Apple and/or pear growers and exporters from mainland Australia wanting to export fruit to Thailand must register online.
Registration is done online using a system developed by Australian Table Grape Association that will enable growers to register their property for accreditation to export to protocol markets.
BEFORE you can complete the online registration form YOU MUST contact APAL so that you can be issued with a welcome email and password to access the system. If you registered in previous years you will receive an email with a temporary password allowing you to log in, change your password and edit your existing details.
The registration process is mandatory.
If you are a grower only you will just need to register your orchard blocks.
If you are a grower AND a pack house / cold store / treatment facility, you may now complete one registration for all entities using the one application.
If you are a packhouse / cold store / treatment facility only, you are still required to complete the registration process, regardless of whether or not you have a Registered Establishment Number issued by DoAWR. Instead of mapping orchard blocks, the packhouse facility should be mapped.
As of 2018 packhouses also need to attach their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which includes processes relating to:
- grading, handling and packing of fruit
- hygiene programs
- dealing with pests of quarantine concern including treatment records
- a documented system to allow traceability of fruit back to the accredited orchard/block
- staff training.
Once the registration process is complete, you will be issued with orchard block numbers, e.g. AP100-A01. If you are registering a packhouse / cold store / treatment facility a separate number will be issued e.g. AP100-PCT01. These numbers will then be provided to the importing country by DoAWR and all boxed and labelled fruit going into that market will be reconciled with this master list and will therefore demonstrate the fruit was sourced and or packed from a registered and approved facility.
Note: Effective 25 August, 2018, the Thailand Ministry of Public Health, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified all trading partners of Requirements for Production Processes, production Equipment, Storage and Labelling of some fruit and vegetables (including apples and pears). These packhouse requirements are in addition to any phytosanitary export requirements or import requirements of the Thailand Department of Agriculture.
The Australian Government has provided a submission to the Thailand Government on food safety schemes that meet the requirements, but has yet to receive a response. Australian exporters should communicate with their Thai importers and suppliers to ensure that all Thailand FDA food safety and phytosanitary requirements are met.
