WHEREAS, electronic certification is based on the original international standard, stipulated in the UN/EDIFACT (United Nations EDIFACT) for electronic data interchange (SANCRT). The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (N2FSA), in 1998, developed an Internet-based (secure) electronic certification system (E-cert) and in 2001, the NZFSA augmented this service by transmitting certificate data, directly encoding it with the Extensible Markup Language, XML;

WHEREAS, the NZFSA E-cert system complies with UNCEFACT (Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business of the United Nations) E-cert Data Element Standard. The purpose of E-cert Data Element Standard is to define the electronic transmission of data exchanged between government inspection and quarantine authorities involved in s border clearance activities. The Standard is based on the structure of the UN/CEFACT Business Requirements Specification (BRS) document, reference CEFACT/ICG/005;

WHEREAS, animal products E-cert is the NZFSA internet application for providing direct Government to Government assurances about compliance of New Zealand (NZ) products with regulatory requirements;

WHEREAS, its purpose is to track the market eligibility and products status of animal products from the time of production until export and the approval of an export health certificate;

WHEREAS, E-cert will reduce the likelihood of fraud, respond to international trends, have the benefit of a paperless certification thus reducing the total cost of certification and the error rate, provide secure data exchange (bank security), and allow response to changing market requirements;

WHEREAS, E-cert provides immediate electronic access by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to export certificates signed in NZ, allowing planning of import clearance and inspection procedures;

WHEREAS, E-cert is widely used by many countries including EU, USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Jordan;

WHEREAS, the Philippines imports animal products from NZ, which has an excellent history of compliance with Philippines food safety and certification requirements.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARTHUR C. YAP, Secretary of Agriculture, by the powers vested in me by law, do hereby institute the use of E-cert from NZ and authorize the following:

1. The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) will be the recipient of E-cert certificates from NZ. The BAI may accept, reject or request revision of electronic health certificates from NZ and pass certificate information to other agencies;

2. The Information Technology Center for Agriculture and Fisheries (ITCAF) will provide the hardware, software, and connectivity requirements, its installation and periodic mainte nance;

3. BAI and ITCAF may issue guidelines to effect the implementation of E-cert.

This Order shall lake effect immediately.

Adopted: 25 March 2008

(SGD.) ARTHUR C. YAP
Secretary

Recommended by:

(SGD.) DAVINIO P. CATBAGAN, DVM
Officer In-Charge, BAI

(SGD.) ROLANDO M. SALUNGA
Director, 1TCAF