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Animal Products E-cert Help Files

Export Certificate Printing

Some procedures are specific to electronic Export Certificates that are required by OMAR to be printed, signed and stamped. They are Printing Draft, Printing Final and Updating Serial No and are all accessed from the   function button in the top right hand corner of an export certificate. 

In addition inspectors have a button that automatically approves then displays the final PDF file for printing. See Approve and Print Button for more details.

Any supporting EDs that are used up to create the export certificate shall be exhausted by the NZFSA inspector when the export certificate is approved. See Exhaustion of Source Documents for more details.

Once an Export Certificate has been Raised, no matter what its subsequent status, if you have print permissions the Print Exp Cert button is at the top right hand corner of the screen. Clicking this button gives a pop-up menu with different options depending upon the status of the certificate and your user type.

Pre-approved	Post-approved

For more information on what options are available for specific statuses see the Table of Functions.

Printing Draft and Final

Certificates in a pre-approved state can have a draft certificate generated and/or printed (onto plain paper) to check the layout of the final document to ensure all the necessary boxes are correctly filled in before approving the electronic export certificate. To do this, click the Print Exp Cert button and choose Print Draft from the menu that pops up.

Alternatively you can use Export Certificate View – this view is similar to the Border Inspector view and as it displays data online, it does not require PDF, it lessens the server load and speeds up the viewing process.

Once it is Approved an electronic export certificate cannot be amended and must be replaced which requires NZFSA authorisation. As all Approved certificates are available to overseas authorities and subsequent requests for replacement can also be seen, it is important that the submitter makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the certificate before it is submitted for approval.

Once the Export Certificate has been approved the option changes to Print Final to allow you to print the certificate onto security paper for signing and stamping if the destination country requires a signed paper certificate. The only differences between the draft and final certificates are that the draft certificate has the word "Draft" diagonally across both sides of the certificate in large letters.

When you click the Print Draft or Print Final option a PDF file is generated and displayed in a new window for printing the export certificate onto NZFSA security paper. This can take a while and the new window screen may appear blank while it is being downloaded. Some computers are set up to display the PDF file in the same window instead.

If nothing shows, try right clicking in the new window and choose Refresh on the pop-up menu or press F5 on the keyboard. If that doesn't work, try Ctrl+F5 or close the window and try again.

If there is a second page to the certificate, you need to check that as well. E-cert will warn the submitter about a certificate that needs to be printed on more than two pages and will set its status to Resubmit so that it cannot be approved in error. Once you are satisfied that everything is correct use the printer icon in the PDF window toolbar (not the browser print button) to print the certificate. For the final certificate, confirm the security paper is in the printer and that the printer settings are correct to print double-sided onto that paper.

A two-page final certificate shall be printed double-sided onto a single sheet of security paper. An export certificate may be printed on more than two pages if the template definition allows it.

Printer Specifications and Printing Procedure

Operators may request the option of printing the certificates on their own printers or have NZFSA VA staff print them. Operators may need to supply a suitable printer for this purpose.

The certificate original will be printed onto special security paper supplied by NZFSA. Photocopies or re-prints onto plain paper are to be used for file copies and other uses.

The paper has a number of security features including a unique 8-digit number on the back of each sheet.

The certificate details must be printed the same way up as the disruptive background wording. The top of the reverse page, if printed, must align with the top of the front page.

The same certifying officer who approved the electronic version must sign the paper certificate as the system puts their name on the certificate when they approve it. The serial number of the paper certificate is entered into E-cert by the NZFSA VA certifying officer at the time of signing.

Once the Export Certificate is printed it shall be signed and stamped in the designated space on final side with the official seal of the person who signed it. For certificates with more than two pages, space for signing and stamping will appear on every even numbered page plus the last page if it is odd numbered. The signatory shall be the person who approved the electronic certificate. 

Where the certificate is not printed by the person who approved it, the printer of the certificate shall ensure that the certificate is promptly delivered to the approver for signing and stamping.

The certificate number, the date of signing (ie date of approval) and the name and qualifications of the signatory are already printed on the certificate. You should keep a photocopy (preferably double-sided) of the signed, stamped certificate as a permanent record and ensure you have the security paper serial number recorded for the next step.

As with any paper export certificate, once it is signed any supporting ED shall be exhausted. See Exhaustion of Source Documents for more details.

Updating serial numbers - NZFSA only

There are two ways to input the security paper serial numbers into E-cert – through the Update Serial No option on the Print Exp Cert button or through the Serial Number Entry Screen, titled "List of certificates with unassigned export serial numbers", which is accessible from the Add Export Serial No.s link in the E-cert left hand navigation frame.

Print Exp Cert button

The Print Exp Cert button Update Serial No option is available to NZFSA inspectors with print permission once the status of the certificate is set to Approved and remains available for all subsequent statuses. Click on the Update Serial No option to bring up the Update Stationery Serial No screen. 

The serial number shall be entered for all certificates printed onto security paper even if they have been subsequently replaced, revoked or rejected. This should be done at the time of signing the printed certificate or as soon as practicable afterwards. Type the serial number into the input box, click the Submit button then click the Close This Window button that appears on the confirmation screen.

If a number has already been entered for the certificate it will be displayed and can be amended. You shall not enter the same serial number against more than one certificate although the system will not prevent you from doing this.

Reprinting the certificate and amending the serial number is acceptable if the first print out is spoiled for any reason prior to it leaving New Zealand. In all other cases the certificate shall be replaced. See Replacing an Export Certificate for more details.

If a stationery serial number is displayed but the certificate has not been reprinted, the serial number may have been entered against the wrong certificate. Because there is currently no search facility to find a particular serial number in E-cert and an updated number will overwrite the original number, it is very important that the serial numbers are entered accurately against the correct certificates.

 

Serial Number Entry Screen
To use the "List of certificates with unassigned export serial numbers" screen click the Add Export Serial No.s link in the E-cert left hand navigation frame. This brings up a screen listing all the export certificates to which you have access and which have no serial number entered.

Enter the serial numbers against the appropriate certificates, double-check that they are correct and click the Submit button at the bottom of the screen.

After entering the first number on this screen, clicking in another box enters the first number again with the last digit highlighted to make entering multiple numbers more efficient.

Approve and Print Button

This button is available to an Inspector on an export certificate that has a status of Raised or Amended. It is found in the Verification and Status Change panel at the bottom of the certificate Clicking it will set the certificate to Approved, display the approved certificate then automatically move through to the final PDF file for printing with a single mouse click. You still have to manually print the certificate from the PDF viewer menu. To go back to the approved certificate you need to click the browser back button twice.

Exhaustion of Source Documents

Once an electronic export certificate is approved, used up product items on any source documents shall be exhausted by the NZFSA inspector at the time of approval. Used up product items on supporting EDs for all export certificates shall be exhausted at the time of signing by the inspector who signs the paper export certificate. If an NZFSA inspector does not have secure access to E-cert at the time of signing the paper export certificate, s/he may direct someone else to exhaust the ED on his/her behalf.

You cannot exhaust an electronic export certificate, only the used up supporting EDs.

The following provides details of how to exhaust product items or EDs:

Exhausting and Un-exhausting Product Items or Eligibility Documents - VA View

Exhausting Product Items or Eligibility Documents - Industry View