Electronic certificates eliminate longer delivery times
Canada is doing away with some paper documents related to ag exports to Mexico.
Since Nov. 3, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has replaced paper phytosanitary certificates with electronic ones (ePhytos) for grain and related products heading to Mexico.
These certificates show a plant or product entering a country meets the receiving country’s import requirements.
The electronic versions are available on the My CFIA online portal. They reduce risks of fraud and eliminate longer delivery times associated with paper documents.
The online certificates will make Canada more efficient, said Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald.
“This step will make it easier for Canadian businesses to access new international export markets,” he said in a Nov. 24 statement. “This is one more way that our government is supporting business prosperity at home and abroad, boosting economic growth, driving innovation, and advancing sustainability.”
Countries already employing ePhytos are seeing benefits.
A March 2025 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, for example, showed fruit exporting companies in Egypt could save between US$80,000 and US$200,000 (CAD$112,785 and CAD$281,964).
“By investing in digital tools like ePhyto, countries can position themselves to reap the full benefits of a more efficient, transparent and sustainable global trading system,” the FAO says.
An online database is available showing which countries employ ePhytos.
The International Plant Protection Convention’s ePhyto hub helps facilitate exchanges of the electronic certificates between National Plant Protection Organizations.