A certificate of Origin is an instrument that establishes evidence o­n the origin of goods imported into any country. The Certificate of Origin carries many other information points, such as the product’s details, its destination, and the export countries. It is a necessary instrument for export or cross-border trade, as agreed upon by trade agreements and treaties by nations.

Importance of Certificate of Origin

As mentioned above, a Certificate of Origin is a certificate that is used to identify the country of manufacturing any goods or commodity.

• These certificates are essential for exporters to prove where their goods come from and therefore stake their claim to whatever benefits goods of Indian origin may be eligible for in the country of exports.
• The main requirement for a Certificate of Origin is for clearing customs. If the goods, exported/imported, do not come with a Certificate of Origin, the Customs officer tasked with checking the goods will not allow the goods to leave the warehouse.
• The Customs officer uses the Certificate of Origin to determine the duties that must be paid and to check whether the goods exported/imported are illegal.
• A certificate of Origin is mainly needed to check whether the goods being exported/imported are legal and whether such export or import is subject to duties.

Types of Certificate of Origin

There are two kinds of Certificate of Origin that Chambers of Commerce may issue:

Non-preferential Certificate of Origin

Non – Preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO NP) states that the goods being exported are not given any preferential tariff treatment, and the due duties must be levied upon the goods being moved.

Preferential Certificate of Origin

A Preferential Certificate of Origin is given to goods subject to preferential tariff treatment in the payment of duties. These duties may be a reduction of the standard tariff, or they also may be a complete exemption of the tariffs. Such a situation arises when two or more nations reach a trade agreement entailing such exemptions when goods are exported or imported between these nations.

Prescribed Authority to Issue Certificate of Origin

A Certificate of Origin is issued by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Trade Promotion Council of India. This certificate issued by these two bodies is essential for exporters in India to prove that the commodities being exported are of Indian origin.

• It also proves that the commodity exported is wholly obtained, manufactured, or produced in India.
• The exporter must sign a Certificate of Origin with a permanent indemnity bond on a non-judicial stamp paper of Rs 10, duly notarized (format for Indemnity Bond is available with the Certificate of Origin Dept).
• The certificate must also be signed and stamped by the Chamber of Commerce or any other authority with such qualification. It is the most commonly used document to prove the origin of goods.

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Common Digital Platform for Issuance of Certificate of Origin 

The standard digital platform is single-point access for the Preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO) for all Free Trade Agreements / Preferential Trade Agreements for all agencies and all products. This CoO e-platform is designed to facilitate exporters through a secure, electronic, paperless Certificate of the Origin issuance process. All designated Certificate of Origin issuing agencies is required to work through this portal.

Services of Common Digital Platform

Certificate of Origin (CoO) for exports from India under the following trade agreements are already being applied and issued through the e-platform.

• ICPTA – India Chile Preferential Trade Agreement
• SAFTA – South Asia Free Trade Agreement
• SAPTA – SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement
• IKCEP – India Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
• IJCEPA – India Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
• AIFTA – ASEAN India Free Trade Agreement
• ISFTA – India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement
• APTA – Asia Pacific Trade Agreement
• GSP – Generalized System of Preferences
• GSTP – Global System of Trade Preferences
• IMCECA – India Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement
• ISCECA – India Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement
• India-Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement
• India-Thailand Early Harvest Scheme
• India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (India-UAE CEPA)
• ICPTA – India Chile Preferential Trade Agreement

A Framework Agreement to Promote Economic Cooperation between India and Chile was signed on January 20, 2005. The Framework Agreement envisaged a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between the two countries

SAFTA – South Asia Free Trade Agreement

The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is the free trade arrangement of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The agreement came into force in 2006, succeeding the 1993 SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement. SAFTA signatory countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

SAPTA – SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement

The SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) reflected the desire of the Member States to promote and sustain mutual trade and economic cooperation within the SAARC region through the exchange of tariff concessions. Member countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

IKCEP – India Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

India-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA): India and South Korea (Republic of Korea) signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to expand the business and commercial opportunities between these two countries. EIC has the sole authority to issue a Certificate of Origin under this agreement.

