You will need this accreditation to operate a business that can issue Plant Health Assurance Certificates (PHAC). A PHAC is taken as evidence of compliance with quarantine requirements for interstate or intrastate trade. You can apply for this accreditation if you frequently move fruit or vegetables interstate or between quarantine zones and require a PHAC.
The Interstate Certification Assurance (ICA) scheme is a nationally recognised plant health certification system. An ICA will allow you to export produce knowing it has met strict quarantine guidelines before arriving interstate as well as enabling your business to be accredited by a plant quarantine authority to issue plant health assurance certificates for your produce.
ICA is based on operational procedures developed with industry and interstate quarantine authorities. It allows you to move produce interstate without the need for quarantine checks.
If you do not frequently move plants, fruit or vegetables, another option is to have your goods certified on a case-by-case basis.
Your ICA arrangement will be audited by the department before you are approved as an accredited certifier. Audits systematically examine your business processes, staff, equipment and facilities to verify that it meets the requirements of the operational procedure covering the ICA arrangement.
If an ICA does not exist for your produce, you will need to check the entry conditions for the state or territory where you would like to send your produce, and the regulators in the state or territory where the produce is grown, in order to get a PHAC.
