Electronic Trade Document Exchange (eTDE) System


In 2013, AMS began issuing electronic health certificates for the EU through the Electronic Trade Document Exchange (eTDE) System. In March 2014, sanitary export certificates for China became available through eTDE. The eTDE System makes trade documents, including official certificates, available online to foreign customs and port health officials. AMS hosts eTDE in a secure environment, and all users must undergo registration through USDA's secure eAuthentication process. For the time being, the Dairy Grading Branch will continue to issue paper health certificates, but our long term goal is to move entirely towards electronic certification, thereby eliminating the need to courier health certificates overseas.

If you have not yet registered for eTDE, please do it now. U.S. exporters must obtain Level 2 security level in order to access eTDE documents. Please note that the registration process includes many steps, one of which is to physically go to the closest USDA service center with a government-issued ID to prove your identity. Please allow enough time to complete these steps well before USDA transitions completely to eTDE.

• Use of the eTDE System for Dairy Export Certification

On June 25, 2013 AMS Launched its Electronic Document Creation System (eDocs). eDocs allows dairy exporters, shippers, carriers and others to request export certificates through eTDE. eDOCS creates an electronic certificate and sends it to eTDE to be viewed by domestic users and port authorities from trading markets (i.e. EU countries and China). eDocs has many user-friendly features, including allowing exporters to create customer templates and copy over data from old certificates, thereby eliminating the need to retype information with each new certificate request. All exporters must be registered with eTDE in order to apply for the EU dairy health certificate, dairy transit certificate, composite health certificate and composite transit certificate.

• Dairy Exporters and Milk Suppliers Register for eTDE and Training Webinars for Notifications, Derogations, and Seasonal Derogations, Raw Milk Products Certificates, and Dairy Storage Certificates
• Frequently Asked Question Regarding eDocs and eTDE [PDF] (Updated November 4, 2014)

For additional information or help with registration, please contact the eTDE system administrator at etdeadmin@usda.gov. For questions on the AMS use of the eTDE system, please contact Ken Vorgert, Chief, Dairy Grading Branch at 630-437-5037 or ken.vorgert@ams.usda.gov


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