Date of issue: 11 October 2022
Date of effect: Immediate
Attention
- Industry bodies, Seafood Export Consultative Committee
- Registered export manufacturing establishments
- Registered exporters and EDI users
- Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Central and Regional office
Purpose
To notify seafood stakeholders of changes to Australian Fish Names and/or scientific names for some fish species in the export documentation system (EXDOC).
Summary of key points
- Effective 10 October 2022, changes to how some Australian fish names and/or scientific names appear on export certification took effect in EXDOC.
- These changes are part of the Fish Product and Cut Code Review advised in IAN 2021-03
- No action is required from registered establishments or exporters using the EXDOC product type codes and associated cut codes listed below in Tables 1 and 2. These amended Australian Fish Names and/or scientific names will automatically print on export certification.
- It is a requirement under the Export Control (Fish and Fish Products) Rules 2021 that fish for export are described by the scientific name of the fish and/or the Australian Fish Name of the fish as it appears in the Australian Fish Names Standard (AFNS).
What are the changes?
There are two types of changes being made to the Australian Fish Names and scientific names in EXDOC:
- Changes to scientific names (as detailed below in Tables 1 and 2) that occurred on 10 October 2022 will require you to review the trade description applied to your products.
- The previous and new scientific names will both appear on export documentation for a 12-month period to allow your establishment time to use pre-printed labels and packaging and for the department to indicate the change to trading partners.
- After 12 months, the previous scientific name (in brackets) will be removed from EXDOC and no will longer appear on export certification.
- If you are preparing any of the species listed below in Tables 1 or 2 you will need to review the Trade Description of your products and plan accordingly.
Table 1: Finfish – Details changes to the scientific names as per the AFNS for finfish species and how the scientific names will appear in EXDOC as of 10 October 2022.
| Product Type Code | Australian Fish Names (no changes) | Previous scientific name in EXDOC as printed on export documentation | New scientific name that now appears in EXDOC and prints on export documentation as of 10 October 2022 | Scientific name that will appear in EXDOC and will print on export documentation as of 10 October 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRC | Bar Rockcod | Epinephelus spp. | Hyporthodus ergastularius & Hyporthodus septemfasciatus (Epinephelus spp.) | Hyporthodus ergastularius & Hyporthodus septemfasciatus |
| BMF | Frypan Bream | Argyrops spinifer | Argyrops bleekeri (Argyrops spinifer) | Argyrops bleekeri |
| COB | Silver Cobbler | Arius midgleyi | Neoarius midgleyi (Arius midgleyi) | Neoarius midgleyi |
| EBS | Bluespotted Emperor | Lethrinus sp. | Lethrinus punctulatus | Lethrinus punctulatus |
| FBT | Bartail Flathead | Platycephalus indicus | Platycephalus australis (Platycephalus indicus) | Platycephalus australis |
| FDW | Deepwater Flathead | Neoplatycephalus conatus | Platycephalus conatus (Neoplatycephalus conatus) | Platycephalus conatus |
| FTG | Tiger Flathead | Neoplatycephalus aurimaculatus & N. richardsoni | Platycephalus richardsoni | Platycephalus richardsoni |
| MST | Striped Marlin | Tetrapturus audax | Kajikia audax (Tetrapturus audax) | Kajikia audax |
| PAR | Parrotfishes | Scaridae spp. | Labridae | Scaridae spp. |
| SNR | Snapper | Pagrus auratus | Chrysophrys auratus (Pagrus auratus) | Chrysophrys auratus |
| SKP | Blacktip Shark | Carcharhinus, Loxodon & Rhizoprionodon spp. | Carcharhinus limbatus, Carcharhinus sorrah, & Carcharhinus tilstoni | Carcharhinus limbatus, Carcharhinus sorrah, & Carcharhinus tilstoni |
| TFK | King Threadfin | Argyrosomus japonicus | Polydactylus macrochir | Polydactylus macrochir |
| MUL | Mulloway | Polydactylus macrochir | Argyrosomus japonicus | Argyrosomus japonicus |
Table 2: Other (Pacific Oysters and Baby Octopuses)
| Product Type Code | Australian Fish Name (no changes) | Previous scientific name in EXDOC as printed on export documentation | New scientific name that now appears in EXDOC and print on export documentation as of 10 October 2022 | Scientific name that will appear in EXDOC and will print on export documentation as of 10 October 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OYP | Pacific Oysters | Crassostrea gigas | Magallana gigas (Crassostrea gigas) | Magallana gigas |
| OCB | Baby Octopuses | Octopus aegina & Octopus sp. A | Amphioctopus spp. | Amphioctopus spp. |
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The tables of product codes (Finfish, Crustacean, Mollusc and other products) listed on the department’s web page Fish product codes for EXDOC users will be updated on 14 October 2022 to reflect a number of minor changes to Australian Fish Names and/or scientific names.
- Changes will be made across the majority of the Fish Product Type Codes in EXDOC for:
- Consistency with the Australian Fish Names
- Corrections to spelling of fish names and/or scientific names
- Minor changes to scientific naming conventions (for example “Lethrinus species” to “Lethrinus spp.”)
- You will need to check the Fish Product Type Codes for the fish products you are approved to prepare and consider any changes you may need to make to your trade descriptions.
- Changes will be made across the majority of the Fish Product Type Codes in EXDOC for:
Consignments detained due to a change to a fish name or scientific name
If a consignment is detained due to a change to a fish name or scientific name, contact the Dairy, Eggs and Fish Export Program at dairyeggsfish@aff.gov.au as it may be possible to provide a letter of facilitation to the importing country.
Background
Periodically, changes to the AFNS are made by the Australian Fish Names Committee. Following these changes and for consistency with AFNS, the department updates and reviews the scientific name and Fish Product Type Codes that are maintained in EXDOC. Changes can include:
- the addition of names
- amendment of existing names
- changes to scientific names.
To ensure continued legislative compliance with the AFNS, we may be required to make corresponding changes to our systems for issuing export certification which includes the Establishment Register (ER) and EXDOC.
Further information
Contact dairyeggsfish@aff.gov.au if you have any questions regarding this IAN.
The information provided in this advice is current at the time of writing and is intended for use as guidance only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive. The Commonwealth endeavours to keep information current and accurate, however, it may be subject to change without notice. Exporters are encouraged to verify these details with their importers prior to undertaking production/exports. The Commonwealth will not accept liability for any loss resulting from reliance on information contained in this notice.