CEFTA TRACES NT Maintenance, Expansion and SPS Digital Systems Support

Maintenance, support, further development and expansion of CEFTA TRACES NT and related SPS digital systems. CEFTA TRACES NT is based on the TRACES NT source code provided by the European Commission’s DG SANTE to CEFTA and adapted to support SPS processes and information exchange within CEFTA. The platform supports the electronic processing, issuance and exchange of phytosanitary certificates, veterinary health certificates, CHED-like documents, pharmaceutical permits and other SPS-related documentation and data, as well as traceability, information exchange and risk management between competent administrations. A key objective of the contract is to further develop CEFTA TRACES NT towards fully electronic, end-to-end exchange of phytosanitary and veterinary certificates within CEFTA and, progressively, with the European Union, reducing and ultimately replacing paper-based exchanges where the necessary technical conditions are in place. This will include further development of electronic certification workflows, certificate models, validation mechanisms, electronic signatures and trust services, and the interfaces required for electronic data exchange. The contract will also support the completion, further development and operationalisation of the CEFTA Notification System for plant health and food and feed safety, including notifications concerning risks, non-compliant consignments, rejections and related follow-up information. The contract will cover continuous maintenance, security, performance and reliability of the platform, as well as upgrades and new functionalities required to respond to evolving operational needs. It will also support interoperability with local SPS systems of CEFTA Parties and relevant EU and international systems, including the further development of interfaces and automated data exchange to minimise duplicate data entry. Further development will seek to maintain close technical alignment with the EU IMSOC environment and TRACES NT, as well as relevant notification and information-exchange processes linked to RASFF/iRASFF, EUROPHYT and ADIS, where applicable. The overall objective is to establish a progressively integrated SPS digital environment enabling reliable electronic exchange of certificates, notifications and other SPS information within CEFTA and between CEFTA and the EU.