Australia: Market trial streamlines fruit and vegetable record keeping
If successful, the new system — created by the Department of Environment and Primary Industries — could soon see paper plant health certificates replaced with electronic records, improving the efficiency and accuracy of fresh produce traceability and biosecurity.
The system works on a similar premise to the National Livestock Identification System for tracking the movement of cattle, which was introduced in Victoria in 1999.
DEPI plant program manager Aimee Liston said a newly developed mobile app could combine several manual paper processes into one.
“This app will allow Plant Standards Centre field staff to issue the electronic plant health certificates (that) buyers required to move produce from the market floor, saving time and reducing the margin for human error and duplication,” Ms Liston said.
Large horticulture growers and agribusinesses at the market currently complete paper applications, manage paper certificates and make payments based on carbon-book issued invoices.
The system is used for biosecurity purposes when fresh produce is sent interstate.
“It is used when we send this to Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia and to the Sunraysia Pest Free Area,” Ms Liston said.
The app has been in development since last November.
Three businesses are participating in the trial.
The trial began on October 20 and will continue until the end of this week, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
“There’s been a few minor hiccups with a few aspects,” Ms Liston said, and a few things had been tweaked.
“We’re hoping the trial will run fully for a week, so we haven’t put an end date on it.”
Growers were not pushing for an electronic system, Ms Liston said.
If all went well, the program would be pushed through to all businesses in the market that export stock interstate.
“We could even extend it out to wholesale nurseries,” Ms Liston said.
Source: www.weeklytimesnow.com.au