japan should only be contacted if MAFF have any issues with the phytosanitary certificate and/or cold treatment certificate endorsed by the department.
- For any inquiries regarding data assessment reports, please contact the Plant Exports National Documentation Hub at Plant Exports NDH and include ITCT Japan in the subject line.
More information on Japan’s import requirements can be found in the protocol and workplan, which are available in the Documents section of the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (MICoR) website.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN please contact the Horticulture Exports Program on (02)6272 4743 or email: Horticulture Exports Program ACT.
[signed]
Peter Creaser
A/g Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch