The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADER) has recognised that there are flaws in the process of issuing Phytosanitary Certificates and guarantees that the digital system will be completed by next June. At that point, the Provincial Directorates of Agriculture will start issuing the Certificates again.
According to a statement issued by the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) this Monday, 11 March, during a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Olegário Banze, the CTA’s Agribusiness, Nutrition and Food Industry Department shared the concerns it has been receiving from companies about the slowness and frequent errors in the process of issuing Plant Health Certificates.
The document explains that MADER has recognised that, in some cases, there have been delays, but blames the officials at the Provincial Directorates of Agriculture, where requests for Phytosanitary Certificates are submitted in the first instance. “At central level, the process is proceeding normally, and the National Directorate will redouble its efforts to rectify the situation with the officials,” the statement said.
MADER said that, at the moment, there are no conditions for issuing certificates at provincial level for security reasons after the forgery problem was triggered, adds the CTA statement.
“At provincial level, only the typing is done and the process is sent to the central level, where the certificates are issued, after the security elements have been introduced. In the meantime, the digital system will be completed by the end of June. At that point, the provincial directorates will issue the certificates again,” reads the statement.
The Ministry assured that it will continue its efforts to improve the speed and timely response to requests. “To avoid inconvenience, MADER has called on companies to request the issue of certificates in advance. They will be dispatched within 15 days. It has also called on companies to notify the Ministry if they have any concerns,” explains the document.
