Amendment to Varietal Descriptions on Phytosanitary Certificates Horticulture exports

(Issued 18 Aug 2005 by Industry Advice Notice 2005/27)

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) Horticulture Exports Program reviewed the inclusion of all industry requested varietal descriptions on phytosanitary certificates and sought industry comment on the possible impacts should varietal descriptions be removed from certificates where they were not supported by an importing country requirement or required by an import permit.
Industry consultation occurred through the Horticulture Export Consultative Committee (HECC) and Industry Advice Notices 2004/21 and 2005/05 seeking comments on the proposed changes.

To comply with current legal obligations for certification requirements, variety descriptions on phytosanitary certificates can only be included for produce exported to countries for which import protocols for specific varieties of produce exist (e.g. Japan citrus) or if varietal descriptions are included on import permits.

The many references to variety descriptions on the EXDOC product listing will be removed and both ‘electronic’ and ‘manual’ export certification will only include the varietal descriptions for those countries for which import protocols exists or are included on import permits.

Inspectors are to issue phytosanitary certificates with varietal descriptions only if to countries for which import protocols for specific varieties of produce exist (e.g. Japan citrus) or if varietal descriptions are included on import permits.