tradecert1.net

A Certificate of Origin (COO) is a document used in international trade to declare and certify the country or countries from which goods originate. In this context "originate" does not mean the country from which the goods are shipped, but rather the country where the goods were actually obtained, produced or manufactured.

Customs authorities in many countries consider the origin of imported goods when determining the duties that will be levied, where agricultural goods originating in one country or Trade Bloc may be subject to a lower rate of duty than those from other countries. In some countries the origination of the goods may determine if they can be legally imported at all.

Determination of the Country of Origin is often complicated where less than 100% of the raw materials in the exported goods are from a single country. Chambers of Commerce personnel are trained in the application of the international rules and regulations that determine the origination of goods and they can advise when the economic transformation of raw materials is sufficient to trigger a change in the country of origin.