ePhyto is short for “electronic phytosanitary certificate”. An ePhyto is the electronic equivalent of a phytosanitary certificate in XML format. All the information contained in a paper phytosanitary certificate is also in the ePhyto. ePhytos are produced in accordance with ISPM 12 including Appendix 1
The IPPC ePhyto Solution consists of three main elements):
- A central server (Hub): to facilitate the transfer of electronic phytosanitary certificates between NPPOs, either from and to their own national electronic system or by using the generic system described below.
- A Generic ePhyto National System (GeNS): a web-based system that can produce and receive ePhytos, to allow countries that do not have a national electronic system to produce, send and receive ePhytos.
- Harmonization: the structure and transmission of ePhytos will follow a harmonized format through the use of standardized mapping, codes and lists
