Rule 14 - Certification and Declaration of Origin - Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement between the Republic of India and the Republic of Mauritius) Rules, 2021

14. Certification and Declaration of Origin . (1) The Proof of Origin shall be in English. (2) The Certificate of Origin shall be in the form specified in these rules and in light pink. (3) The Certificate of Origin shall bear a unique sequential serial number affixed by the Issuing Authority in the exporting Party. (4) The Certificate of Origin shall be valid for only one import and include one or more goods. (5) The number and date of the commercial invoice or any other relevant documents shall be indicated in the box reserved for this purpose in the Certificate of Origin. (6) The Proof of Origin shall be submitted within its validity period. (7) In exceptional circumstances, the Proof of Origin may be accepted by the customs authority in importing Party for the purpose of granting preferential tariff treatment even after the expiry of its validity, provided the failure to observe the time limit results from force majeure or other valid reasons beyond the control of the exporter and the goods have been imported before the expiry of the validity period of the said Proof of Origin. (8) The Certificate of Origin or the origin declaration shall be forwarded by the exporter to the importer. The Customs authorities may require the original copy. (9) No erasures and superimpositions shall be allowed on the Proof of Origin. The alterations if any, shall be made by striking out the errors and making any addition required and such alterations shall be approved and certified by an official authorised to sign the Certificate of Origin, or the approved exporter and unused spaces shall be crossed out to prevent any subsequent addition. (10) The Certificate of Origin shall be issued at the time of exportation, but under exceptional cases, where a Certificate of Origin has not been issued at the time of exportation or within five working days from the date of shipment due to involuntary errors or omissions, or any other valid reasons, the Certificate of Origin may be issued retrospectively, bearing the words ISSUED RETROSPECTIVELY in box 8 of the Certificate of Origin or the origin declaration, as the case may be, with the issuing authority or the approved exporter, also recording the reasons in writing on the exceptional circumstances due to which the certificate was issued retrospectively. The Certificate of Origin or the origin declaration can be issued or made retrospectively within twelve months from the date of shipment. (11) In the event of theft, loss or destruction of a Certificate of Origin, the exporter may apply in writing to the issuing authority for a certified true copy of the original made on the basis of the export documents in their possession bearing the endorsement of the words CERTIFIED TRUE COPY (in lieu of the original certificate). This copy shall bear the date of the original Certificate of Origin. The certified true copy of a Certificate of Origin shall be issued not later than one year from the date of issuance of the original Certificate of Origin. Similarly, an approved exporter may also issue a certified true copy of the Origin Declaration which shall be issued not later than one year from the date of issuance of the original origin declaration. The exporter shall immediately notify the loss and undertake not to use the original Certificate of Origin for exports under this Agreement to the competent authority. (12) Minor discrepancies between the Proof of Origin and the documents submitted to the customs authority at the port of importation for the purpose of carrying out the formalities for importing the products shall not ipso facto invalidate the Proof of Origin, if such Proof of Origin corresponds to the products under importation. Minor discrepancies include typing errors or formatting errors, subject to the condition that these minor errors do not affect the authenticity of the Proof of Origin or the accuracy of the information included in the Proof of Origin. Discrepancies in the specimen signatures or seals of the issuing authority shall not be regarded as minor discrepancies.