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Animal Products E-cert Help Files

Submission form basics

Text entry boxes

On Eligibility Document and Export Certificate submission forms and various other screens in E-cert, most of the input boxes are text boxes meaning you can type into them any keyboard characters.

Some of the boxes require the entries to be formatted a certain way and some of them are linked to lists of acceptable entries. For most date fields E-cert will return an error when the certificate when the cursor is moved to the next box if the entry is not valid.

Some combinations of characters produce specific effects in some of these boxes. For example, \n in the Item Marks or Product Description boxes splits the subsequent characters onto a new line but it just shows as \n in the species box. Some special characters (eg MS Word’s “Smart Quotes”) cause problems on printed export certificates and should not be used.

Lookup text entry boxes

Some text boxes are used by E-cert to look-up information and display a list of options. An example of this is the Surname box on the NZFSA VA Audit Search screen.

Text entry boxes with

Some text boxes are linked to other pages by clicking the next to the box. On some of these you can look up the correct entry, click its link and have the text inserted for you. Examples of these are the NZHSC code boxes and the Temperature of product box on the Swiss AP1205 export certificate.

Other boxes with a just link to a reference page where you can look up and copy the correct information to paste into the text box. An example is the Port of Loading box code link.

Drop down lists

Some input boxes are drop down lists which allow you to select one option only from a list. Click the arrow on the right hand side of the box then move your mouse cursor over the list to choose the option and click of the left mouse button to insert the selected option into the box. The Transport Mode box on Export Certificates and Eligibility Documents is an example of this type of drop down list.

Other drop down boxes will allow you to repeatedly select items and insert them into a separate box. Species is an example of this type of drop down list.

Each time you select a species, it is added to the box above. If you click a wrong option you will need to manually delete it from the box above. Note that if you use the mouse scroll wheel while the cursor is on these boxes it will add every entry you scroll across.

Fill and Delete Buttons

At the top of each product item there is a Fill button and a Delete button. In addition each process has a Fill button as well.

The product item fill button will copy all the information from that product item into all the product items that follow it, including the process entries. The process Fill button will copy all the information from that process into all the processes that follow it within the same product item. The process Fill All button will copy all processes from one product item to all remaining product items.

The Delete button will clear all entries in a product item and E-cert will ignore that item when the certificate is submitted. To delete a process from the certificate, select a blank line on the drop down list of processes and then clear all the other boxes in the process. If you have a number of processes per product item you should always delete the end one(s).

Selecting Export Declarations

On export certificate submission forms there are a variety of types of declaration clauses.

Some are mandatory and will always show on the certificate. They have a blue background.

Some are mandatory but require you to enter information in a text box. They have a blue background. Select the prompt information in the box and enter the correct information to replace the prompt.

For some you must select one or other from a group of options by clicking the circle next to the correct option. If it is mandatory to select one of the options, the group will have a blue background. The one with a dot in it will appear on the certificate when you submit it.

Others allow you choose more than one option from a group. If at least one from the group must be selected, the whole group will have a blue background. Click in the box next to the clause to put a tick against each appropriate clause. The ticked ones will appear on the submitted certificate.

Others are optional but may be required for specific products. These have a rose coloured background.

Mandatory, Required and Optional Boxes

On Eligibility Document and Export Certificate submission forms, some boxes have a blue background. These boxes are mandatory fields and E-cert will not accept the submission if there is no entry in one of these boxes.

The other boxes have wheat coloured background. E-cert will accept the submission and raise the certificate if they are blank but many of them are required fields on some certificates or for certain products or to certain markets. For example, the carrier name box is not mandatory but the listed transporter is required on transfers between premises or to an exporter for meat and seafood products intended for export. If an entry is blank in a field that is required, NZFSA VA will not approve the certificate.

Optional boxes, like the unofficial commercial information box, do not require any entries.