Ireland has joined the ePhyto Hub, a system that supports the trade of healthy plants which are certified as free from pests and diseases.
The Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Pippa Hackett, confirmed Ireland’s membership of the Hub which employs the “electronic phytosanitary certificate” (ePhyto) system.
Minister Hackett said the Hub allows the “exchange of ePhyto certificates between Ireland and certain third countries outside of the EU who can receive ePhyto Certificates”.
“This supports our Irish exporters and importers making trade faster, more efficient and cheaper.”
“The use of electronic certification is a significant step forward for both industry and my department,” she added.
The ePhyto Hub allows the electronic exchange of certificates between National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPO) that will show that the plants and plant products that are being exported are not carrying harmful pests and diseases.
Ireland holds a worldwide status of being free of many plant pests and diseases that are in other parts of the world, a fact now recognised through the connection with the ePhyto Hub.
Exporter guidelines
Ireland’s new connection to the ePhyto Hub will not change the application process for exporters who are applying for a phytosanitary certificate.
For exporters applying for a phytosanitary certificate for a consignment, they should continue to use the department’s export certification system.
Once the necessary controls have been completed, an ePhyto certificate will be automatically sent from the export certification system to the ePhyto Hub, via TRACES, which the receiving country will be able to access.
The department will no longer issue hard copy phytosanitary certificates for exports to certain third countries.
A trader notice regarding these changes has been issued to all professional operators who are registered with the department.
If exporting to countries which cannot receive ePhyto certificates, there will be no change and hard copy phytosanitary certificates will continue to be used.