Verification of origin in case of goods imported under Free/Preferential Trade Agreement - reg.- reg. - Customs - 01/2012

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS C.R.BUILDINGS, QUEEN'S ROAD, BANGALORE - 560001 C.No.VIII/48/02/2011 Cus Tech Date: 02.01.2012 PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 01/2012 Sub: Verification of origin in case of goods imported under Free/Preferential Trade Agreement - reg.- reg. Attention of the importers, trade and their agents is drawn to the above cited subject. A number of Free/Preferential Trade Agreements (FTA/PTA) are in operation at present under which goods can be imported at preferential rate of duty. Rules of Origin are notified under such Agreements which require the importer to, inter alia, make a claim at the time of importation, in the form of a prescribed Certificate of Origin (COO), for claiming the preferential rate of duty. 2. The Rules of Origin and the Operational Certification Procedures (OCP) also lay down the format of the certificate, the period of validity, manner of obtaining the certificate and the procedure for verification of the origin. One of the conditions for accepting the certificate is that it should be signed by the authorized signatories whose name, signature and seal are communicated by the country of export to the country of import through agreed channels. 3. There have been several instances in the recent past where the assessing officers have not granted the benefit of the preferential rate of duty on the ground that the signature/seal on the Certificate of Origin is not available with them. It is noticed that in such cases, the importer/CHA gets in touch with either exporter or the Embassy of the country of export in India or with the Department of Commerce. This has resulted in various practices such as the Embassies giving a letter of authentication or the exporter sending a letter from the issuing Authority in his country or the Department of Commerce re-directing the importer to Board. In some cases, it is found that the letters of authentication are accepted by the assessing officers to assess the goods under the FTA. 4. In this connection, Board has tasked the Systems Directorate to take up the issue of devising a quick and reliable system of dissemination of the signatures/seals to the assessing officers, 5. As an interim measure, the Additional Commissioner of Customs(Tech.), Headquarters, Bangalore has been designated to act as the repository of the circulated signatures/seals of the authorized signatories of Certificate of Origin (COO), in Bangalore Customs Commissionerate. In case of any doubt raised by the assessing officer, he should verify the records with the designated officer. 6. Difficulty faced, if any, should be brought to the notice of the undersigned. (B. BHATTACHARYA) COMMISSIONER