Electronic Data Interchange

ENABLING A PAPERLESS EXPORT INDUSTRY IN A UNITED AND PROSPEROUS AGRICULTURE SECTOR

Background to Project EDiN (formerly known as EDI Project)

The Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB), established in 1926, is a statutory organization, which conducts its business in terms of the Perishable Products Export Control Act 9 of 1983 herein referred to as the PPECB Act 9 of 1983.  The PPECB Act states that the objective of the Board is “To bring about the orderly and efficient export of the perishable products from the Republic”.   In order to achieve this PPECB has 5 long term strategic objectives.   Two of PPECB’s 5 strategic objectives are to:-

1.       Enhance the  credibility of South African Export Certificate

2.       Strengthen PPECB’s capacity as a credible source of strategic information for serving Industries and Stakeholders

 In order to achieve these strategic objectives PPECB has embarked on a number of projects, one of which is the Project EDiN.  To support the strategic objectives and to help the industry the EDI Project which is now called Project EDiN aims to deliver integrated, efficient, safe, reliable and cost effective way to exchange exports information by creating a fully integrated Electronic Export Certification System.  The project is divided into 5 high level phases, Phase 1 the initiation phase, Phase 2 the Analysis phase, Phase 3 the Development phase, Phase 4 the Implementation phase and Phase 5 the project closeout phase.

Benefits Of Project EDiN (EDI Project)

The project was started couple of years ago, and since then there has been more emphasis to ensure that it is completed and a number of significant milestones have been achieved for the project.  This includes but is not limited to restructuring of the Project Focus Group which is a group of exports industry representatives and players together with PPECB who forms a critical component of the project EDiN team.  The benefits of having industry representatives directly involved has a lot of benefits as any of their concerns are addressed immediately.

The success of this project will benefit PPECB and the exports industry by ensuring an improved credibility of the export certification, and the use of standardized codes by everyone in the South African fruit export industry. In addition the information can move directly out of one computer system and into another with little or no delay, this will facilitating access to and timely information. The possibility for errors on large volumes of transactions are reduced as there is no recapturing of data, and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards will specify how data will be formatted and where it can be found, this ensures that the information is complete. Data is less likely to be lost if it is transmitted through Project EDiN than if it goes via email or paper.   The systems will be more secured in terms of access and there is a huge cost savings due less paper and transport costs for both PPECB and industry as information capturing and exchange is automated.

Project Milestones Achieved

There has been a number of critical and important milestones achieved since the project started, and this is  thanks to the PPECB leadership, employees and industry players for support and participation. Some of the greatest milestones achieved includes but are not limited to:-

i.                     Communication strategy for the project resulting in the partipaction of many exports and supply chain industry players

ii.                   Formation of a strong Project Focus Group, that is representative of the exports industry players, PPECB and the Department Of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

iii.                  The sign off and acceptance by the export industry and PPECB of the standardized export certifcation codes, messaging  and data exchange elements

iv.                 Finalization of the business rules, adoption of the Unique Pallet ID SSCC standard and the initial implementation of the agreed upon and standardized codes

v.                   The support and participation through engagements of other critical partners such as the SA Customs and Transnet Port Terminals

vi.                 Prototyping of the SSCC Unique Pallet ID matching of the inspection and shipping  information, with assistance from the Table Grapes industry, and two biggest exporters of the grapes products.

Other critical steps that are currently in progress and are part of the next phases of Project EDiN include but are not limited to the pilot of the Electronic Export Certification systems as well as the eventually appointment of the supplier via the tender process, the supplier will then develop and implement the complete system. This will not have been possible without the participation and support of the export industry partners, PPECB leadership & employees and the DAFF and our greatest appreciation to all of the particiapants for the continued support. 

Where Do I get Information on the Project

The project is managed and coordinated by PPECB and information about the status of the project and the progress is available in the PPECB website (www.ppecb.com under Initiatives, Electronic Data Interchange). The standardized codes that were signed off by PPECB and industry are available in the same link in the website or alternatively the information can be requested from the Project Manager at PPECB, Nkosana Mbokane via email at itmanager@ppecb.com.

Click here to Download : Signed Off Codes between PPECB and Industry