Case Study: USDA APHIS achieves rapid animal traceability and enterprise e-signatures with OneSpan Sign

E-signatures Enable Usda to Better Protect The Food Supply

USDA APHIS, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, faced a critical challenge: paper-based import/export permits and veterinary health certificates made it impossible to locate animals in transit quickly, risking delayed responses to disease outbreaks. To digitize and secure these mission-critical processes and better protect the food supply, APHIS selected OneSpan and implemented the OneSpan Sign Enterprise Plan as an on‑premises e-signature solution under an accelerated six‑month timeline.

OneSpan deployed OneSpan Sign (integrated with Pegasystems and implemented alongside Technik and HP contractors) to enable the ePermits portal where users can electronically sign, submit, track, renew, and store permits. The OneSpan solution supports PIV smartcard authentication for staff and click‑to‑sign for external partners, delivering measurable gains: animals can now be located in minutes instead of days, field transactions and document processing are faster, auditability and non‑repudiation are ensured, and APHIS established a scalable foundation for agency‑wide e‑signature services.

USDA APHIS

Patrick McFall

Director, Software Services & Delivery