10 October 2017
Purpose
The purpose of this Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to inform industry, Authorised Officers (AOs), Plant Export Assessors (PEAs) and the Service Delivery Division of updates to the horticulture components of the Plant Export Operations Manual (PEOM).
Summary of changes and key points
- AOs are permitted to identify common pests of horticulture products within the limit of their training and knowledge.
- Export compliance records (ECRs) are able to be typed.
- The Guideline: Inspection of horticulture for export, Work instruction: Inspecting horticulture for export using end-point sampling and Work instruction: Inspecting horticulture for export using in-line sampling have been amended and are now version 2.
- Changes affect horticulture AOs, PEAs, exporters and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources’ inspection, audit and assessment services.
Background
Updated instructional material for horticulture inspections were released on 12 September 2017, in IAN 2017-35, with an implementation date of 16 October 2017.
Formal pest identifications, by a person deemed suitably qualified by the department, were required in the following circumstances:
- the importing country has a pest list and the client seeks to have the pest identified
- the product has been irradiated and the client seeks to have the pest deemed sterile
- the importing country prohibits reconditioning for any pest.
Continuing discussions with the Horticulture Export Industry Consultative Committee resulted in an amendment to the pest identification policy, to allow AOs to identify common pests within the limit of their training and knowledge; formal identification is still an option.
Amendment to Authorised Officer factsheet
A factsheet for Authorised Officers was released with IAN 2017-34 to assist in communicating changes to the horticulture components of the PEOM. One of the changes listed was ‘ECRs cannot be typed with the exception of some fields that can be pre-populated’. Between releasing the fact sheet and releasing the updated instructional material, the policy regarding typed inspection records was amended, allowing typed inspection records.
Authorised Officer responsibilities
AOs must comply with the new guideline and work instructions from the date of implementation.
AOs who choose to identify common pests must record the identification and decision made in relation to the identified pests on the Export Compliance Record PE101 or in PEMS.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding the content of the new instruction material please email Horticulture Exports Program.
Mr David Ironside
Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch