Just in case you were wondering, the word ePhyto stands for electronic phytosanitary Certificate. A Phytosanitary certificate is a document that goes along with agricultural consignments meant for export markets declaring the merchandise is free from pests and diseases of quarantine importance to the importing country. Now, as opposed to printing paper documents, Tanzania will be exchanging electronic versions of the same.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). Through the IPPC, FAO technically supports countries to implement international standards of Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM). ISPM No. 12 provides a guideline for a structured internationally acceptable Phytosanitary Certificate which caters to clear communication on the level of a declaration of the merchandise's freedom from pests to the importing country. Any alteration to the format voids the validity of the certificate. The IPPC has also provided a hub for countries to connect and exchange phytosanitary certificates electronically.

With the introduction of the ePhyto system, personnel from Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority responsible for issuing Phytosanitary certificates need not worry about making errors in the format as the system standardizes this. Additionally, the introduction of ePhyto will eliminate the existence of forged phytosanitary certificates, saving traders from the predicament of rejection of merch in foreign border posts. The phytosanitary certificates are exchanged in advance to the authorities of the importing countries. It goes without mentioning the costs saved emanating from the routine printing of thousands of certificates. 

FAO is the implementing agency of the project “Strengthening Plant Health Services in Tanzania for Enhanced Food Safety” (STREPHIT)*”. One of the main outputs of the project is to ensure that Tanzania gets on board the ePhyto program. This is being done by upgrading the Agriculture Trade Management Information System (ATMIS) through the addition of a module that allows it to send and receive ePhytos to and from the hub. In the first round of tests, ATMIS has managed to send and retrieve phytosanitary certificates from the hub. The second round of successful tests involved the exchange of phytosanitary certificates with TRACES which is the platform the European Union uses to exchange phytosanitary certificates through the hub.

With this new development, the country is now poised to officially launch ePhyto services to its traders. This is exciting news for the sector and the country. FAO and TPHPA are currently working together to smoothly roll out the program through capacity building and provision of the necessary infrastructure

*STREPHIT is funded through a contribution agreement between the EU (9.8Mio€), FAO (0.35Mio€), and the Government of Tanzania (0.25Mio€)