The online phytosanitary certificate
Plant-health clearance, issued online and shared across borders
A ready-made online service for issuing phytosanitary certificates, built by UNCTAD, connected to the IPPC ePhyto Hub, and ready for your country to adopt.
The certificate
What is a phytosanitary certificate?
An official document, issued by a country's National Plant Protection Organization, confirming that a shipment of plants or plant products has been inspected and is free from quarantine pests.
- Issued by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO)
- Follows the international standard ISPM 12
- Travels with the goods as proof of plant health
ePhyto is the digital version of that certificate: the proof of plant health is shared instantly between authorities, so fresh shipments clear the border before they spoil.
For the exporter
The certificate is what allows a shipment to enter the destination country. Without it, the goods can be refused or destroyed at the border.
For the importer
Confidence that the goods will clear customs quickly and reach final customers still fresh.
How it works
Certificates that arrive before the shipment does
The IPPC ePhyto Hub is a global exchange run under the International Plant Protection Convention. Connected countries send and receive certificates through it electronically, instead of couriering paper.
One international standard, built into the service
Every certificate uses the same format (UN/CEFACT) and the same data requirements, so a certificate issued in one country can be read, trusted and processed automatically in another.
This needs structured, internationally-coded data. The UNCTAD service captures it by design: a country adopting it is Hub-ready instead of starting a data-mapping project from zero.
Coded by default
The coded data travels the whole journey: the applicant form, the inspection pages, and the final certificate. It makes the service Hub-ready end to end.
The applicant's journey, step by step
Follow an exporter on our live service in Bhutan as they enter product data, obtain and transmit the certificate to the IPPC Hub.
ePhyto can be adapted to any country's legal framework and code lists.
Behind the scenes: automatic submission to the Hub
No extra step for the exporter: when the certificate is approved, the service sends it to the importing country through the Hub.
Benefits
What countries gain by adopting it
Local ownership
The service runs on a low-code tool operated by local staff: UNCTAD assists the plant-health authority, which configures, updates and runs it itself, and sustains it with its own staff and budget, with no need for expensive programmers.
An internationally approved standard
Every certificate follows the internationally approved norm, the IPPC's ePhyto standard, with the same coded data everywhere. The result is structured data, less paperwork and fraud-resistant certificates, exchanged through the Hub at more than 250,000 a month.
Business growth
Local traders get their certificates and ship in days instead of weeks: produce arrives fresh, buyers stay, and new export markets open.
Hub figures: IPPC ePhyto Solution, 2026.
What UNCTAD offers
A ready-to-use online service, built to the Hub's standard and connected in production
Instead of building a system from scratch, a country adopts a proven online phytosanitary-certificate service and connects it to the IPPC ePhyto Hub, the global exchange through which countries send and receive electronic certificates.
Adopt it
What we would do for your country
The service is built once on the low-code eRegistrations platform and reused. Adopting it means configuring it to national law and code lists, not building from scratch, and connecting to the Hub.
Configure to national law
The proven applicant journey is localized to your legal framework, fees and code lists.
Connect to the Hub
IPPC and ISO code lists are built in; the standard bridge carries certificates to the Hub.
Hand over to your staff
Your team is trained to configure and run the service themselves, with UNCTAD technical cooperation.
Contact us
Are you a ministry, a border or trade authority or donor? Message us to set up a live demo of the service, or to discuss funding an implementation in your country.