12 November 2018
Purpose
The purpose of this Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise the carrot industry that applications are now open for the accreditation of production areas and packhouses/ storage facilities to export carrots to Taiwan in 2019.
Summary of changes and key points
- Interested carrot producers from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia must submit their applications to Ausveg by 5pm AEDT, 10 December 2018.
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- Interested growers are required to have their soil tested annually to demonstrate that the accredited production areas are free of burrowing nematode.
- The soil testing procedure must be followed as per the Taiwan protocol for carrots.
- The soil testing must be conducted by an organisation approved by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.
- This advice does not apply to the carrot production areas and packhouses in the states of Victoria or Tasmania. These states are recognised as free of burrowing nematode.
- Following the receipt of completed application forms production areas and packhouses will be audited by the department to ensure they meet all protocol requirements. Audit will be scheduled in mid to late February 2019.
- Production areas and packhouses that pass the departmental audit may then need to pass an audit by the Taiwan Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHQ) to be accredited for export to Taiwan.
- Growers must submit the soil testing results, either with their application form at the time of departmental audit, or just prior to BAPHQ audit.
Background
In September 2018, the department amended to the Export Control (Plants and Plant Products) Order 2011 to include the accreditation of properties for the export of specific horticulture products to certain protocol markets.
This amendment forms part of wider departmental initiatives to strengthen agricultural exports and market access, through improving the current agricultural export legislative framework. This includes the development of the Export Control Bill 2017 and commodity‑specific subordinate legislation in the form of Export Control Rules.
The Export Control Bill 2017 was introduced into the Australian Parliament on 7 December 2017, and includes provisions for accredited properties.
For further information please see IAN 2018-23 and IAN 2018-44.
The export of fresh carrots to Taiwan from areas where burrowing nematode (Radopholus similis) is known to occur must follow protocol requirements outlined by Taiwan’s BAPHIQ. The protocol requirements apply to the export of carrots from the states of New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
Industry responsibilities
- For detailed information on the export protocol requirements, including the soil testing procedure, please refer to the Taiwan carrot protocol and work plan on the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (MICoR).
- To access these documents, you must be a registered MICoR Plant user (please allow up to 5 days for your MICoR registration to be processed).
- The following instructional material for accredited properties is available on the Plant Export Operations Manual:
- Guideline: Management of horticulture export accredited properties
- Guideline: Audit of horticulture export accredited properties
- All costs associated with an audit by BAPHQ including travel, accommodation and meal costs must be covered by industry.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN, please email Horticulture Exports Program.
Mr David Ironside
Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch