4 Important Steps for Plants and Animals Export Documentation

To export plants and animals and plant and animal products from Australia, you need to contact the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) to request for permit. A part of the process is to obtain the important export documents without which your export consignment can’t begin its journey. For example, the DAWR would issue a health/phytosanitary certificate for the goods categorized in the categories of plants/animals. In order to obtain these documents, here are the important steps you should be aware of.

Prescribed Vs. Non-prescribed Goods

Usually, the export documents are required for prescribed goods that include plants and plant products, meat and meat products, eggs and egg products, fish and fish products and more. It is because these items have chances of carrying infections. Only the right documents validate that the goods being exported are free from infestations. For non-prescribed goods like wool and skin, export documents are usually not required unless stated otherwise.

MICoR for Importing Country Requirements

Apart from knowing about documentation for prescribed and non-prescribed goods, it is also important to known about what the importing countries demand. You would be surprised to know that different countries across the globe have their own sets of norms while importing plant and animal products. For this, you can simply refer to the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (MICoR) and get the documents prepared accordingly.

Installing an EXDOC Software

In order to obtain export permit and important export documents from the DAWR, the best way is to use a software that interfaces with the department’s EXDOC system. It has many advantages over manually applying for the permit and documents. First of all, you save a lot of time. Secondly, the costs associated with electronic documentation are much lower. Also, there are fewer chances of errors and you can print the issued documents right at your premises.

Preparations for Inspection

Export documents are issued by the DAWR only after an authorized officer carries out inspection of the goods to be exported. For this, you must own or rent a registered facility for inspection. Remember that your products must have been grown, produced or processed at a safe facility only to pass the inspection procedure.

You can simultaneously obtain export declaration number (EDN) and other export documents like certificate of origin if required using an electronic export documentation software.