Case Documentation Requirement

Case: Domestic dogs Effective 18 Aug 2020 to 14 Nov 2020

Documentation Requirements

The information below describes the requirements for documentation presented to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to support the risk assessment of imported goods.

Veterinary health certificate

1. Complete - All prescribed information required to be on a document must be present and complete. Additional prescribed information below:
   

   1. The document must provide identification for each animal in the consignment, including species, sex, and number of animals.
      

   2. The document must detail the microchip number and site for each animal.
      

   3. The document must detail any treatments, tests or statements as required by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment import permit.
      

   4. The document must include the nature and identification of the means of transport including any seals used.
      

   5. The document should contain the name of the exporter.
      

   6. The document should contain the name of the importer.
      

   7. The document must contain the name of the official veterinarian of the government of the exporting country. The name must be written in BLOCK LETTERS.
      

   8. The document must include the title of the official government veterinarian.
      

   9. The document must contain the telephone number of the official veterinarian of the government of the exporting country.
      

   10. The document must contain the email contact details of the official veterinarian of the government of the exporting country.
       

   11. The document must contain the address of the official veterinarian of the government of the exporting country.
       

   12. The document must contain the signature, date and stamp of the official government veterinarian on each page (with the stamp of the government veterinary administration). The date must conform to the day/month/year format. Other documents e.g. laboratory reports and tables which from part of the extended health certification must also contain this information.
       Certification must comply with Chapter 5.2 of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, including that any manual deletions to the health certificate must be signed and stamped by the official government veterinarian.
       

   13. The document must be written in a language understood by the official government veterinarian of the exporting country.
       

   14. The document must contain the name of the country of export.
       

   15. The document must contain the name of the certifying government ministry or department.
       

   16. The document must meet all requirements of the veterinary certification conditions.
       

   17. Where the document has been signed by a government approved veterinarian, it must be counter signed by the official government veterinarian.
       

   18. The document must contain the date on which the document is signed by the government approved veterinarian or official government veterinarian.
       

   19. The health certificate must conform to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code 2009.
       

2. Legible - All prescribed information required to be on a document must be legible.
   

3. Valid - Many documents are valid for a certain period. Presented documents must comply with the validity requirements specified for that class of document.
   

4. In English - All information required to be on a document must be in English. Exceptions to this rule include:
   

   1. company letterheads that do not need to be translated into English but must be in English characters.
      

   2. commercial, transport and government certification that are required to comply with international standard formats.
      

   3. signatures and names of individuals.
      

   Where a document cannot be provided in English, an affidavit will be accepted from either:
   

   1. that country’s consulate in Australia.
      

   2. the Australian embassy in the country of origin.
      

   3. a translator accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd.
      

5. Free from erasures and alterations - All prescribed information on the document must be free from erasures and alterations unless endorsed by the issuer of the document. The only acceptable endorsement is a company stamp or seal signed by the company employee (including printed name) or a government stamp or seal signed by a government employee (including printed name) applied adjacent to the alteration.
   

6. Multiple page documents - Multi page document must:
   

   • include individual reference numbers/numerical link on ALL pages of the document.
     For example, commercial invoices (or similar) must contain the documents individual reference number or numerical link on each page of the document.
     

   • contain an endorsement on the final page of the document, following the information that is being endorsed.
     

   Note: where a document has noted attachments, the attachments can follow the endorsement.
   

7. Endorsed - All documents must be endorsed by a representative of the organisation or corporation issuing the document. An endorsement must:
   

   1. be an acceptable signature or stamp as defined in the Definitions section of this policy
      

   2. appear after the information that the signatory is endorsing.
      

   Where a document has noted attachments, the endorsement can be made before the attachments.
   

8. Date of issue - All documents must identify the date of issue and is to include the day, month and year. Packing declarations may contain vessel/voyage number which can be used in lieu of the date of issue.
   

9. Consignment specific link - All documents presented to the department for assessment must have a unique consignment-specific link. Examples of consignment identification include:
   

   • container numbers
     

   • bill numbers
     

   • commercial invoice numbers
     

   • lot codes
     

   • preferential tariff certificate numbers
     

   • packing list numbers
     

   • letter of credit numbers.
     

   Where a document does not contain one of the accepted forms of consignment identification, a numerical link to another document that does contain appropriate consignment identification must be present.
   

   Examples of acceptable numerical links include:
   

   • order numbers
     

   • reference numbers
     

   • any other internal reference numbers used by overseas companies
     

   • vessel/voyage references.
     

   Numerical links alone cannot be used as consignment identification links.
   

   Unacceptable numerical links are references that could be present in previous or subsequent consignments and relate to a model, type or standardised item number. Examples of unacceptable numerical links include:
   

   • number of packages
     

   • weights
     

   • dates
     

   • stockkeeping unit
     

   • item codes.
     

   Annual packing declarations are exempt from having consignment-specific links.
   

For further information, please refer to the Minimum documentary and import declaration requirements policy.

Related Information:

• Minimum documentary and import declaration requirements policy