Exporting plants and plant products to the international markets needs to be a responsible act. Why? Because of the possibility of transmitting plant diseases and infections, there are norms that the exporters must adhere to. For example, if you are exporting goods in these categories from Australia, you must pay attention to what the organizations like the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment prescribe (DAWE).

In addition, you must also take note of what the National Plant Protection Organization of the importing country demands. In most cases, you may need to obtain Health/Phytosanitary certificates to meet the requirements. Based on the recommendations from these bodies, here are some important stages that plant products intended for export must go through.

Product Treatment

Depending on the requirements of the importer and importing country, you may require to treat plant products. The purpose of this step is to eradicate pests that might be present in the products. For this, you can refer to the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (MICoR) which provides details regarding the same.

Some of the types of treatments that plant products undergo include:

• Irradiation

• Cold disinfestations

• Vapour heat treatment

• Dimethoate dipping

• Fumigation (using methyl bromide or sulphur dioxide or carbon dioxide)

Product Packing

Obviously, the exporters are required to pack their products in a way that they stay free from contamination or infestation throughout the trade chain. In order to fulfil it, there are two options to choose from:

• Pack the products before inspection. However, it must be done allowing room for packaging removal to facilitate easy inspection

• Pack the products after the inspection.

Booking a Registered Establishment

An export registered establishment plays a key role in the process as it is where the exporter needs to prepare, pack and store the products before they are shipped. Again, there are two options:

• First, the exporters who have their own facilities that match the DAWE prescribed standards can register the same with the department.

• Second, others can book the third-party establishments registered with the department.

Product Movement

Next, you must take care in moving your products within the establishment or from one facility to another. Here, the aim should be to ensure that the products stay free from infestation of any kind during and after the movement. In other words, you must maintain what is called the phytosanitary security of your products during this. The DAWE requires exporters to keep the complete record of product transfer fir auditing purposes.

Preparing Important Documents

While phytosanitary certificates are necessary, there are other documents that you must prepare for different types of consignments intended for export in different quantities. For instance, you may need to prepare a marine surveyor certificate as well as product export compliance record ad container approval record.

It should be noted that whether these certificates are required or nor depends on a number of criterions like:

• End use — consumption, research, further processing and so on

• Mode of transport — air or sea transport

• Consignment size: less than or more than 10 kg

Inspection Booking

In general, product inspection is the final step before the DAWE issues an export permit. For this, you must submit the Request for Plant Exports Inspection to the Department which assigns an authorized officer for the same. Alternatively, you may book a third-party authorized inspection officer. Different types of plants products, including horticulture produce, grains, forest products and more, undergo different types of inspections.

At last, you get the export permit and phytosanitary certificate which approves your products as free from infestations. The good part is that you can submit applications and prepare different documents online to accelerate the pace at every stage.