11 August 2025
Purpose
This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise industry that applications are now open for the accreditation of farms and packhouses and the registration of treatment facilities located in Victoria and Queensland to export kiwifruit to Thailand for the 2026 season.
Summary of changes and key points
- Only farms located in Victoria and Queensland are eligible to apply for accreditation under the protocol agreement.
- 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 Friday 5 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 online core Crop Monitoring module training and assessment through Learnhub by 5:00pm AEST Friday 12 September 2025 to be eligible to conduct crop monitoring.
- Applications for the packhouse grower supplier model (PGSM) must be submitted to the Audit and Assurance Branch using the Application for accreditation under the packhouse grower supplier model by 5:00pm AEST Friday 5 September 2025.
Note: This is in addition to the accredited property packhouse application.
Background
Countries with protocol markets have specific requirements for importing Australian produce.
The protocol for exporting kiwifruit to Thailand mandates that farms, packhouses and treatment facilities are accredited or registered with the department prior to the export season.
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. A block must be a contiguous unit and not be separated by structures such as a building, public road or body of water
Note: For further information, refer to the Exports process instruction: Management of horticulture export accredited properties on the Plant Export Operations Manual. - Debt checks will occur on all accredited property applications. Properties with debt 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 and/or in-season (during harvest). Any farm or packhouse that was not accredited during the 2025 season will be audited pre-season.
- Accreditation and/or continuation of accreditation will be reliant on audit outcomes.
Note: We may use a combination of announced and unannounced audits as part of our assurance process. - We can only accredit an entity for export if all protocol requirements are met.
- Requirements for accredited properties, including management and audit process instructions and performance standards can be found on the Plant Export Operations Manual.
- Packhouses exporting fruit to Thailand must comply with Thailand’s hygiene and quality requirements for packhouses and provide evidence of compliance at time of audit. See the Thailand Food and Drug Administration requirements for packhouses in the Documents section of Micor for further information.
Crop monitor responsibilities
- Online crop monitor training for kiwifruit must be completed annually through Learnhub. The training consists of a core crop monitoring module.
- Crop monitors must register to conduct crop monitor training by completing and submitting the Crop Monitor Training Request Form, including those who have completed the training in previous years.
- Crop monitors must complete the training and pass the assessment by 5:00pm AEST Friday 12 September 2025.
- 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.
Packhouse grower supplier model (PGSM)
The packhouse grower supplier model (PSGM) is a voluntary, alternative assurance model and auditing program for accredited property packhouses and farms.
Application process
- Accredited property packhouses for kiwifruit can apply for an additional export function to operate under the model. To be eligible for the model, the packhouse must have been accredited in the previous export season (2025).
- Applications for the PGSM must be submitted to the Audit and Assurance Branch using the Application for accreditation under the packhouse grower supplier model by 5:00pm AEST Friday 5 September 2025.
Supporting material
- All supporting documentation must be provided with the application.
- Potential applicants should familiarise themselves with the policy and instructional material available in the Plant Export Operations Manual.
Treatment facility responsibilities
- Treatment facilities must be registered establishments and approved for the specific country, commodity and treatment combination for protocol markets.
- Treatment facilities that are not approved for onshore cold treatment of kiwifruit to Thailand must submit an application in the digital Export Service platform.
- An audit by Thailand Department of Agriculture is required for onshore cold treatment facility approval. Please be aware it may take some time before auditors from Thailand next visit Australia to conduct audits.
- If your treatment facility is not approved for export to Thailand, please contact the Horticulture Exports Program.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN, please email the Horticulture Exports Program.
Jemma Martin
Assistant Secretary
Plant Exports Branch