Glossary term
Certificate Of Origin
A document stating the country in which goods were produced, used for preference claims and origin-based restrictions.
A declaration of where goods were produced, normally certified by a chamber of commerce or a designated authority.
There are two kinds and they are not interchangeable. A non-preferential certificate states origin for general purposes: statistics, labelling, quotas, anti-dumping measures. A preferential certificate supports a claim to a reduced duty rate under a trade agreement, and is only valid if the goods satisfy that agreement’s rules of origin.
The second is a claim, not a formality. Certifying preferential origin the goods do not qualify for exposes the exporter to recovery of the duty and to penalties, often years later during a verification.