Exporters

SEDA is SAL’s dedicated export committee, comprising industry representatives from across the summerfruit export supply chain: growers, packers, exporters and marketers. SEDA provides strategic direction to SAL’s export development work and serves as the peak consultative body for the industry’s export priorities.

If you are an active exporter or packer involved in the protocol market supply chain, SEDA is the body that represents your interests within the industry’s governance structure. SEDA members are involved in setting the priorities for levy-funded export programs, reviewing market intelligence and advising on industry responses to trade issues.

Enquire about SEDA membership and involvement →

Australia’s summerfruit export protocols are among the most rigorous in the world, and that rigour is precisely what gives Australian fruit its credibility and price premium in Asian markets. Maintaining that reputation requires every exporter and packer in the chain to meet the requirements every season, without exception.

Which markets have protocols?

Protocol markets for Australian summerfruit are currently China, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Each requires specific accreditation before fruit can be exported. Markets without protocols (such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Canada and Indonesia) have different requirements and no mandatory farm or packhouse registration, though food safety and quality standards still apply.

Annual registration: what’s required

Registration for protocol market accreditation opens mid-June each season, with applications due by mid-July. Late applications are not accepted. The process is managed through the SAL export registration system.

• Farms: Must hold current accreditation for the specific protocol country they intend to export to. Accreditation requirements include pest-free area certification, crop monitoring by a trained and accredited crop monitor and compliance with all relevant protocols.
• Packhouses: Must hold current accreditation. Additional requirements vary by market. Thailand requires compliance with food safety ‘good practices’ requirements. China requires specific packhouse auditing and identification on approved lists supplied to Chinese authorities.
• Treatment facilities: Facilities conducting cold treatment, irradiation or fumigation (combination treatment) must be separately registered. Not all treatment types are available for all markets. MA (modified atmosphere) liners cannot be used where methyl bromide fumigation is the treatment method.
• Crop monitors: Must complete annual online training and assessment through Learnhub by the season deadline. Only accredited crop monitors may conduct monitoring at protocol-accredited properties.

Register for export accreditation →🔒 Member access

DAFF audits

DAFF conducts both announced and unannounced audits of accredited farms and packhouses. New applicants, those not accredited in the prior season, are subject to mandatory pre-season auditing. Ongoing accreditation is contingent on audit outcomes. SAL’s trade development team is the primary industry contact for exporters navigating the audit process.

Export pathways by protocol market

Source: DAFF Industry Advice Notice 2024-35. Requirements are subject to change; confirm with DAFF and SAL before each season.

Managing compliance issues

Export compliance issues (MRL breaches, audit failures, variety naming issues, registration irregularities) require prompt response and careful management. SAL’s trade development team is experienced in navigating these situations with DAFF and in-market authorities.

Issues managed by SAL on behalf of the industry in recent seasons include MRL breaches in apricots to the EU, MRL breaches to Taiwan, variety naming requirements for plums into China and fruit quality complaints in Vietnam. In each case, SAL prepared information, coordinated with DAFF and distributed guidance to affected parties.

If you have an urgent export compliance issue, contact SAL directly: admin@summerfruit.com.au

MRL compliance is one of the highest-stakes obligations in the export supply chain. MRL standards vary significantly between importing countries, and some countries apply standards stricter than Codex Alimentarius guidelines or maintain a zero-tolerance (0.01 ppm) default for unregistered compounds. A single breach can result in shipment rejection, suspension of individual property accreditation and reputational damage to the broader industry’s market access.

Current MRL information

SAL distributes current MRL and withholding period (WHP) data to registered exporters and crop monitors each season, covering China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, Canada and Indonesia.

Contact SAL for current MRL listings →

The MRL App: coming soon

A cross-industry Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) compliance app (MT25002) is in development, providing real-time, country-specific MRL and WHP data for summerfruit and 16 other horticultural commodities via a single platform. This tool will significantly reduce the manual burden of MRL tracking for exporters managing multiple markets.

