Certificate of origin

A Certificate of Origin or Declaration of Origin (often abbreviated to C/O, CO or DOO) is a document widely used in international trade transactions which attests that the product listed therein has met certain criteria to be considered as originating in a particular country. A certificate of origin / declaration of origin is generally prepared and completed by the exporter or the manufacturer, and may be subject to official certification by an authorized third party. It is often submitted to a customs authority of the importing country to justify the product's eligibility for entry and/or its entitlement to preferential treatment. Guidelines for issuance of Certificates of Origin by chambers of commerce globally are issued by the International Chamber of Commerce.

It is noted that Chapter 2 of the Revised Kyoto Convention provides a strict definition to "certificate of origin". The scope of this concept covers only the specific form issued by an authorized third party:

Certificate of origin means a specific form identifying the goods, in which the authority or body empowered to issue it certifies expressly that the goods to which the certificate relates originate in a specific country. This certificate may also include a declaration by the manufacturer, producer, supplier, exporter or other competent person;

in which, a "declaration of origin" is defined as follows:

Declaration of origin means an appropriate statement as to the origin of the goods made, in connection with their exportation, by the manufacturer, producer, supplier, exporter or other competent person on the commercial invoice or any other document relating to the goods;

However, the concept has been used in practice in a broader sense, which includes self-certified certificates of origin as well (e.g., in NAFTA). Taking into account this fact, the International Chamber of Commerce provides a simpler and more comprehensive definition which covers both self-certification and authorized certification:

A certificate of origin is an important international trade document that certifies that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. It also serves as a declaration by the exporter.

In this topic, declaration of origin will also be mentioned because it is an important proof of origin beside the more popularly used certificate of origin.