IJCEPA – India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

This agreement is between India and Japan to improve and protect investments made between the two countries. Under this agreement, the EIC has the sole authority to issue a Certificate of Origin.

AIFTA – ASEAN India Free Trade Agreement

The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement was signed and entered into force on 1 January 2010. Under the Agreement, ASEAN Member States and India have agreed to open their respective markets by progressively reducing and eliminating duties on 76.4% coverage of goods.

ISFTA – India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement

This agreement is a free trade agreement between India and Sri Lanka. Under this agreement, EIC has the sole authority to issue a Certificate of Origin.

APTA – Asia Pacific Trade Agreement

India, China, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh exchange tariff concession under APTA. APTA offers liberalization of tariff and non-tariff barriers to expand trade in goods in the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) region.

GSP – Generalized System of Preferences

A generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a preferential trade arrangement extended by developed countries to developing countries. Developed countries give GSPs to imports from India. GSP involves reduced tariffs on eligible products exported by India to the markets of GSP-providing countries. GSP promotes sustainable development in India by helping our country to increase and diversify trade with developed countries. India is one of the primary beneficiaries in terms of export volume realized under GSP.

Click here for more details on the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)

GSTP – Global System of Trade Preferences

Global System of Trade Preference (GSTP): This system extends tariff concessions between developing countries that are parties to an agreement. Export Inspection Council (EIC) is authorized to issue a  Certificate of Origin under GSTP.

IMCECA – India Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

This is an agreement between India and Malaysia, and the EIC has the sole authority to issue a Certificate of Origin.

ISCECA – India Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Singapore was signed on 29^th June 2005 to strengthen and enhance the economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two nations.

India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (India-UAE CEPA)

The CEPA aims to eliminate tariffs to more than 10,000 tariff lines within a period of 10 years, and it is expected to have a major impact on trading between India, the UAE and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

The Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a Trade Notice for Electronic filing of Non – Preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO) for India’s Exports from 15th April 2021. The trade notice given by DGFT informed that the Common Digital Platform is being expanded beyond the Preferential Certificate of Origin to facilitate electronic filing and issuance of Non – Preferential Certificate of Origin.

Synopsis of DGFT Trade Notice

The synopsis of the DGFT Trade Notice about the Electronic filing of Non – The preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO NP) is as follows:

• The Non – Preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO NP) applications for exports need to be submitted through the e-COO platform to the designated issuing agencies.

• No manual application for such a CoO should be submitted to an issuing agency after 15.04.2021. However, any manual applications submitted before the prescribed date may be processed by the issuing agencies.

Non-preferential Certificate of Origin

Non – Preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO NP) states that the goods being exported are not given any preferential tariff treatment, and the due duties must be levied upon the goods being moved.

Common Digital Platform for Issuance of Certificate of Origin – CoO e-platform

The standard digital platform is single-point access for Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO NP) for all Free Trade Agreements for all agencies and all products. This CoO e-platform is designed to facilitate exporters through a secure, electronic, paperless Certificate of the Origin issuance process. All designated Certificate of Origin issuing agencies are required to work through this portal.

Important Announcement for Exporter

Non – Preferential Certificate of Origin export applications must be submitted through the e-COO platform to the designated issuing agencies.

No manual application for such a CoO should be submitted to an issuing agency after 15.04.2021. However, any manual applications submitted before the prescribed date may be processed by the issuing agencies.

Manual submission of GSP CoO applications

• Applications for Non – Preferential Certificate of Origin must be submitted through the e-CoO platform from 15th April 2021. However, there shall be a transition period for CoO (NP) issuing agencies to onboard this common digital platform.
• Submitting CoO (NP) applications on this online platform shall not immediately be mandatory for the exporters.
• The existing procedure of submitting paper CoO applications directly to the designated issuing agency shall also be in operation in parallel.
• Submission and issuance of CoO (NP) by the issuing agencies through their paper-based system may continue until 31st July 2021or until further orders.