Register to be notified when the MRL app launches →

Regulatory support

SAL, through the levy-funded regulatory coordination program (MT24008), engages with APVMA and international regulatory bodies including Codex to monitor proposed MRL changes, assess risks to Australian market access and coordinate industry responses where needed. Growers and exporters who identify potential MRL issues are encouraged to contact SAL promptly.

Getting fruit from orchard to export market in eating condition is where the commercial value of Australian summerfruit is won or lost. The resources below are drawn from research by Agriculture Victoria, SAL and Hort Innovation, grounded in commercial sea freight and air freight trials with Australian summerfruit.

Harvest maturity

Fruit harvested at the wrong maturity either fails to ripen properly after sea freight or arrives overripe and unmarketable. Harvesting at correct maturity is the single most important factor in export supply chain success, more important than packaging, cold chain management or transit time.

Harvest maturity and sea freight export recommendations: a practical reference covering maximum recommended harvest maturity (Iad values), maximum harvest firmness, maximum storage periods and risk of storage disorders for selected white nectarine, white peach, yellow nectarine and plum cultivars.

Download the harvest maturity and sea freight export guide →

Key finding: information on harvest maturity to maximise storage, shelf life and eating quality is not yet available for many current export cultivars. The SF23005 project is addressing this gap. New cultivar-specific protocols are published as they become available.

View SF23005 project outputs →

Stepwise cooling after harvest

Stepwise cooling, also known as preconditioning, involves an initial acclimatisation period at 10 to 12°C for 36 to 48 hours before final rapid cooling to 0 to 2°C. Agriculture Victoria research demonstrates this approach likely reduces susceptibility to storage disorders (particularly flesh browning and mealiness) compared to traditional rapid cooling and reduces time in the dangerous 3 to 8°C ‘kill zone’.

Process: Harvest → Store at 10 to 12°C for ~36 hours → Grade, pack, palletise → Rapid cool to 0 to 2°C → Storage at 0 to 2°C → Market arrival target: under 3°C.

First in, first out discipline is essential. Preconditioning should not exceed 48 hours for any batch.

Download the stepwise cooling factsheet →

Modified Atmosphere (MA) liners for sea freight

MA liners are now the recommended liner for summerfruit sea freight, particularly for long-duration consignments. They work by reducing oxygen concentration and increasing carbon dioxide around the fruit, reducing flesh softening and storage disorders compared to traditional perforated high-humidity liners.

Benefits:

• Likely to extend storage life by up to two weeks for most peach and nectarine cultivars
• Significantly reduces incidence of severe flesh browning in moderately and highly susceptible cultivars (25 to 50% reduction in trials)

Key considerations:

• MA liners must be sealed to be effective. They cannot be used where methyl bromide fumigation is the treatment method. They are suitable for irradiation treatment.
• Maximum storage life in MA liners: 6 to 7 weeks for moderately susceptible cultivars; 4 to 5 weeks for highly susceptible cultivars.
• Cold chain temperature management is critical to maintaining beneficial CO₂ levels within sealed liners.

Download the MA liner factsheet →

Cool chain management and tracking

Agriculture Victoria research across 150 plus monitored sea and air freight consignments of Australian summerfruit to Asian markets confirms that excessive transit times and temperature fluctuations are the primary causes of quality loss. Temperature fluctuations of up to 15°C are not uncommon even under normal supply chain conditions, and unforeseen delays at trans-shipment or customs inspection points can extend supply chain duration significantly.

Real-time temperature and GPS loggers allow exporters to monitor consignment conditions, set alerts, and redirect produce or notify importers to prioritise sales where delays have occurred. Logger data also provides evidence in the event of quality disputes.

Recommended logger placement: Top of cartons or near container doors for best signal reception. Reduce logging frequency to extend battery life on longer consignments.

