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2021-02 - Business Systems Program – PEMS mandate will be implemented from 1 February 2021

1 February 2021

Purpose

This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise 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 will accept plant and plant products inspection and calibration records and supporting documents, unless an exception applies.
  • The exceptions 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
    • 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
    • the type of record the AO must complete is not available in PEMS.
  • The following records are not currently available in PEMS and should continue to be submitted manually
    • onshore cold treatment (OSCT) calibration records
    • vapour heat treatment records
    • re-export phytosanitary certification
    • Export Compliance Goods Storage inspection records
    • records for consignments inspected at regional department offices
    • mixed consignments of horticulture and grain product, such as fresh vegetables and dried herbs; and dried fruit and nut mixes.
  • Non-compliance with the mandate will result in the authorisation request being rejected due to information not being provided to us in an approved format.

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.

Further information about PEMS is available on the Plant Export Management System webpage. Refer to IAN 2020-78, 2020-72, 2020-60, 2020-19, 2019-39, 2019-32,  and 2019-20 for further background.

AO responsibilities

All AOs must use PEMS to record inspections and calibrations unless an exception applies.

PEMS AO user guides are available on the Plant Export Management System webpage.

Video tutorials are also available on LearnHub for AOs. These short, step-by-step instructional videos demonstrate 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 is recommended for all users to familiarise themselves with the system.

Third party vendor responsibilities

Third-party software vendors who have not completed the system integration work, for all the relevant web services, should instruct their clients to use PEMS from 1 February 2021; until such time as their integration work is complete.

Exporter responsibilities

Exporters who 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.

A PEMS External Executive user guide is also available for exporters on the Plant Export Management System webpage.

Exporters who currently use an Export Data Interface (EDI user) agency to provide documents to us can continue to do so.

EDI agent responsibilities

EDI agents who currently provide supporting documents for plant and plant product inspections on behalf of exporters 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.

A PEMS External Executive user guide is also available for EDI agents on the Plant Export Management System webpage.

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.

 

Rossana Carr
A/g Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch

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Page last updated: 01 February 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.

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