Case Study: Experience of Electronic Phytosanitary Certificate Exchange for Indonesia s Agricultural Products with Trading Partners

Transcription

1 Case Study: Experience of Electronic Phytosanitary Certificate Exchange for Indonesia s Agricultural Products with Trading Partners 1. Background The implementation of electronic certificate exchange in Indonesia stems from the desire of the Indonesia Agriculture Quarantine Agency (IAQA), to assist and facilitate the acceleration of export of Indonesian agricultural products to foreign countries. Currently, it is not only the quality and food safety factors that become the barometer of the acceptance of agricultural products in the destination countries, but also the support tothe traceability of the agricultural products starting from farm level. In other words, the trust of the trading partner country must be built all the way from farm to fork. As an agency in the border point, the IAQA has a very important role and isa very strategic node in facilitating trade in agricultural products it, especially in certifying the agricultural products that will be imported and exported to and from Indonesia. Currently IAQA has 50 operational stations with 314 work area offices and 2 elite stations that are specialized in testing and certifying agricultural products. All operational activities for domestic, import, and export have been using the single system Electronic System for Plant Quarantine (EPLAQ System) since 200, so that all electronic data has been consolidated at head office. This application has also been integrated with Indonesia National Single Window (INSW). Thus the output of electronic data is automatically reconciled with 19 Ministries and Institutions, which have joined the INSW. 1

2 In addition to the above mentioned, the statistical data collected from the electronic certificates have been another driving factor in the development of e-phyto in Indonesia. It was recorded the issuance rate of Phytosanitary certificates have annually improved for the last 3 years. Since 2014 IAQA has published as many as 90 thousand certificates. This increased to 130 thousand in 2015 and 150 thousand in While on the other hand Indonesia received approximately 90 thousand phytosanitary certificates every year. Other key factors for the implementation of electronic certificate exchange, include changing the habits of importers from manual procedures to electronic procedures. Fortunately, since 2007 importers of Indonesian agricultural products have been adapted to deliver import declaration through online system built by IAQA. In addition, since 2009 quarantine officers have become accustomed to electronic data and certificate exchanges between quarantine stations for domestic certificates. In the implementation of the electronic certificate exchanges, IAQA has able to address some of the fundamental and substantial matters. Hence, future development and cooperation through bilateral channels can more easily be achieved. 2. Benefits of Using Electronic Certificates There are many benefits derived from the exchange of electronic certificates with partner countries. The implementation on electronic certification systems can lead to the optimization of service efficiency and effectiveness in supervision. For the Indonesia Agricultural Quarantine Agency, the benefits which were observed included: a. direct communication with the NPPO of destination country; b. quick response to the published ephyto; c. reduce the number of Notification of Non-Compliance between NPPOs; d. prevent certificate forgery; e. facilitate the quarantine clearance process in the destination country. 3. Preparation of E-Phyto Scheme Currently, three mechanisms for electronic certificate exchange patterns that have been developed. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages of each. The three modalitiesare: 3.1. SECURE NETWORK (Portal as a Hub) This modality uses a portal as a Hub, which entails that all countries involved in the exchange of electronic certificates will electronically send all issued phytosanitary certificates to the Hub. Subsequently, the Hub will generate and transmit these to the destination country and vice 2

3 versa. By using this modality, a very safe network is needed, in order to minimize the intervention from the outside networks. The use of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS-IPVPN) is very likely to be applied. Currently, IPPC-initiated E-Phyto Hub and pilot projects will be conducted in several member countries SECURE WEB This modality can be used for electronic data exchange among related parties by providing web access to other trading partners, so that each partner can monitor and verify the incoming electronic certificate. Usually the given web view must be in a secured format or commonly known as Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (Https) and use Authentication with Log In Permit to access it WEB SERVICE This modality is the most common pattern used in electronic data exchange where data exchange patterns use SOAP INTERFACE with XML DATA. Currently, IPPC has published several versions of the XML format, which can be used in electronic certificate exchange for Phytosanitary Certificate with reference to UN / CEFACT standard. This host-to-host mechanism allows each country to exchange electronic data, to use and to develop the data for purposes of its own national system. The above are the 3 options that IAQA couldchoose in preparing the implementation of Phytosanitary electronic certificate exchanges for Indonesian agricultural products. Taking into 3

