April 5, 2021 – BRS Permit Applicants Required to Use APHIS eFile

Dear BRS Stakeholder,

On April 5, 2021, all applicants for permits from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) will be required to apply using APHIS eFile.

We encourage you to create your APHIS eFile account today to apply for BRS permits at: https://efile.aphis.usda.gov/

Five Things to Know Now

1. Consistent with the revised regulations found at 7 CFR part 340, notifications will no longer be available after April 4, 2021.
2. ePermits remains available for access to past BRS permits and notifications, and for submission of PPQ and VS permits. Application data from ePermits will not be available in APHIS eFile.
3. Any applications submitted in ePermits through April 4, 2021, will be processed in ePermits. Compliance reports related to these applications must be submitted in ePermits.
4. BRS will reject any applications submitted in ePermits on and after April 5, 2021.
5. Courtesy permits are not available in APHIS eFile.

Virtual training will be available to support your transition to APHIS eFile during the weeks of April 5, 2021 and April 12, 2021. For more information and to register please go to the BRS website https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/biotechnology/meetings/meetings_main for more information. If you are unable to participate in training, recordings of the trainings will be available for viewing on the BRS website.

For account setup help or other technical assistance, please contact the APHIS eFile Support Team at: help@usda.gov.

Questions regarding this transition may be directed to Biotechnology Regulatory Services’ eFile Team at: BRS.eFile@usda.gov.