Skip Navigation
Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance & Tracking System (PCIT) United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
PCIT Support

Accessibility Guidelines

To access the PCIT System, you will need the following:

  • A USDA eAuthentication account.
  • A Web browser installed on your PC that supports Transport Layer Security (TLS) and JavaScript.
  • A Portable Document Format (PDF) reader installed on your PC.

Use the latest web browser version of Firefox, Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge for full PCIT and PExD functionality.

And use the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader

Security

Is my information secure?
The privacy and security of your information is important to us. We have implemented procedures to help protect the privacy of your data. One step is that we require that you use a TLS enabled web browser in order to obtain access to your PCIT account. Remember, you are responsible for the confidentiality and security of your eAuthentication user id and password.

What is Transport Layer Security (TLS)?
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is an encryption/security protocol that addresses the three types of problems that can occur when information is sent over the internet. These three problems are:

  1. The possibility of the data being seen by a third party.
  2. The possibility of a third party altering your data.
  3. The possibility of a third party impersonating the intended recipient.

The TLS protocol provides features that will protect you from these problems. Encryption assures the confidentiality and integrity of any information you send over the Internet. Your message is coded so that it cannot be decrypted by anyone but the intended recipient. If someone tries to alter an encrypted message, it will not decode correctly and the proper recipient of your message will be alerted to the fact that the message has been tampered with.

How do I log off from the site?
To log off of PCIT, simply click on the "Sign Out" link located on the top right of the page. Please note that the "Sign Out" link will log you off of PCIT only, not eAuthentication. If your browser remains open and you click the Log In button again, eAuthentication will log you back into PCIT without prompting you for your user id and password. For privacy and security reasons, you may want to close your browser after logging off from our site to close your eAuthentication session.

What happens if I forget to log off the site?
After 60 minutes of inactivity, the PCIT session will timeout and you will be required to click the Log In button to return to the site.

After 60 minutes of inactivity, the eAuthentication session will timeout and you will be required to click the Log In button to return to the eAuthentication site to sign in before returning to the PCIT site.

eAuthentication allows a maximum of 9 hours of activity per session, after which you will be logged off and required to log back in.



Please note that PCIT follows accessibility rules governed by Section 508, (29 U.S.C. ' 794d), of the Rehabilitation Act. If you experience a problem that impedes your ability to use the system, please feel free to contact us.
Accessibility Statement| Privacy and Security Policy| Nondiscrimination Statement| FOIA| USDA| Export Program Manual