Download the export supply chain tracking and monitoring guide →

Export specifications: peaches and nectarines

Australian industry specifications for export peaches and nectarines cover:

• Sweetness (Brix): Premium export ≥14%; Minimum export ≥11%; Minimum domestic ≥10%
• Blush: Premium export ≥70%; Minimum export ≥40%; Minimum domestic ≥20%
• Background colour: Avoid bright green (immature, will not ripen)
• Sugar spotting: Small sugar spots (speckle) on the top half indicate high sweetness
• Size: 55 to 70mm diameter (grade dependent)
• Storage: 0 to 2°C; avoid 2 to 8°C kill zone; consume within 48 hours once at 20°C plus

Download the full Australian peach and nectarine export specifications →

Understanding what’s happening in your target markets, not just at the start of the season but week by week, is what separates exporters who build durable market relationships from those who are constantly reactive. SAL distributes weekly and monthly market intelligence reports during the season to registered exporters and crop monitors.

What you receive

• Weekly market reports: In-market conditions, buyer demand, competitor supply from Chile and South Africa, retail pricing and logistics updates for China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, UAE and Canada.
• Monthly analysis: Seasonal market summaries, trend analysis and forward outlooks.
• End-of-season reports: Comprehensive Summerfruit Global Market Trade Analysis, distributed to all registered exporters and growers following each season. Covers all major markets, variety performance, competitor analysis and recommendations for the following season.
• Country-specific analyses: Periodic deep-dive reports on individual markets including India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, produced in consultation with in-market representatives.

Register to receive export intelligence →

Key market snapshot (2023/24)

Source: SF19000 Final Report (Hort Innovation), citing ABS data via IHS Global Trade Atlas / Fresh Intelligence analysis.

The 2023/24 season delivered a record export value of A$95.28 million, the highest in the industry’s history, on 20,774 tonnes. Unit price held at A$4.59/kg, consistent with 2022/23 and significantly above the A$3.87/kg recorded in the 2018/19 volume record season. The industry’s 2030 target is 40,000 tonnes.

Vietnam: Plums (September 2024): Australian plums gained market access to Vietnam following two years of negotiations. SAL’s CEO attended the signing ceremony in Hanoi alongside DAFF, DFAT and Vietnamese Government representatives. Marketing activities in Vietnam are ongoing through the Hort Innovation international marketing program. With market development, SAL projects a potential 15% share of plum imports within five years, approximately 2,500 tonnes valued at A$7.5 million.

Vietnam: Peaches and Nectarines (2022): Full access secured in 2022 following trial shipments. Vietnam is growing as a market with significant long-term potential, particularly around Lunar New Year.

Japan and South Korea: Business cases for summerfruit market access have been prepared and submitted to Hort Innovation and DAFF. SAL continues to work toward formal market access negotiations for both markets.

China market stability: Following geopolitical disruptions in prior seasons that prevented new growers from accessing China’s approved lists, the issue was resolved in 2023 and a new approved list published. China remains the dominant market at 59% of export volume.

View the Exporter Directory →

Industry partner membership of SAL gives export businesses direct access to the operational support, intelligence and compliance infrastructure that underpins Australian summerfruit’s market presence.

What SAL members in the export supply chain receive:

• Export registration support: priority communications, direct access to the trade development team and support navigating the accreditation process and any audit issues.
• In-season market intelligence: weekly market reports, monthly analysis and end-of-season trade analysis across all major markets.
• MRL compliance updates: current MRL and WHP data distributed each season, and alerts for any regulatory changes affecting Australian summerfruit.
• Pre-season training materials and roadshow access: crop monitoring training resources, registration guides, export manual and access to pre-season grower and exporter roadshows.
• Post-harvest technical resources: stepwise cooling, MA liner, cold chain, harvest maturity and specification guides, all member-accessible through the portal.
• SEDA representation: access to the industry’s peak export advisory body and a voice in setting export strategy priorities.
• Industry representation: SAL advocates for Australian summerfruit market access with DAFF, DFAT, Austrade and in-country government representatives.

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