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Ag Exporting Update: USDA Aphis Improves Phytosanitary Certificate And Issuance Tracking System

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Liza C. Moore
Foster Swift Agricultural Law Update
March 2012

On February 16, 2012, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that it was improving its Phytosanitary Certificate and Issuance Tracking System (PCIT). PCIT was created in 2005 and controls phytosanitary certificates for certain exported agricultural commodities. In the next few months, PCIT will start automatically transferring phytosanitary certificates to foreign countries receiving U.S. exports. PCIT will also be expanding the availability of user-printed certificates. Both of these improvements should reduce paperwork delays. "Strong agricultural trade is the key to building and strengthening this nation’s economy," said Rebecca Blue, Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. "USDA is dedicated to providing U.S. businesses with the resources they need to reach consumers around the world. Improvements to our PCIT system reduce delays to our customers and reduce government labor costs by eliminating redundancies."

To learn more about this improvement, please visit APHIS webpage.