Plant Exports Management System (PEMS)

Access to PEMS has changed

Access to PEMS is now through TradeClear. 

If you don’t have a TradeClear account, you need to create a TradeClear account to access PEMS.

See PEMS – What’s changed for more information. 

The Plant Export Management System (PEMS) is an IT system used by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to capture and store information relating to the export of plants and plant products from Australia; including plant export Authorised Officer (AO) inspection, treatment supervision and calibration results for product and transport units and all supporting documentation.

The use of PEMS is mandatory unless an exception applies. The exceptions 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.
  • AOs can enter and submit inspection, treatment supervision and calibration records, and any supporting documentation, to the department.
  • AOs can reactivate their own records to correct minor errors.
  • Exporters and EDI/Client group executive users can view inspection and calibration records associated with their Request For Permits (RFPs) and Requests for Export (REXs), and upload supporting documentation directly into the system, pre and post-inspection.
  • Users can submit ‘Service Requests’ to request authorisation of an RFP/REX or issuance of In-Transit Cold Treatment (ITCT) certificate and/or Declaration and certificate as to condition (EX188).
  • Registered establishment users can view and download records for all inspections, calibrations and some treatments conducted at their establishment.
  • PEMS centralises and stores all plant export inspection, treatment supervision and calibration records, and supporting documentation, enabling faster access to information.
  • PEMS automatically validates AO job functions, treatment supervision and inspection and calibration data.
  • Inspection and calibration expiration dates are automatically calculated.
  • PEMS automatically generates and issues an invoice to the client for departmental AO services.
  • PEMS works on a range of devices including desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices (such as a tablet, iPad and on most mobile phones - see What equipment do I need to use PEMS? for more information).
  • PEMS includes an offline mode so AOs can record inspection, treatment supervision and calibration results even when there is no internet/network connection at the inspection location.
  • PEMS has a user-friendly interface and helpful automated prompts making the system easy to use.
  • PEMS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • PEMS is available to AO candidates and authorised AOs to manage their personal details, request eLearning, training and assessment and pay AO fees.

Access to PEMS is via TradeClear.

If you don’t already have a TradeClear account, you will need to create an account.

Information and support to create an account and use TradeClear, including requesting a PEMS user role, is available in Help using TradeClear.

Where a user has an electronic system for recording inspections, treatment supervisions, calibrations and/or generating export documentation, the system may be able to integrate with PEMS. This means that those clients can continue to use their existing system and the data captured in these systems will be extracted into PEMS via system integration. Users will still need to register for PEMS to allow the data transfer.

System integration specifications are currently available for third party software providers.

Where a business uses an electronic system for one step in the export pathway (for example, a container tracking system) then documents generated by that system can be attached to the PEMS record to support the inspection and/or calibration process. However, the rest of the inspection must be completed in PEMS.

Practical guidance and support materials to help AOs, exporters, EDI users and registered establishment managers to access and register for PEMS through TradeClear is available at Help using TradeClear.

Authorised Officers

Step-by-step instructions for AOs using PEMS are available under the ‘Systems’ heading on the Plant Export Operations Manual.

External executive users

Exporters, EDI users and Registered establishment managers are referred to as ‘External executive’ users of PEMS.

Step-by-step instructions for external executives using PEMS can be found below.

Download

If you have difficulty accessing these files, contact us for help.

To use PEMS, you will need:

  • a mobile phone, a laptop or other portable device (such as a tablet or iPad) or a desktop computer
  • access to the internet or other network connection through the device
  • an internet browser on the device, such as Internet Explorer or Chrome.

PEMS includes an offline function to allow AOs to record inspection, treatment supervision and calibration records when there is no internet or network connection, so access to the internet or a network connection is not required all the time.

Internet Compatibility View

If operating PEMS through Internet Explorer, you may be prompted by Internet Explorer to disable Compatibility View when opening PEMS. Compatibility View will not impact on the operation or look of the PEMS application.

If an inspection, treatment supervision or calibration has been recorded in PEMS, there is no requirement to email copies of the PEMS record or supporting documents to the department. The Service Request function allows you to request authorisation of your RFP/REX and issuance of certificates through PEMS.

Supporting documents should be attached in PEMS and available to the AO and the department at the required time in the export process, as per the applicable Micor case and Exports reference: Plant Export documents and treatments checklist.

There is also no requirement to print and retain PEMS records or keep copies of supporting documents that have been uploaded into PEMS.

For guidance in relation to requesting export certification please see Request export documents.

IT enquiries

  • External executives experiencing PEMS system or IT-related issues can email the PEMS Administrator or call the department’s enquiry line on 1800 900 090.
  • AOs experiencing PEMS system or IT-related issues can email the PEMS Administrator or call the Authorised Officer Hotline on 1800 851 305.

Registration or profile enquiries

  • Users with TradeClear registration or profile enquiries can email the TradeClear support or call 1800 571 125.
  • External executives with PEMS registration or profile enquiries can email the PEMS Administrator or call the department’s enquiry line on 1800 900 090.
  • AOs with PEMS registration, access, job function or training and assessment enquiries can contact Plant Export Training or call the AO Hotline on 1800 851 305.

Process or system function enquiries