USDA Phytosanitary Certificate (PPQ Form 577) for Exports

What a USDA phytosanitary certificate is

A phytosanitary certificate is the official statement, issued by the plant protection agency of the exporting country, that a consignment was inspected and meets the plant health import requirements of the country receiving it. In the United States that agency is Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ), part of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and the certificate for U.S. exports is PPQ Form 577.

The certificate is signed by an Authorized Certification Official — an APHIS officer, or a state or county agriculture official accredited by APHIS — after they inspect the cargo. Nobody else can issue it, a freight forwarder included. Our work is everything around that signature: we are the applicant in APHIS's Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking system (PCIT), we get the cargo ready to pass, we arrange the inspection before loading, and we put the certificate into your shipping documents.

When a shipment needs one

A phytosanitary certificate is required only when the importing country asks for it, and the requirement depends on the commodity. APHIS keeps each country's requirements for U.S. goods in its Phytosanitary Export Database (PExD). We check that entry against the import permit or written conditions your buyer receives from their own plant protection authority.

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PPQ Form 577 or PPQ Form 579

APHIS issues two export certificates through PCIT. Which one your shipment gets depends on where the goods came from and what paperwork they arrived with, not on where they are going.

• For a used machine the answer is almost always PPQ Form 577. Even a tractor built in Germany gets one, because it has no foreign phytosanitary certificate to reexport under.
• PPQ Form 578, the old processed product certificate, was withdrawn from PCIT on January 1, 2022. If a buyer asks for it, the shipment needs a PPQ Form 577 or 579 instead, or no certificate at all.

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How we get your certificate issued

1. 1

   Confirm the destination's requirements

   We read the PExD summary for your commodity and country and compare it with the import permit or written conditions your buyer holds. APHIS accepts only official communication from the importing country's plant protection organization, in English or bilingual, so we ask for the permit early.

2. 2

   Prepare the cargo to pass

   For machinery that means a full washdown at our yard: soil, seeds and plant debris removed from tracks, radiators, cab floors and the inside of harvesting equipment, with panels opened so the inspector can reach every surface.

3. 3

   File the application in PCIT

   We create the application as the applicant: exporter and consignee exactly as they appear on the import permit, commodity description and quantity, serial numbers, origin, port of export and conveyance, with the permit and commercial documents attached.

4. 4

   Schedule the inspection before loading

   The certification official inspects the cargo where it is, at a transit point or at the port of export. Nothing can be inspected inside a loaded container or aboard a ship, so the unit stays accessible at our yard and the booking is marked so it is not loaded early.

5. 5

   Pass, or clean and reinspect

   If the inspector finds soil or plant debris that can be removed, the cargo is reconditioned and inspected again; we re-clean it on site. If it cannot be reconditioned, APHIS refuses to certify, which is why we clean before the first inspection rather than after it.

6. 6

   Ship inside the time limit

   Many countries set a maximum time between inspection and shipping. When a country sets none, APHIS asks that the inspection be no more than 30 days before export. We keep the certified cargo clean and separate until it loads.

7. 7

   Deliver the certificate

   APHIS issues the certificate in PCIT. We send it with the bill of lading, commercial invoice and the rest of your export file, and courier the original when the importer's authorities want paper.

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Used farm and forestry machinery: what the inspector looks for

APHIS treats used agricultural machinery as eligible for a PPQ Form 577 or 579, but only once it is free of soil, plant debris and pests. These are the places where inspections most often find material, and where our equipment washdown concentrates:

• Tracks, rollers, wheel rims and tyres, wheel arches and the underside of the chassis.
• Radiator, intercooler and condenser cores, grilles and engine-bay ledges, blown out with air after washing.
• Cab floors, under the seat and mats, pedals and storage bins, vacuumed rather than only rinsed.
• Combine headers, feeder houses, sieves, straw walkers, grain tanks and unloading augers, which need panels opened.
• Baler pickups and chambers, planter seed boxes, fertiliser hoppers and the frames of tillage implements.
• Air filters and pre-cleaners, checked and changed if they hold chaff or soil.

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Destination rules we see most often

Australia and New Zealand mostly need cleaning rather than a phytosanitary certificate; the details are on our equipment washdown page. Shipping costs and container fit for farm machines are on the tractors and combines page.

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What we need from you

• The destination country, and the consignee's name and address exactly as they will appear on the import permit.
• The import permit or written import conditions, if the buyer's authorities issued them.
• Each item's make, model, year and serial number; for plant products, the species, quantity and packaging.
• Where the cargo is now, if it is not already at our yard, and when it can be inspected.
• Any additional declaration or treatment the importer has been told to obtain.

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What delays a phytosanitary certificate

• Inspecting too early: a certificate dated outside the destination's window, or more than 30 days before export when no window is set, can be rejected.
• Loading before inspection: once a unit is inside a container or on board, it cannot be inspected.
• Soil left in hidden places: a failed inspection means re-cleaning and a second visit.
• Names that do not match: the consignee on the certificate should match the import permit and the bill of lading.
• Unofficial conditions: requirements quoted in a letter of credit or a buyer's email are not accepted as the importing country's rules.

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