Announcement of USA program to facilitate trade with Dominican Republic

Improve trade. Replace paper certificates with electronic ones, streamlining processes

To improve trade flow, the Dominican Government will adopt the phytosanitary electronic certification system (ePhyto / GeNs) with the support of the United States Government through its Trade Safe or Trade Safe (TraSa) project.

This innovative tool harmonizes standards and facilitates transactions through electronic certificates, thus replacing traditional paper certificates.

This makes it possible to optimize the security of official communications between countries and reduces costs by reducing complex processes concerning the exchange of electronic data.

ePhyto / GeNs will be applied by the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture and is promoted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in alliance with the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).
The Minister of Agriculture, Limber Cruz, highlighted this tool that will speed up the procedures required for importing and exporting plant products.

The director of the TraSa project, Brian Rudert, pointed out that ePhyto/GeNs will increase the efficiency of the processes by replacing 62,000 paper forms with electronic ones, representing an automatic impact on the reduction of transit time through the ports of entry. In addition, Rudert said that in the case of perishable products, they would be able to move faster they guarantee more shelf life, which means benefits for all.

The TraSa project has been supporting the Department of Plant Health of the Ministry of Agriculture with the adoption of the ePhyto system through strengthening the capacities of inspectors of the Department with the use of this tool. Similarly, the project foresees an investment of approximately US $ 250,000 to integrate the ePhyto system with the Foreign Trade Single Window (VUCE) system.

The director of the Department of Plant Health of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rosa Lazala, explained that they are the executing body of ePhyto/GeNs and urged all sectors involved in export and import activities to have confidence in the change to digital and that at the same time are integrated into the use of this tool.

“This tool is safe, easy to use and quickly transmits the forms, which translates into direct economic benefits for these sectors and the country,” he explained during the launch of the certificate yesterday at the Dominican Fiesta hotel.