Electronic CVIs

The Illinois Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare encourages all veterinarians to begin utilizing electronic health certificates (e-CVIs) when completing certificates for interstate movement or for exhibition.  There are a number of advantages to using e-CVIs including:

• Certificate Distribution –
  o  Upon submission, with most vendors, certificates are immediately sent electronically to the state of origin, state of destination, and the animal owner
  o  There is no longer a need to mail copies to the Department
• Certificate Legibility –
  o  Certificates are easy to read and there is no need to worry about the ability to read copies which can be a problem with hand written certificates.
  o  Corrections can be made to the certificate prior to submission which eliminates the need to rewrite a certificate when an error is made.
• Certificate Security –
  o  Certificates are digitally signed by the issuing veterinarian.
  o  Only the issuing veterinarian has access to his/her digital signature.
• Certificate Storage –
  o  Certificates can be stored electronically, eliminating the need to store hard copies.

It is important to remember that all CVIs are accountable forms having a unique certificate number and the veterinarian is responsible for their use and misuse.  Downloading and completing a publicly available form from the internet or using a veterinary software-generated CVI form are not considered to be valid CVIs.

There are several private and public product sources for completing e-CVIs.  These include but are not limited to the following:

• VET-CVI 
  • FREE electronic certificate of veterinary inspection (CVI) offered through the Illinois Department of Agriculture agreement with USAHERDS.
  • Allows veterinarians to submit an eCVI from a mobile device (with the app) or store the information within the app for sending when data connectivity is available. 
  • User Guide and Training Videos available at VET-CVI Training
• VSPS (Veterinary Services Process Streamlining)
  • Sponsored by USDA APHIS Veterinary Services
• Global VetLINK
  • Private, fee-for-service vendor
• Vet Sentry
  • Private, fee-for-service vendor

Please Note:

Illinois does not accept the publicly available APHIS Form 7001, United States Interstate and International Certificate of Health Examination for Small Animals, as an official CVI for companion animal movement.  This is not an accountable form as it has no unique certificate number and is not secured for access only by veterinarians.