Guidance

Certify export health certificates on EHC online

Published 2 December 2024

Information for Official Veterinarians (OVs) and Food Competent Certifying Officers (FCCOs) on how to certify an export health certificate using EHC Online.

You cannot use Government Gateway using Windows XP and Windows Vista or Internet Explorer 6 and 7. You may have problems with other older operating systems and browsers.

1. Certifying a certificate

1. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) will send you a notification to the email address registered for your organisation to tell you there is a new case that needs certification.
2. Go to the certifier service.
3. Sign with your Government Gateway user ID and password.
4. In “Case management” select “Cases to review”. You’ll see all the cases you need to certify.
5. Select “Summary” to view the case details.

1.1 If you do not need to make changes to the certificate

1. Select “View certificate”. The PDF file will open in your browser.
2. Right click to print the PDF.

1.2 If you do need to make changes to the certificate

There are two ways to review the certificate and make any changes you need to before printing.

Using “Editable certificate”

If you want to make changes to a certificate and you do not want to record those changes in EHC Online, use the editable PDF.

1. In “Manage case” select “Editable certificate”. The PDF file will open in your browser.
2. Edit the PDF in your browser.
3. Right click to print the PDF.

Using “Review certificate”

If you want to keep a record of your changes to the certificate, make those changes in EHC Online.

1. In “Manage case” select “Review certificate”.
2. In “Review these answers” select “Change” next to any field that you want to edit. This will update the PDF certificate automatically.
3. Select “Continue” when you’ve made all the changes you need to.
4. Return to “Manage case” and select “View certificate” to open the PDF in your browser.
5. Right click to print the PDF.

1.3 Recording your decision

1. In “Decision and confirmation”, select “Approved”, “Rejected” or “Cancelled”. You’ll need to enter a reason for certificates you reject or cancel.
2. Enter your details and select “Accept and submit”.

Approved

• Official Veterinarians (OVs): select “approve” then enter your certifier details (name and SP number).
• Food Competent Certifying Officers (FCCOs): enter the 5 digits from your Non-Veterinarian (NV) stamp as the SP number. When completing the identification number, you will need to include the letters SP or NV before the numbers.

Select “Accept and submit”.

Rejected or Cancelled Certificates

If you reject or cancel a certificate you must state the reason why.

• Official Veterinarians (OVs): enter your certifier details (name and SP number).
• Food Competent Certifying Officers (FCCOs): enter the 5 digits from your Non-Veterinarian (NV) stamp as the SP number. When completing the identification number, you will need to include the letters SP or NV before the numbers.

Select “Accept and submit”.

You will return to the EHC certificate action page where the certificate status will now show as either “Cancelled” or “Rejected”.

Where an EHC has been printed and posted to you on special watermarked ‘crown gold’ paper, if you reject or cancel a certificate you will need to write “Rejected” or “Cancelled” across the certificate and return it to the Centre for International Trade – Carlisle (CITC) after you have recorded your decision in EHC Online. You can return the certificate by scanning it and emailing it to [email protected] or by returning it by post to CITC.

If an EHC has been processed manually and emailed to you and you cannot record your decision in EHC Online, you will need to return a copy of the certificate by scanning and emailing it to [email protected] or by returning it by post to CITC.

1.4 Closing the certificate

1. You’ll now be asked ‘Has the certificate been signed and issued?’

   • if the certificate has been signed and stamped, select “Yes, I’m ready to close this certificate” and “Continue”
   • if not, select “No, not yet” and “Continue”

2. If you’re closing the certificate, in “Close certificate” enter the date you signed it and select “Close this certificate”. You must enter the date that certification took place and not the date that you are closing the certificate. Entering the date you are closing the certificate can affect applications for replacement certificates.

3. If you are closing a certificate for EU trade, you will also be asked to complete the date that the disease clearance was performed. Guidance on how to complete the disease clearance checks can be found on Improve International.
4. If you’re not ready to close the certificate, you’ll now see the option to “Close certificate” in “Manage case”.

Once you close the certificate:

• the status of the case will change to COMPLETED
• the certificate status will change to CERTIFIED

2. Certifying a block of certificates

Exporters can apply for a block of certificates when they make the same type of export often and need to collect the signed certificate on the day they apply for it. This type of application is for a commodity that needs to be packed and dispatched quickly, like fish.

Your exporter will contact you when they need you to certify a certificate from their block of certificates.

1. Follow steps 2 to 5 of Certifying a certificate.
2. In “Manage case” you’ll see all the certificates in this block. Find the certificate you need to certify and select “Review certificate”.
3. Follow the steps to review and close the certificate.

A case with a block of certificates will stay in “Cases to review” until all certificates in the block have been certified. The status of the case will only change to COMPLETED when all the certificates in the block have been certified .

3. Certifying multiple certificates

Exporters can apply for a group of EHCs in a single application for equine and germplasm EHCs if the information in each EHC is the same.

For example, in an application for 4 horses travelling in the same consignment to the same destination, each animal will have its own certificate, but the details that are the same for each animal are only entered once.

1. Follow steps 1 to 5 of Certifying a certificate.
2. In “Manage case” you’ll see all the certificates in this case.
3. Select the certificates you need to approve, reject or review - you can select more than one certificate at a time.
4. Or, review one certificate at a time by following steps 1 to 5 of Reviewing the certificate.
5. Then follow the steps to close the certificate.

The certificate status will change to CERTIFIED.

A case with a multiple certificates will stay in “Cases to review” until all certificates in the case have been certified, rejected or cancelled. When this has happened, the status of the case will change to COMPLETED.

4. Cancelling and replacing a certificate

1. Go to the certifier service.
2. Sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password.
3. In “Case management”, select “All your cases” and search for the case with the certificate you need to cancel.
4. Select “Summary” to view case details.

4.1 Requesting to cancel a certificate

1. In “Manage case” select “Cancel and replace” and check if you can request to cancel and replace the certificate:

   • if the certificate can be cancelled, select “Yes, the certificate meets APHA’s criteria for replacement” and “Continue”
   • if the certificate cannot be cancelled, the exporter will need to apply for a new certificate
2. In “Update these answers” make any changes you need to.
3. Select “Upload a supporting document” and upload a copy of the original signed certificate.
4. In “Supporting documents” select “Choose file”, browse and select the documents you need to upload.
5. Enter a file description to tell APHA what the document is, and select “Upload”.
6. Repeat these steps for each document you need to upload, and select “Save and continue”.
7. In “Update these answers”, select “Accept and submit”.
8. In “Declaration” select “Agree and submit” when you are ready to submit this request to APHA.

Once you’ve submitted your request, in “Case management” you’ll see:

• the case has moved to “Upcoming cases”
• the case status has changed to PROCESSING
• a new case ID has been allocated

The case will be visible in “Upcoming cases” until the case has been processed and dispatched by APHA.

4.2 After APHA have processed your request

When APHA have processed your request, in “Manage case” you’ll see:

• the certificate status has changed to DISPATCHED
• the certificate reference is marked as REPLACEMENT and has a link to the original certificate

1. APHA will send a notification to the email address registered for your organisation to tell you the replacement certificate is ready for you to review.
2. In “Case management” select “Cases to review”
3. Follow the steps to review and close the certificate.

Once you have approved the replacement certificate, you can download and print it by selecting “View certificate” in “Manage case”.

Contact APHA if you are not sure if a certificate can be cancelled and replaced.

5. Contact CITC

Email: [email protected] 
Telephone: +44 (0) 3000 200 301

Centre for International Trade – Carlisle (CITC)
Eden Bridge House
Lowther Street
Carlisle
CA3 8DX