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Melissa O’Dell (301) 734-5222
Jerry Redding (202) 720-4623
USDA LAUNCHES NEW ELECTRONIC SYSTEM TO STREAMLINE EXPORT PROCESS
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2006–As part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s overall eGovernment initiative to transform and enhance the delivery of its programs, services and information, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today launched a new electronic system to streamline its export process.
The Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking system (PCIT), currently in the second phase of a multi-phase effort, is an interactive, Web-based system that allows U.S. exporters to apply for phytosanitary certificates online, schedule commodity inspections and printout copies of their certificates. This new system will improve the tracking and trace-back of federal phytosanitary certificates, improve reporting capabilities and reduce the incidence of error or fraud. PCIT also enables APHIS to better manage authorized certification officials’ workloads as well as enhance security and accountability for phytosanitary certificates. The current phase allows exporters to apply for the following two plant protection and quarantine (PPQ) certificates online: PPQ form 572— Application for Inspection and Certification of Domestic Plant and Plant Products for Export and PPQ form 577—The Phytosanitary Certificate .
Many features are included in this phase of PCIT, such as reusable templates for certificate applications so exporters only have to enter the information once. This feature will save customers a tremendous amount of time and effort spent on paper-based applications.
More advances are underway, including the ability to apply for more types of certificates as well as a payment engine capability so customers can pay federal fees as part of the on-line process. This feature is designed and operated in way to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of applicant information. PCIT is available online at https://pcit.aphis.usda.gov/pcit/.
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