UK Chemicals Regulation Directorate

Customer Profile:

Chemicals Regulation Directorate is an executive agency of DEFRA (Dept. for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) in UK. It is primarily responsible for issuing licenses (approvals) for the pesticides on behalf of the several government departments.

Business Challenge:

The entire approval process at CRD was time consuming and paper intensive. Earlier, transactions used to take place between departments through post and fax. To reduce this hassle, CRD decided to allow application submission through mails. The applications would then be approved and digitally signed by CRD and sent back to the applicants. Once signed, approved documents were sent to applicants via post. However, some of the information was highly confidential, and needed secure electronic method to deliver them to the customers.
As per the UK legislation, the approvals should be signed by CRD and HSE (Health & Safety Executive). Once issued the approvals become legal documents, as they define conditions under which a pesticide may be used. Therefore, electronic system had to be sufficiently robust, secure, and non-refutable to stand up against legal challenge. The customers needed to ensure that the document was originated from CRD, and was not altered / changed after being approved.

Solution requirements::

1. Approval document to be signed independently by two different government agencies without invalidating the first signature
2. Ability to add multiple signatures to the same document
3. Minimal training requirement
4. Integration ability with MS Word (The existing format of applications and approvals)

E-Lock Solution:

To meet all the requirements of CRD, E-Lock provided them with ProSigner. ProSigner met all CRD requirements, and was installed at CRD and HSE. Its integration with MS Word allowed staff to use existing procedure for digital signature with minimal training. Additionally, a free digital signature verification tool (Reader) was provided to CRD customers. The tool can be downloaded free from E-Lock website. Verifying signatures assured customers that the document was originated from CRD, and was not altered/changed after being approved.

Benefits:

1. Reduced processing time for approvals
2. Cost savings on paper, print and Postal overheads
3. Complete shift to legally valid paperless process
4. Made the process more effective and efficient