Chile and Indonesia have introduced electronic phytosanitary certificates (ePhyto) to modernise procedures for the exchange of agricultural and forestry products. The system covers fruit and vegetable products, forestry goods, plant propagation material and re-export certificates in both directions, enabling documents to be processed electronically without paper copies, reports El Maipo, a partner of TV BRICS.
Chile’s Minister of Agriculture, Jaime Campos, said the initiative reflects the cooperation between the two countries in plant health. He noted that electronic certification would help accelerate trade procedures while maintaining the phytosanitary safeguards that protect agricultural and forestry production.
The introduction of electronic certification builds on existing agricultural exchanges between the countries. Since 2018, Chile has issued 3,263 paper phytosanitary certificates for shipments to Indonesia, covering more than 45.7 million kilogrammes of goods. Fruit and vegetable products accounted for 61.2 per cent of the certificates, with fresh grapes among the main products, while forestry goods represented 38.49 per cent, led by sawn pine timber.
The ePhyto system is expected to improve document security, shorten processing times and reduce the need for printing, transporting and storing paper certificates. Its implementation supports the digitalisation of international phytosanitary procedures and the development of more efficient and sustainable agricultural and forestry exchanges between Chile and Indonesia.