Use of TRACES NT in ACP countries

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TRACES allows the centralisation in a database of administrative documents related to the import of goods. It also enables EU Member States to track goods, facilitate control, combat fraud, and protect public, animal and plant health. The new version of the tool – TRACES NT – also allows the centralisation of inspection certificates for organic products, phytosanitary certificates and Common Health Entry Documents for Plants and Plant Products (CHED-PP).

COLEACP supports NPPOs to strengthen their sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) control systems through its EU-funded Fit For Market SPS programme. This series of e-meetings aims to update and discuss key plant health issues affecting NPPOs and the fruit and vegetable sector of ACP countries. The meetings are being held in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, the East African Community (EAC), and the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA).

As part of the COLEACP series of e-meetings for National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs), a meeting on 19 January offered an overview of TRACES. In this interactive session, participants had the opportunity to hear from a representative of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), and to discuss any issues that NPPOs are experiencing in using the tool when exporting fruit and vegetables to the European Union.