NORTH Burnett citrus growers have been left scrambling to find other markets for their produce, after Indonesia failed to issue import permits for fruits other than lemons for the July-September 2015 quarter.

The Department of Agriculture has confirmed the import restrictions are not isolated to Australia, but that it would put growers into a difficult position trying to source alternative markets during the busiest part of the season.

While some local exporters have managed to already find those alternative markets in countries including India and Thailand others are still looking for buyers.

Gayndah Packers marketing manager Werner Tonsing said its farmers were likely to feel an impact to their hip pockets.

"It will definitely have a big effect. We exported 16 containers of honey murcotts (mandarins) to Indonesia last year," he said.

"There is about 22 pallets to a container so it is a big volume to find somewhere else to send.

"We will be looking at sending some to Thailand, Taiwan and China but they are much smaller markets and China only takes a premium product.

"Because there will be so much produce around those markets will be able to ask a lesser price."

Mundubbera Ironbark Citrus owner Allen Jenkin said about a month ago it looked as though Indonesia wasn't going to issue permits and he had already found an alternative market for his mandarins and oranges.

"It was an important market and the loss of any market is not good but we had access for the first half of the year and hopefully it's not permanent," he said.

Mr Hocking said it appeared Indonesia was looking to give greater support to its own producers, but he believes they would still need to import citrus to meet demand.

"It will take a long time before they are able to generate most of their own food," he said.

Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers executive officer Peter Hocking described the lack of Indonesian import permit as a "minor hiccup"

"It's certainly not the largest market," he said.

He said he was looking forward to seeing what markets the Fair Trade Agreement would open up.

Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce and the Department of Agriculture had been in ongoing discussions with the citrus industry over this issue for several months.

However yesterday he announced Vietnam has now re-opened the market for Australian citrus, which would be welcomed by farmers.