G/SPS/N/USA/3311  
 
17 February 2022  
(22-1543) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION  
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection 
Service (FSIS)  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national 
schedules deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, 
where applicable):  Meat (including Siluriformes fish and fish products) and poultry 
products  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable : 
[X] All trading partners   
[ ] Specific regions or countries:   
5. Title of the notified document:  United States Implementing New Format for Sanitary 
Export Certificates (FSIS Form 9060 -5 Series) . Language(s):  English . Number of 
pages:  1 
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2022/SPS/USA/22_1684_00_e.pdf  
6. Description of content:  The US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection 
Service (FSIS) is announcing that, beginning on 16 May 2022, approved export certificates 
will be printed on plain paper rather than security paper for those countries and territories 
that recei ve digitally signed export certificates (FSIS Form 9060 -5 series) generated in 
FSIS' Public Health Information System (PHIS). This plain paper version will continue to 
facilitate lawful entry of the certified shipment into the importing country when a pape r 
certificate is required, and will include a watermark stating, "Approved Certificate - 
Available for Validation in PHIS". A sample of FSIS Form 9060 -5 with the new watermark 
is attached to this notification. Note that PHIS -generated 9060 -5 series export certificates 
for shipments certified for export before 16 May 2022, will be printed on security paper 
and without the watermark indicated above. PHIS does not include egg products or casings 
at this time. Therefore, these changes will not affect certificat ion of egg products or 
casings.  
FSIS' PHIS generates a digitally signed Form 9060 -5 series export certificate, which is 
retained in PHIS as a PDF document for secure viewing and authentication by an importing 
country's government officials who have chosen to register for PHIS access through the 
Certificate Signature Viewer (CSV) role. FSIS has streamlined procedures to access the 
CSV role, which requires both USDA eAuthentication and enrolling as a CSV. Please contact 
FSIS at internationalcoordination@usda.gov  to obtain these procedures.  
In addition to viewing and authenticating the digitally signed PDF certificate in PHIS, 
CSV users can validate digital signatures and other certificate details using public key 
cryptography to further validate the export certificate's authenticity. The importing 
country's users will also have the capability to generate reports on certificates issued to 
the importing country. More information on these capabilities is av ailable in FSIS' CSV User 
Guide  (https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/2021 -07/USDA -FSIS-PHIS-G/SPS/N/USA/3311  
 
- 2 - 
 
  Certificate -Signature -Viewer -Quick -Reference -Guide.pdf ). 
The presence of the digitally signed cer tificate in the secure, role -based PHIS makes the 
use of traditional security paper unnecessary. Certificates generated by PHIS are digitally 
signed by authorized FSIS inspection program personnel. Each certificate includes a unique 
certificate number.  
FSIS has implemented the PHIS export component with 80 countries and territories 
(see FSIS' website, PHIS Components , under "Country Rollout Schedule," 
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/inspection/import -export/phis -components ). For those 
countries, all country requirements documented in the FSIS Export Library  
(https://www.fsis.usda.gov/inspection/import -export/import -export -library ), including 
attestations, are captured on the P HIS-generated FSIS Form 9060 -5 export certificate 
series (FSIS Form 9060 -5 remarks section, or FSIS Form 9060 -5B continuation sheet,). 
Countries interested in being included in PHIS should contact FSIS at 
internationalcoordination@usda.gov  for more information.  
7. Objective and rationale: [X]  food safety, [  ] animal health, [  ] plant protection, 
[ ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [  ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests.   
8. Is there a relevant international standard? If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex 
standard or related text) :  
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g.  Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number) :  
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g.  ISPM number) :  
[X] None  
Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international st andard?  
[ ] Yes   [  ] No 
If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:   
9. Other relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:    
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) : 16 May 2022  
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) : Upon publication of this notification.  
11. Proposed date of entry into force: [  ] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) : 16 May 2022  
[ ] Trade facilitating measure   
12. Final date for comments: [X]  Sixty days from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) : 18 April 2022  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments: [  ] National Notification 
Authority, [X]  National Enquiry Point. Address, fax number and e -mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
13. Text(s) available from: [X]  National Notification Authority, [X]  National Enquiry 
Point. Address, fax number and e -mail address (if available) of other body: