ATGA CEO
Audit process goes hybrid The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) will change the way it conducts grower and pack house audits this year due to the ongoing Covid situation in all states. The ATGA welcomes the change – it’s something we’ve pushed for, for a number of years now, since the start of the electronic export registration system. We’ve advised DAWE that growers who register for exports year on year, and have been compliant in all requirements, should be recognised for their compliance and effort. DAWE will trial the method this year to see if it can implement it for future years. Growers should be accredited based on past records, and compliance history, and not be required to undertake a full audit each year. A number of growers have already been subjected to a pre-season audit, those that haven’t at this stage will have a physical audit from the end of February onwards. While it is an inconvenience to have a physical audit during your harvest season, DAWE believes that it’s important to see harvest operations in action, in real time, to demonstrate that growers are doing what they say they are. Therefore, growers must take this
year’s physical audits seriously and demonstrate full compliance. This will lead to continued hybrid audits for everyone in future years, and should also reduce the audit fee. DAWE will conduct in-season audits in a hybrid model due to Covid issues affecting human resources and travel. It recognises that the current Covid situation has had a significant impact on both grower and departmental resources, meaning different methods must be employed to facilitate ongoing trade as well as maintain a required level of assurance that importing country requirements are being met. Growers must meet the requirements to ensure the hybrid audit model is successful. What does that entail? There will be an initial phone entry meeting, which will cover pest notification and monitoring requirements, as well as discussions on reference materials and specific conditions for protocol exports (such as product security requirements, IPM on farms, etc.) A review of recordkeeping will also take place during this initial call. DAWE will then undertake a remote desktop audit where it will initiate an audit meeting request/email to have a time for an entry meeting, exit meeting and request that the establishment manager be available for questions via phone.
Growers will be expected to explain notification requirements for changes to accredited properties, or if a pest of concern was detected what actions were taken and how were they documented. Don’t forget that any action undertaken in your pest monitoring must be substantiated in your spray diaries. Other questions will be based on the work plans for countries growers are accredited for. Essentially, the discussions involved with the desktop review conversations will cover elements that would normally be discussed and examined as part of the traditional face-to-face audit experienced in previous years. The topics will include records relevant to the audited entity, such as: training records, hygiene records, traceability, importing country requirements. They’ll also request records that would normally be provided as part of a site audit, as outlined in various performance standards on the DAWE website. The onsite physical audit components are usually those not easily verified through documentation alone. The aviator will need to verify that documentation submitted during a remote audit is the same submitted during during a physical audit. Depending on the grower being audited, the auditor may require viewing of traps, labelling, storage, hygiene, etc. Growers can refer to the performance standards on the DAWE website to find out more about what to expect. We hope your audits are successful and your season fruitful! You can see what our chair has to say about the season in our 2022 board update, on page 22. v
Jeff Scott | CEO
12 VINE MAGAZINE
