CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN ( CoO )

What is a Certificate of Origin for Export?

An Overview

A Certificate of Origin is an important international trade document or certificate that declares that goods in the export shipment are manufactured or produced in a particular country. It defines the nationality of the products and also has important information regarding the products, country of origin, its destination, etc. The CoO determines whether the goods coming into the country are eligible for import and duty has to be charged or not on the products. The Customs officials require the Certificate of Origin (CoO) for customs clearance procedures.

There are two types of Certificate of Origin – Preferential Certificate of Origin & Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin (NP CoO).

A certificate of Origin is issued by?

The Government of India has nominated various agencies to issue the certificate of origin. The Export Promotion councils, Chamber of commerce, various trade bodies, and other government authorized agencies are involved to issue the Certificate of origin.

Types of Certificate of Origin(CoO) for Export

As we discussed above there are two types of Certificate of Origin – 

  1. Preferential Certificate of Origin
  2. Non Preferential Certificate of Origin (NP CoO)

Preferential Certificate of Origin

Under this category, a Certificate of Origin is issued in the case of Exports for which India receives tariff preferences. The Preferential Certificate of Origin is required to export to the countries which are involved in following trade agreements. The Government has nominated certain agencies to issue a Preferential Certificate of Origin by applying through the Common Digital platform.

Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) 

Under this agreement following developed countries extend tariff concessions to developing countries.

(i) the USA (ii)New Zealand (iii)Belarus (iv)EU (v)Japan (vi)Russia (vii)Canada (viii)Norway (ix)Australia (only to LDCs) (x)Switzerland (xi)Bulgaria

Customs of these countries require Form A certificate of origin duly filled by exporters of beneficiary countries and certified by the authorized agencies.

Global System of Trade Preference (GSTP)

Under GSTP tariff concessions are exchanged among developing countries that have signed agreements. India has exchanged tariff concessions with 12 countries o­n a limited number of products.

SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA)

SAARC countries namely India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldives offering tariff concessions among SAARC countries.

Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA)

APTA offers liberalization of tariff and non-tariff barriers in order to expand trade in goods in the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific region. Presently Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea, India, and China are exchanging tariff concessions under APTA.

India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISLFTA)

This FTA is signed between India and Sri Lanka which offers tariff concession by the Governments of both countries.

India – Thailand Framework Agreement for Free Trade Area

India and Thailand have signed this agreement for imports o­n items of Early Harvest Scheme o­nly to those products which satisfy Rules of Origin criteria.

India- Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (IMCECA)

This Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement is in between the Government of India and Malaysia with effect from 1st July 2011.

India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IJCEPA)

The Government of India and the Government of Japan have signed the agreement to increase investment opportunities and strengthen protection for investments and investment activities between the Countries

India-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

The Government of India and the Republic of Korea have signed this agreement to liberalize and facilitate trade in goods and services and expand investment between the Countries. 

There are various other trade agreements are there that have signed by India with other countries.

Non Preferential Certificate of Origin (NP CoO)

The Government of India has also nominated various agencies to issue Non-Preferential CoO. The Exporters having a Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin for their shipment have no right to ask for preferential tariffs.

The applicant wishes to get the Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin, can apply to any agency authorized to issue NP CoO by the Government

Documents required to obtain Certificate of Origin

The following are the documents required to get a Certificate of origin:

Document preparation and gathering all the data needed to obtain a certificate of origin is an important task, and we have a separate team for each job to give our 100% efficiency.

For submission of an online application, DGFT Digital Signature Certificate is also required. We have an in-house team to prepare DGFT DSC to avoid any kind of delay in the process of obtaining CoO.

Prior Registration on CoO portal for issuance of certification

To proceed with the application on the CoO portal prior registration is mandatory.

Class 2 or Class 3 Digital signature certificate (DSC) shall be required for online registration and application submission, the IEC of the firm needs to be embedded in DSC.

The applicant needs to register on the portal and the password would be sent on the email and mobile number of the IEC holder.

How can we help you to get CoO through a common digital platform?

Obtaining a certificate of origin is a complicated task as it involves various documents and online applications.

Doing the application online on the Digital platform required technical expertise and obtaining the certificate becomes difficult without the proper knowledge and guidance.

Hence we have a separate team of experts who are working dedicatedly to obtaining the CoO for our clients by performing the following task –