South Korea's Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency has expanded its electronic phytosanitary certificate (ePhyto) exchange network to 22 countries and launched an online service allowing importers and exporters to check certificate transmission status around the clock. The move is expected to speed up customs clearance for agricultural products and accelerate the digital transformation of quarantine administration. The agency announced Tuesday that it has added Argentina and four EU member states — France, Italy, Denmark and Malta — to the ePhyto exchange network and began operating the new online tracking service Monday. The expansion brings the total number of participating countries from 17 to 22. The ePhyto system allows the plant quarantine authority of an exporting country to prepare a phytosanitary certificate as an electronic document in accordance with International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) standards and transmit it directly to the importing country's quarantine authority via an international data network. Under the previous paper-based system, certificates sent by international mail or courier could take several days to reach the destination country. With the electronic system, certificates are transmitted to the counterpart quarantine authority the moment they are issued. This shortens the time needed to issue and submit quarantine certificates, speeds up customs clearance, and reduces the risk of forgery or falsification by replacing physical documents with electronic data exchange. With the newly introduced online tracking service, agricultural import and export companies can check the transmission and receipt status of electronic certificates directly through the agency's website and its online quarantine civil affairs system, 24 hours a day. Previously, companies had to contact the quarantine authority directly to confirm whether a certificate had been sent; they can now do so online at any time and from any location. "The electronic certificate is a flagship service in the digital transformation of quarantine administration, contributing to faster and more reliable import and export quarantine processes," agency chief Choe Jeong-rok said. "In the second half of this year, we will expand commercial operations to 11 more EU countries and continue consultations with major trading partners in Asia, including the Philippines and China. We will also keep expanding digital quarantine services that people can tangibly benefit from, such as the online tracking service introduced this time." (ICE SEOUL)

Fonte notizia: The Herald Business