Plants and plant-based products including fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, timber and many more are exported from Australia to many countries. The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources maintain MICoR (Manual of Importing Country Requirements) which must be strictly followed to ensure that the exact export protocol is followed. The manual provides information about the general requirements as well as those for documentation, like phytosanitary certificate for export. While you can anytime access this manual online, here are the top takeaways about the importing country requirements you would find in it.

Some General Requirements

One of the most important requirements that most of the countries demand to be fulfilled is that the consignments of plants and plant-based products should be free from:

1. Soil
2. Weed and weed seeds
3. Pests
4. Other extraneous or foreign material

Second, many countries require that the facilities and establishments where these goods are produced, packed or stores must be accredited for those countries. For example, if you wish to export cherries to China, the grower or orchard where these are grown and the treatment facilities must qualify the norms set by China.

Documentation Requirements
You must be familiar with the procedure to raise request for permit to obtain the export permit. However, some countries also require the exporters from Australia to obtain the import permit for those countries. For example, you would need an import permit to export cherries to China, but not for exporting cherries to Germany.

Phytosanitary certificate is obviously an important documents essentially required to export plants from Australia. These certificates are required for goods such as plants, bulbs and tubers, fruits and vegetables, seeds, grains, cut flowers and so on. It is also required for the processed products that have the potential to introduce regulated pests. Please note that the importing countries may require the certificate to be obtained within 14 days of exporting the consignment from Australia.

In addition, the importing countries may also require the exporters to submit additional declarations or endorsements that can be specific to various importing destinations. For the example of exporting cherries to china, the exporters must submit:

• Endorsements #1729 and #2777 respectively for the consignments originating from Tasmania and Riverland (these are the regions that China recognizes as free from fruit flies.
• Endorsement #2465 for consignments undergoing fumigation or onshore cold treatment.
• Endorsement #2466 and #2467 for consignments that require in-transit cold treatment.
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For the example of exporting cherries to Germany, the exporters must submit:

• Endorsements #2232 and #3342 which state that the consignments exported between February 15 and September 30 undergo fungicide treatment and are not infected with brown rot.
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  Treatment Requirements

As mentioned earlier, the importing countries may require the plants and plat-based products to undergo a variety of treatments before export. Some of these treatments include cold disinfestations treatment. In such a case, the phytosanitary certificates must mention the details like treatment period and temperature and so on. Also, the certificate of calibration in original must be attached.

It is worth mentioning that the documents like phytosanitary and health certificate can be obtained online from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. Make sure you fulfil each of these requirements to pose as a reliable exporter.