Digital Assistance Scheme (DAS)
The Digital Assistance Scheme (DAS) is the umbrella term that supports multiple digital interventions designed to aid the continued movement of Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary (SPS) goods under Official Control Regulations from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI). It also supports the implementation of services to support the Windsor Framework.
The Digital Assistance Scheme aims to provide systems and services to streamline the certification and verification processes required for moving goods from GB to NI.
As part of DAS, testing has been conducted on eCertification for EHCs with a limited number of users in a private beta phase. The feedback and insights that participants have shared have been vital to further developing the understanding of business processes and the challenges that a fully digital end-to-end journey raise.
The testing for eCertification for EHCs has now been paused and the private beta system withdrawn. This followed a review of the testing results and an evaluation of the original design. The learnings will now feed into the next phase of development so we can provide a more effective service that works for all. It represented a substantial first step towards fully digital certification.
Moving to a digitised service for the movement of SPS goods remains the UK Government's ambition. The export digitisation work will continue as part of a UK global exports solution, details of which will be released more widely soon.
For movements of goods from Great Britian to Northern Ireland traders should use EHC Online.