Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Ministers
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Agriculture and land
    Agriculture and land Building stronger and more sustainable agriculture, fisheries, forestry and land care.
    • Animal health
    • Climate change and agriculture
    • Drought, disaster and rural support
    • Farming, food and drought
    • Fisheries
    • Forestry
    • Levies and charges on agricultural products
    • Mouse infestation advice
    • Plant health
    Xylella

    Protect against unwanted plant pests

    Our biosecurity system helps protects us. Everyone has a role in supporting our biosecurity system.

    Find out more

  • Biosecurity and trade
    Biosecurity and trade
    • Aircraft, vessels and military
    • Biosecurity policy
    • Cats and dogs
    • Exporting
    • Importing
    • Pests, diseases and weeds
    • Public awareness and education
    • Trade and market access
    • Travelling or sending goods to Australia
    • Report a concern
    Brown marmorated stink bug

    BMSB Seasonal Measures

    Australia has strengthened seasonal measures to manage the risk of BMSB.

    View our seasonal measures

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)
    • Plant Innovation Centre
    Abares

    ABARES Insights

    Get 'snapshots’ of agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries, or analysis of key issues.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us We enhance our agricultural industries and trade, and manage the threat of biosecurity risks to Australia.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Contact us
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • Payments
    • People and jobs
    • Publications
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    Budget 2025-26

    Budget 2025-26

    The 2025–26 Portfolio Budget Statements were released on 25 March 2025.

    Find out more

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Biosecurity and trade
  3. Export
  4. Controlled export goods
  5. Plants and plant products
  6. Export Industry Advice Notices
  7. 2020
  8. 2020-78

Sidebar first - Export

  • Industry Notices
    • 2025
    • 2024
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021

2020-78 - Business Systems Program – PEMS mandate will be implemented from 1 February 2021

22 December 2020

Purpose

This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to remind industry and Authorised Officers (AOs) that the use of the Plant Exports Management System (PEMS) will be mandatory from 1 February 2021.

Summary of changes and key points

  • From 1 February 2021, PEMS will become the only approved way we accept plant and plant product inspection and calibration records and supporting documents, unless an exception applies.
  • The exceptions are listed below and will be enforced through an Instrument of Approval and are limited to situations where
    • exceptional circumstances arise that affect a PEMS user’s ability to complete and submit a record through PEMS
    • a system outage, either planned or unplanned, renders PEMS unusable for a period of time
    • the type of record the AO must complete is not available in PEMS
    • we have approved, in writing, an individual exception with the client and/or AO that allows records to be made in an approved way other than PEMS, and evidence of this is held by us.
  • Non-compliance with the mandate will result in the authorisation request being rejected due to information being provided to us in a non-approved form.

Background

PEMS is an IT system that is used to capture and store information relating to the export of plants and plant products from Australia; including plant product export inspection, calibration results and transport units.

In May 2019, PEMS was made available to all plant export external AOs, exporters, EDI users and registered establishment executives, across Australia.

We advised all AOs, except those clients of third-party software vendors, to use PEMS for all plant and plant product inspections from May 2020.

We have been working closely with several third-party software vendors to progress the system integration component of PEMS. We responded to feedback from industry to delay the mandate date for clients of these providers from May 2020 until 1 February 2021.

Further information about PEMS is available on the Plant Export Management System webpage. Refer to IAN 2020-72, 2020-60, 2020-19, 2019-39, 2019-32 and 2019-20 for further background.

AO responsibilities

AOs who are already using PEMS directly must continue to do so.

AOs that currently use an alternate system to create inspection records should consult with their vendor to determine the readiness of that system to exchange data with PEMS. You must be registered with PEMS to allow this data exchange to occur. If the vendor will not be ready to exchange data once the mandate is implemented, then PEMS must be used until this can be achieved.

Video tutorials are available and can be accessed through your LearnHub account. These short, step-by-step instructional videos show AOs how to use PEMS to complete inspection and calibration records and can be viewed as often as required. Watching the video tutorials is not mandatory, but we recommended all AOs view the tutorials prior to using PEMS to develop the skills and knowledge to use the system correctly.

Third party vendor responsibilities

Third-party software vendors that are integrating with PEMS must ensure the work is completed prior to the mandate. Vendors that are unable to complete the integration, for all the relevant web services, prior to the mandate should instruct their clients to use PEMS from 1 February 2021; until such time as the integration work is complete.

Exporter responsibilities

Exporters that currently provide supporting documents to us for plant and plant product inspections and/or calibrations, must register as a PEMS user as soon as possible and start using it to provide these supporting documents.

Information about how to register and the benefits of PEMS is detailed in IAN 2020-72.

Exporters who currently use third-party software to record Empty Container, Containerised Goods or Quality Systems Recognition inspections will need to consult with their vendor to determine the readiness of that system to exchange data with PEMS. If the vendor will not be ready to exchange data once the mandate is implemented, then PEMS must be used until this can be achieved.

Exporters who currently use an Export Data Interface (EDI user) agent to provide documents to us can continue to do so as they will need to provide your documents in an approved format.

EDI agent responsibilities

If you currently provide documentation for plant and plant product inspections on behalf of exporters you must use PEMS to provide all supporting documents to us.

Information about how to register and the benefits of PEMS is detailed in IAN 2020-72.

Contact information

If you have any questions regarding this IAN please email PEMS Administrator.

For more information about PEMS system integration, please contact the PEMS Technical Support team.

David Ironside
Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch

General enquiries

Call 1800 900 090

Contact us online

Report a biosecurity concern

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip
Page last updated: 22 April 2021

We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia. We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Artwork: Protecting our Country, Growing our Future
© Amy Allerton, contemporary Aboriginal Artist of the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Gamilaroi nations.

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Facebook X LinkedIn Instagram