24 June 2025
Purpose
This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise industry applications are now open for the accreditation of farms and packhouses to export persimmons to Thailand for the 2026 season.
Summary of changes and key points
- Applications are now open for farms and packhouses located in Queensland intending to export persimmons to Thailand for the 2026 season.
- Farm and packhouse managers must submit a completed Application for plant export accreditation of farms or Application for plant export accreditation of packhouses to the Audit and Assurance Branch by 5:00pm (AEST) 01 September 2025. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Note: All information in the application including ABN, contact details, accredited property maps and addresses must be complete and correct, or the application may not be accepted. - Crop monitors must complete the core crop monitoring course online through Learnhub by 26 September 2025 to be eligible to conduct crop monitoring.
Background
Countries with protocol markets have specific requirements for importing Australian produce.
The protocol for exporting persimmons to Thailand mandates that farms and packhouses are accredited with us prior to the export season.
The protocol requires that persimmons must be produced in Australia and sourced from a Thailand approved production area. Currently, only persimmons produced in Queensland are permitted to be exported to Thailand under the protocol.
For specific market requirements, refer to the relevant protocol in the ‘Documents’ section of the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor). To access these documents, you must register as a Micor Plants user.
Accredited property responsibilities – farms and packhouses
- Farms and packhouses must apply for accreditation annually.
- Growers may divide their farm into blocks. Each block must be clearly identified on the application form and on the farm map by its physical address or geographic co-ordinates.
Note: For further information, refer to the Exports process instruction: Management of horticulture export accredited properties in the Plant Export Operation Manual. - Packhouses exporting fruit to Thailand must comply with Thailand’s hygiene and quality requirements for packhouses. See the Thailand Food and Drug administration requirements for packhouses in the Documents section of Micor for further information.
- All accredited property applications will now undergo a debt check. Properties with debt owing will be notified and given 10 business days to pay the relevant debt or enter a payment arrangement. If the debt is not paid, the accredited property application will be refused.
- Farms and packhouses must be available for audits by us, to ensure compliance with the protocol and our requirements.
- Audits will occur either pre-season or in-season (during harvest). Any farm or packhouse that was not accredited during the 2024 season will be audited pre-season.
Note: We may use a combination of announced and unannounced audits as part of our assurance process. - Accreditation and/or continuation of accreditation is reliant on audit outcomes.
- Applicants will be advised of the audit outcome, and accreditation number/s will be provided to farms and packhouses.
- We can only accredit an entity for export if all protocol requirements are met.
- Requirements for accredited properties, including management guidelines, audit guidelines and performance standards can be found in the Plant Export Operation Manual.
Crop monitor responsibilities
- Online crop monitor training for persimmons must be completed annually through the Core Crop Monitoring module on Learnhub.
- Crop monitors must register to conduct crop monitor training by completing and submitting the Crop Monitor Training Request Form. This must be completed each year.
- Crop monitors must complete their assessment by 5:00pm (AEST) Friday 26 September.
- Only crop monitors who have completed the online training and passed the assessment are eligible to conduct crop monitoring for protocol markets.
- Crop monitors will be audited for compliance at the relevant accredited property audit.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN, please email Horticulture Exports Program.
Jemma Martin
Assistant Secretary
Plant Exports Branch