The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and OriginsNext have focused the Coral Traceability Solution after listening to fishers and revisiting the program's objectives. The solution tags and traces corals destined for export under the F and C source codes. Chipping and tracing all wild coral (the W code) is not within the required scope at this time but can be voluntarily tracked if desired by the fisher. This still lets the Australian Government distinguish between wild, fragmented and captive-bred coral, which is a key objective of the program.
The CITES source codes
Coral for export is classified under a CITES source code. The solution tags F and C coral; W coral is not tagged at this time.
Source code | What it means | Tagged and in scope? |
W (Wild) | A specimen taken from the wild and exported as such, including a wild colony separated into multiple pieces. | No, but can be tagged and tracked on a voluntary basis if desired by the fisher. |
F (Farmed) | Animals born in captivity (the first generation, F1, or later) that do not meet the CITES "bred in captivity" definition in Res. Conf. 10.16 (Rev.), as well as parts and derivatives. | Yes (tagged). See the note on the F pathway below. |
C (Captive-bred) | Animals born in captivity in a controlled environment that meet the asexual coral captive breeding definition adopted at CITES CoP20 (Doc 66.2, amending Res. Conf. 11.10 (Rev. CoP15)), as well as parts and derivatives. | Yes (tagged). |
Important: A legislative pathway for F-code coral has not yet been enacted in the EPBC Regulations. A regulatory change is required before F-code export can proceed, expected to take around 12 months. Implementing the traceability solution now helps give the confidence needed to enable this.
How F and C coral arise
Parents are sourced and fragged or grown, or nominated as broodstock under permit conditions. Offspring produced in a controlled environment from parents (at least one of which was taken from or conceived in the wild) are the first generation, F1. As they grow, accumulating more than 50% growth, they progress through generations (F1, then F2 and beyond). Tracking this is what lets the solution distinguish wild, fragmented and captive-bred coral.
Note: Under the EPBC Regulations, a controlled environment is one that is managed to produce a particular species, has boundaries designed to prevent animals, eggs or gametes entering or leaving, and provides artificial life support (for example housing, temperature control, waste removal, health care, protection from predators and supplied food).
Domestic Conservation Aquaculture
Some captive-bred coral goes to Domestic Conservation Aquaculture, for example the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), rather than to export. This is research-based at this stage but may expand, and is likely to require traceability. Reintroduction into Marine Parks requires separate permits.
The new asexual coral captive breeding definitions were adopted at CITES CoP20 in December 2025. For the full scope update and a visual depiction, see the Coral Traceability Solution Scope Update.