Certificate of origin

A certificate of origin (often abbreviated to C/O or CoO) is a document used in international trade. In a printed form or as an electronic document, it is completed by the exporter and certified by a recognized issuing body, attesting that the goods in a particular export shipment have been produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. A "Certificate of Origin" is also called a "Form A"

The first certificate of origin was issued by the Marseille Province Chamber of Commerce at the end of the 19th century. The formalization in the role of chambers of commerce as issuing agencies for certificates of origin (CO) can be traced back to the 1923 Geneva Convention relating to the Simplification of Customs Formalities (Article 11) and has been reinforced with the updated Kyoto Convention.

Under these Conventions, signatory governments were able to allow organizations “which possess the necessary authority and offer the necessary guarantees” to the State to issue certificates of origin. Thus due to the widespread network of the chamber of commerce community, in most countries, chambers of commerce were seen as these organizations allowed to issue certificates of origin. As such, seen as “competent authorities”, chambers began to more widely issue non-preferential certificates of origin.

In 1968, at the Uruguay Round, an agreement was reached on Rules of Origin which led to more transparent regulations and practices regarding rules of origin (RoO).

Later on, in 1999, the Revised Kyoto Convention added an Annex on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures to further facilitate the transfer of legal documents in international trade.

By 2008, 350 Free Trade Agreements had been reached with provisions on preferential treatment; 400 Free Trade Agreements are expected by 2012, seeing an expansion on the issuance of preferential certificates of origin.

The origin of the product does not refer to the country where the goods were shipped from but to the country where they were made. In the event the products were manufactured in two or more countries, origin is obtained in the country where the last substantial economically justified working or processing is carried out. An often used practice is that if more than 50% of the cost of producing the goods originates from one country, the "national content" is more than 50%, then, that country is acceptable as the country of origin.

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