Agricultural Marketing Service, Specialty Crops Program, Specialty Crops Inspection Division

Superseding or Canceling Fresh Electronic Inspection 

Reporting/Resource System (FEIRS) Certificates (December 2019)

SCI Division Inspection Series

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SUPERSEDING OR CANCELING FRESH ELECTRONIC INSPECTION 

REPORTING/RESOURCE SYSTEM (FEIRS) CERTIFICATES

Superseding a FEIRS certificate

Once a certificate has been digitally signed, it is placed in the “Completed Forms” folder within 

each inspector’s laptop computer. The electronic certificate remains in the “Completed Forms” 

folder until the inspector transmits the completed certificates to the Branch’s server. It is 

important to remember that certificates that have been transmitted to the server may not be 

immediately available for retrieval due to the time it takes to process the certificate.

If a certificate needs to be superseded, it is important to know where the certificate is located so 

that the proper steps are taken to retrieve, correct, and transmit the superseding certificate.

Procedure

The procedure for superseding a FEIRS certificate is:

A. If the certificate has not been transmitted to the server:

1. Go to the “Completed Forms” tab within the FEIRS program;

2. Click on the certificate to open it;

3. Click on the red “Supersede” icon.

4. Go to step C.

B. If the certificate has been transmitted to the server:

1. Go to the “New Forms” tab within the FEIRS program;

2. Click on the “SC-XXX Corrects” option (XXX denotes the type of form);

3. In the “Select Forms” window, type the following in the “file name” window,

\\ams00va3apscc\ImageServer, then click “Open”;

4. Select the appropriate year;

5. Click on the folder that represents the office number of the certificate that needs 

to be superseded;

6. Click on the appropriate inspection certificate, taking care that you have selected 

the correct inspector and sequence number.
SCI Division Inspection Series Superseding or Canceling FEIRS Certificates

Effective Date: December 2019 Page 2 of 3

7. Do not use the FEIRS archive folder on the local hard drive.

C. Make the necessary corrections to the certificate.

D. In the “Summary” tab, make the following statement in the “Remarks” section: “This 

certificate supersedes T-XXX-XXXX-XXXXX account of _________.” (Fill in the 

reason the certificate was superseded.)

E. Unlike on the paper SC-XXX certificate where the fee was referenced back to the 

original certificate, in FEIRS the fee will remain on all superseding certificates. FEIRS 

is programmed to link the certificates and bill the applicant only once.

F. Digitally sign the certificate.

G. Issue the superseding certificate to the applicant and shipper.

H. The superseding certificate will automatically be placed in the “Completed Forms” folder 

and be transferred to the server the next time you transmit.

I. A supervisory inspector who is superseding a certificate for another inspector will make 

the following additional statement in the “Remarks” section: “Superseded for (Inspector’s

Name) by (Supervisor’s Name), Supervising Inspector.”

J. A certificate can only be superseded once. If a correction needs to be made on a 

certificate that has already been superseded, the superseding certificate will be corrected, 

not the original certificate. Additionally, when superseding a certificate, it is important to 

supersede an electronic FEIRS certificate with another electronic FEIRS certificate, and a 

paper certificate with another paper certificate. Since the billing systems for the 

electronic and paper certificate are separate, crossing certificate types can lead to double 

billing an applicant.

K. Contact the Field Support Services helpdesk by phone at (888) 219-6384 or by e-mail at 

FieldSupportServicesHelpDesk@ams.usda.gov for guidance if either of the superseding 

options does not result in the intended action.

Background for Cancelling a FEIRS Certificate

If an applicant has requested an inspection, the inspector is on site and has made entries on their 

notesheet, and the applicant decides to cancel the inspection, the inspector may do so by clicking 

the “X Cancel” button on the top taskbar. The certificate can be canceled with or without a fee. 

The inspector should contact their Officer-in-Charge (OIC) to determine if a fee should be 

assessed for the canceled certificate.

Procedure

The procedure for canceling a FEIRS certificate is:
SCI Division Inspection Series Superseding or Canceling FEIRS Certificates

Effective Date: December 2019 Page 3 of 3

A. If after arrival at the inspection site the applicant cancels the inspection, a certificate was 

not started and no fee will be assessed, follow existing procedures and enter the name of 

the person canceling the inspection, along with the time and date of cancellation on the 

SC-237 and return it to the office.

B. If a fee will be assessed for mileage and/or time, an SC-300 certificate must be completed 

to a minimum of entering the applicant and shipper, the name of the person canceling the 

inspection, along with the date and time of cancellation in the “Remarks” section and 

manually entering the time and/or mileage to be billed before clicking “X Cancel” and 

signing.

C. If a certificate has been started and no fee will be assessed, cancel the certificate in the 

same manner as above and make sure “No Charge” is entered as the fee before signing.

D. If canceling multiple inspections for a single applicant, any fees can be assessed using an 

SC-E301.

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