Building upon the launch
earlier this year of the ICC WCF International CO Accreditation Chain (CO
Chain), the Task Force on Certificates of origin, to be known in future as the
International CO Council (ICO Council), updated members on work with member
countries and customs agencies in establishing the CO Chain.
Based upon the International
Certificates of Origin Guidelines, the CO Chain brings reassurance to business,
traders, banks and customs administrations that COs are issued according to
internationally accepted best practices. Participating chambers will be
recognized in future by a distinctive accreditation seal which will appear on
certificates of origin, identifying the chamber as recognized globally to meeting
international best practices.
The International Guidelines
worldwide acceptance was recently reinforced over the past two weeks with their
endorsement by nine national chambers from the CIS countries at their regional
meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, announced Damir Aitkulov, Chamber of Commerce
and Industry of the Russian Federation during the meeting.
Underpinning the effective
implementation of the chain, the ICO Council approved the creation of its
International CO Accreditation Committee (ICOAC), to support the roll out of
the chain.
To be chaired by Nigel Rudd, Head
of Chamber Accreditation at British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), with the
support of Atiq Nasib, Senior Director, Commercial Services Sector of the Dubai
Chamber of Commerce as his deputy, the ICOAC was charged to manage the
expansion of the CO Chain, prepare recommendations, monitor compliance and
formalize the approval of chambers wishing to join the chain.
In addition to BCC and Dubai
Chamber, the first incoming members of this group include the China Council for
the Promotion of International Trade / China Chamber of International
Commerce, Paris Chamber of Commerce, Singapore International Chamber of
Commerce, the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and the Union of Turkish Chambers/
“The establishment of the
international CO Accreditation Committee is an important step forward for ICC
WCF. The widespread implementation of our community’s global standards will
enable chambers of commerce to become famous for international trade services.
I am privileged to be asked to lead the Committee to help chambers’ international
businesses to do business even better,” said Mr Rudd.
Case studies and experience
sharing are an important foundation on the ICO Council’s mission.
Presentations were made by
Homin Kang, Executive Director, Public Business Division at the Korea Chamber
of Commerce and Industry, showcasing how the network of 71 local chambers
across Korea manage more than 800,000 preferential and non-preferential COs per
year online.
Technical expertise and
opinions were given in response to questions raised by chambers from France,
China, Australia and Sweden, seeking global experiences to issues faced
currently within their country. Chambers also discussed at length recent
problems encountered with electronic COs and the importance of obtaining
recognition of these documents and their digital signatures by all customs
administrations.
During the meeting, ICC and British
Chambers of Commerce announced their partnership to provide online training for
chamber staff with no access to extended local expertise on CO issuance and who
wished to follow internationally recognized practices. The training platform
will be introduced to the chamber community in early 2013.
The meeting was hosted by the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Learn more
about the International CO Chain
Read
the public announcement of the Chain
Get a copy of the ICC WCF International Certificate of Origin Guidelines