Features of online Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin applications

For Online Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin applications, the e-CoO system will generate a set of three CoO leaves, i.e., electronic, original, and duplicate.

• The electronic copy shall bear the officer’s image signature and the issuing agency’s stamp.
• The other copies shall not bear the image sign and seal of the issuing agency.
• Wherever required, the exporter may choose to get the prints of these remaining copies duly signed in wet ink by the issuing officer along with the stamp of the issuing office.

As part of this online CoO (NP) application process, the exporters can also choose to avail of the option of requesting attestation of the supporting documents submitted with the application.

These wet ink signed copies of the CoO(NP), and the attested documents (if any) may be collected by the applicant exporter by post or in person for suitable submission to the concerned authorities in the importing country.

The authenticity of the online CoO (NP) issued shall be verifiable through the QR code displayed on the certificate. Verification may also be done by keying the certificate number at the verification link on the e-CoO platform.

Exporter Registration in Common Digital Platform

The concerned Exporters may please take note of the following additional points for registering in the Common Digital Platform:

• Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) would be required for electronic verification. The digital signature would be the same as used in other DGFT applications
• The digital signature may be Class II or Class III and should have the IEC of the firm embedded in the DSC
• Any new applicant exporter needs to register at the e-platform initially. The password will be sent to the email and mobile number of the IEC holder.
• If the IEC holder desires to update the email on which communication is sent, the same will be done using the ‘IEC profile Management’ service on the DGFT website.
• Once registration is completed, the IEC branch details will be auto-populated as per the DGFT-IEC database.
• The applicant is required to ensure that updated IEC details are available in the DGFT system. Necessary steps may be taken to modify the IEC details online, whenever required

Exporter Registration Procedure

The exporter must access the Common Digital Platform’s official website to issue a Certificate of Origin. Before proceeding with the registration process, confirm the following:

• Exporters must update the IEC details on the DGFT portal (precisely mobile number & email id) as every basic information regarding exporter required will be fetched from there only.
• Exporters need to obtain the Digital Signature Certificate containing the IEC and the name of any listed director in the IEC portal of DGFT.

Click on the Registration option from the home page, or the already registered user can log in to the portal using the credentials.

Insert the Digital Signature Certificate and Enter ten digit IEC Code to start the registration process. Read Declaration, select “I Agree,” and submit “Save & Next” to proceed with the registration.

Check the details and furnish the required information as required. On successful registration, the exporter can go to the login screen and log in with the credentials received by email.

• User Name – Registered IEC (10-digit alphanumeric/numeric code)
• Password – As received in the email.

Procedure to Apply Non – Preferential Certificate Origin (CoO NP) through Common Digital Platform

From the Home page of Common Digital Platform, click on the online exporter Registration and login option. Provide the credentials along with the captcha and click on the login button.

After login into the portal, the dashboard will display; select the online application for Non – The preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO) option. The application form will demonstrate and provide all mandatory details:

After furnishing the details, upload the digitally signed documents and click on submit button.

Note: You must attach DSC for uploading the documents and submitting the application.

Click on the Preview Certificate to View the draft CoO NP / Click make Payment to initiate the payment process. After successful application submission, the exporter will receive an alert in the form of email and SMS. The same also is informed to the office where the application is filled.

Get the Certificate of Origin (CoO)

After submitting applications, the Common Digital Platform will generate all the existing CoO NP copies along with an additional one, i.e., an electronic one. The electronic copy shall bear the officer’s image signature and the issuing agency’s stamp. The exporter may get the remaining copies duly ink-signed by the issuing officer with authorization from the designated issuing office. The compositions of the CoOs so issued may be collected by post or in person for any submission to the FTAs/PTA’s partner countries’ authorities.