4 account the technical aspects, as well as assessing the advantages and disadvantages of IAQA s operational modalitiess in terms of quarantine clearance and its integration with INSW. The web service option is currently used by IAQA. 4. Challenges Any application of the new modality will certainly affect the conditions that already exist. Similarly, this also happened when preparing the implementation of electronic certificate exchanges between Indonesia and partner countries. Some of the challenges Indonesia has faced after bilateral meetings with trading partners, which were required to be addressed: 4.1. Regulation Prior to 2016 it was very difficult for IAQA to collaborate bilaterally with partner countries in the application of electronic certificate exchanges. This is due to the absence of regulations for the issuance of certificates of quarantine electronically and the equivalence between electronic certificates and paper certificates in operational activities. The issuance of the Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture (Permentan no. 14 of 2016) is a reflection of Indonesia's strong commitment to facilitate the electronic exchange of phytosanitary certificates IT issues Like most newly industrialized countries, the preparation of infrastructure, maintenance, security systems were some of main issues and integral parts that required improvement for the successful electronic certificate exchange. Strengthening and securing the network becomes as important as the preparation of IAQA s IT human resources. In addition, the ability of internal applications to produce and receive XML data also becomes a major requirement of the successful exchange of certificates electronically Certificate Authority Some substantial additions are sometimes requested by partner countries for electronic, but all come back to mutually agreed agreements according to the urgency level of those needs. There are a number of countries that require Certificate Authority (CA) to establish electronic exchange certificate cooperation with IAQA, other countries do not require this. However, this is less consequential as long as the regulated substance comes under a mutual agreement. Countries that require CA have their own considerations, such as the existence of a warranty that the issued certificates and the electronic signature do not change during the transmission process. 4

5 For that purpose, IAQA assisted the National Crypto Agency as a CA to facilitate it. Generally by using CA, the processes of validation are done into 2 stages by the system. First stage is to seek whether he certificate is genuinely issued by CA and did not experience any changes. Second stage is the validation on the content of certificate. 5. Implementation of Electronic Data Exchange The description of application of certificate exchanges scheme between Indonesia and partner countries in general can be seen in the picture below. 5

6 5.1. All Phytosanitary certificates issued by 50 Quarantine Stations throughout Indonesia will be automatically sent to the Head Office; 5.2. The data is subsequently converted to XML format according to agreed standard and adjusted to electronic certificate format with affixed electronic signature facilitated by CA; 5.3. Certificate paper will be printed and given to exporters for banking and management purposes in the country of destination; 5.4. The electronic certificate will be sent directly to the host country by host to host mode and IAQA will obtain the certificate. 6. Future plan IAQA will open and expand its electronic certificate exchange cooperation with other countries through both bilateral and regional channels. Especially for the ASEAN region, there is an ongoing initiative toexchange of e-sps certificates between ASEAN countries within the framework of ASEAN Single Window (ASW) and examine the possibility of joining the trial of e- Phyto Hub scheme. Achievements gained by IAQA are believed to be very useful for Indonesia in the area of the development and expansion of electronic exchange certificate cooperation with other countries. 6

7 7. Conclusion The implementation of theelectronic certificate exchanges has brought about many benefits for IAQA, especially in improving the efficiency of service aspects and optimization of supervision aspects. Implications that are felt directly after the application of the use of electronic certificates are: a. Reduced potential for falsification of certificate documents; b. Faster quarantine clearance process at the main port; c. Easier methods for the analyzing point officer to oversee imported agricultural products; d. Increased compliance aspects of importers and exporters; e. Reduced dwelling time at the port from the previous 4 days to 1 day. Flow of Goods for Agriculture Products at The Main Ports About: This brief was prepared by Mr. Ichwandi, Deputy Director for Quarantine IT Division, Indonesian Agricultural Quarantine Agency. This brief was prepared with support from Ms. Maame Agyeben, Ms. Chen-Wen Cheng and Ms. Praiya Prayongsap. This paper has been issued without formal editing. This brief expresses the opinion of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinion of the United Nations 7