Date of issue: 20 May 2026
Attention
- Meat exporters, meat establishments, exporter agents, and freight forwarders, approved Islamic organisations, and organic approved certifying bodies.
- Central and regional offices of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department).
Purpose
To inform stakeholders that:
- The Next Export Documentation (NEXDOC) system will replace the Export Documentation (EXDOC) system for meat export documentation from Monday 15 June 2026; and
- There are critical EXDOC documentation cut-off dates.
Key points
- NEXDOC will become available for lodgement of meat export documentation requests and will issue meat export certification from Monday 15 June 2026.
- EXDOC Requests for Permit (RFPs) for China must be completed and certificates printed by 5.00pm AEST Friday 12 June 2026.
- RFPs for countries other than China may be lodged in EXDOC until 5.00pm AEST Sunday 14 June 2026.
- Exporter Declaration Numbers (EDNs) obtained via the EXDOC Single Electronic Window (SEW) cannot be transferred to NEXDOC.
- RFPs for countries other than China have until Friday 10 July 2026 to be completed, provided they were lodged (at initial (INIT), final (FINL), inspected (INSP), or health certificate ready (HCRD) statuses) by 5.00pm AEST Sunday 14 June 2026.
- If you are an existing EXDOC Approved Quality Assurance (AQA) holder, you MUST register in NEXDOC before applying for Approved Export Permit Declarant (AEPD) status.
- NEXDOC brings new functionality that will support industry, including introducing changes to certification such as printing on plain paper and the introduction of QR codes.
- Some terminology and processes will change. An EXDOC RFP is referred to as a Request for Export (REX) in NEXDOC. More information about the transition from EXDOC to NEXDOC can be found in NEXDOC – What’s changing.
Transition period
- From Monday 15 June 2026, meat exporters (or their agents) must lodge new export documentation requests for meat and meat products in NEXDOC.
- RFPs for destination countries other than China that were at INIT, FINL, INSP, or HCRD statuses must be completed and certificates printed by 5.00pm AEST Friday 10 July 2026.
- RFPs for China must be completed and certificates printed by 5.00pm AEST Friday 12 June 2026
- During this transition period, you must ensure that:
- EXDOC certificates continue to be printed on security paper.
- NEXDOC certificates are printed on plain white paper.
- Further information about NEXDOC certificate changes can be found at NEXDOC - FAQs Certificate changes.
Consignments to the People’s Republic of China – hard cut-off
- Goods departing for China on or before 14 June 2026 must be at complete (COMP) status with certificates printed prior to 5.00pm AEST Friday 12 June 2026.
- EXDOC certificates printed after this time may not be accepted by China’s import authorities and the department is unlikely to be able to facilitate clearance at the border.
- You will not be able to lodge a REX for goods that have already departed.
- If you require replacement of an EXDOC certificate, please email the EXDOC Helpdesk at exdoc.helpdesk@aff.gov.au
Consignments to countries other than China
- There is a transition/grace period for other importing countries.
- Other countries will not accept EXDOC certification dated after Friday 10 July 2026.
- RFPs must be set to complete (COMP) status and certificates printed in time for the goods to be cleared by the importing country.
- RFPs in EXDOC not at COMP status by 5.00pm AEST Friday 10 July 2026 will be forfeited.
SEW to the Integrated Cargo System (ICS)
NEXDOC, like EXDOC, offers an SEW service for requesting and updating export declarations in the Australian Border Force’s ICS. However, the EXDOC RFP and NEXDOC REX services are separate. This means that:
- EDNs cannot be transferred from EXDOC RFPs to NEXDOC REXs.
- Meat exporters remain responsible for managing EDNs as per ABF requirements.
Actions for organic exporters and halal certifiers
There is no change to the lodgement, endorsement, and signing procedures for the organic export sector as well as halal certification operations for approved Islamic organisations (AIOs).
AIOs should note the key dates detailed in this notice and work with exporters to ensure halal certificates are printed, endorsed, and signed in accordance with these dates.
Reminder to register NOW
To continue exporting without disruption, all meat exporters, establishments, EXDOC RFP Declarants (AQA users), and third-party software (EDI) users must ensure their relevant registrations and approvals are completed in NEXDOC before Monday 15 June 2026.
Failure to completely and fully register for NEXDOC before Monday 15 June 2026 means users will not be able to access the system and exporters will NOT be able to export.
Businesses need to register now to allow sufficient time for account setup, validation, and approval processes. Further information on how to register may be found at Registrations open for NEXDOC meat.
Late registrations will be available, however processing times will impact the ability to export.
Approved Export Permit Declarant (AEPD)
Request for Permit (RFP) Declarants, known as AQA users in EXDOC, will become AEPDs in NEXDOC. AQA IDs used in EXDOC will not be transferred. Each declarant must apply for AEPD for Meat and for each establishment where declarations will be made.
Once approved, the AEPD permission will be added to the individual’s user account for each approved establishment. ID’s will not be issued as they are no longer necessary.
Anyone who intends to lodge export declarations for meat in NEXDOC must apply for an AEPD. To do this, an applicant must create a NEXDOC account before applying for an AEPD. Further information can be found at NEXDOC Approved Export Permit Declarant (AEPD).
Working with third‑party software providers
Exporters and agents who lodge export documentation using third‑party software must engage with their software provider as early as possible to confirm readiness for NEXDOC. While the department is working closely with all identified software vendors to support their transition, businesses remain responsible for ensuring their registrations and software connections are in place before the transition date. Delays in engaging with software providers or using incomplete third-party software prior to transition may result in the inability to lodge export documentation in NEXDOC.