14 June 2023
Purpose
This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise that an additional amendment is being proposed to the Export Control (Plant and Plant Products) Rules 2021 (Plant Rules) and is expected to commence in August 2023, subject to the amendments being made by the Secretary.
Summary of changes and key points
- The Plant Rules provides official marks for plants and plant products intended to be exported from Australia.
- The proposed amendment to section 8-15 of the Plant Rules will allow greater flexibility for the sizing of ‘approved for export’ official marks.
- Section 8-15 of the Plant Rules includes the dimensions of a normal size mark being the ‘standard’ mark with an alternative size available to be applied to a small package or small tag.
- We are proposing the Plant Rules allow the following dimensions to be used for a normal size or small size ‘approved for export’ official mark, regardless of the size of the package or tag that the mark is applied to:
| Section | Normal size mark (mm) | Small size mark (mm) |
|---|---|---|
|
Diameter of outer circle |
50 |
28 |
|
Diameter of inner circle |
40 |
21 |
|
Minimum height of letters between inner and outer circles |
3 |
2 |
|
Minimum height of letters in inner circle |
4 |
3 |
NOTE: ‘Approved for export’ official marks are not currently required under the Plant Rules and are not used for the export of plants and plant products from Australia.
- The proposed amendment will not impact existing plant or plant product export operations and does not require action from any industry participants.
Background
While ‘approved for export’ official marks are not currently required under the Plant Rules, these amendments have been proposed to align with amendments being made to other commodity rules where official marks are mandatory (such as the Export Control (Meat and Meat Product) Rules 2021).
In November 2022, we sought industry feedback on proposed improvements to the use of official marks for various exported products, including plants and plant products under section 8-14 of the Plant Rules.
In reviewing industry feedback on the proposed changes, we considered that, in certain circumstances, a less prescriptive approach to when differently sized official marks should be applied to exported products would allow for greater flexibility of export operations.
As such, it is intended that changes to sections 8-14 and 8-15 would allow for the use of these official marks in all circumstances (that is, for small, medium or large plants or plant products), but not indicate which sized mark is to be used when. These changes would align with amendments being made to other commodity rules and will allow us to better administer ‘approved for export’ official marks, should they ever be required under the Plant Rules, in the future.
For more information regarding the proposed amendments to section 8-14, see IAN 2022-68.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN please email Plant Export Reform.
Rossana Carr
Acting Assistant Secretary
Plant Export Operations Branch