An introduction to Certificates of Origin (COs) will be the topic of the second in a series of webinars produced by the World Chambers Federation (WCF), with participants discussing topics that will include procedures for issuing COs, anti-fraud methods, and confidentiality issues.
COs are international trade documents used to determine the origin of goods for official, commercial and financial reasons. Virtually every country in the world considers the origin of imported goods when determining what duty will be assessed on the goods or, in some cases, whether the goods may be legally imported at all.
COs attests that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured, or processed in a particular country, known as the country of origin.
“We established the webinar series following the success of the 6th World Chambers Congress in Kuala Lumpur last June to continue the fascinating conversations that began during the Congress,” remarked Anthony Parkes, Director of the ICC World Chambers Federation. “This is a marvellous way of maintaining a permanent dialogue among our members on the important questions that they deal with every day.”
The webinar session on 31 March will be led by Steve Baker, Manager of International Trade Certification for the British Chambers of Commerce. Mr Baker has wide industrial and commercial experience in export sales and marketing with major manufacturers including Massey Ferguson Export and Tube Investment Group.
Mr Baker is the ICC World Chambers Federation expert on COs and the key speaker at all events pertaining to COs. He acquired his expertise during years of experience in export and international trade organizations.In 2006, Mr Baker co-wrote the international COs guidelines.
The didactic session will give participants a unique opportunity to interact with Mr Baker, a renowned expert on international trade.
Participants will learn what COs are and why they are needed; how to determine and establish origin; the essential procedures and checklists for issuing COs; confidentiality rules and anti-fraud measures; and customer care procedures for quality service, consistency and confidentiality.
Webinars are live, interactive learning experiences that allow participants to ask questions and get answers in real time. For his part, the instructor can conduct polls, ask questions, and show slides during the session. In addition, webinars are convenient and cost-effective as they involve no travel expenses by the participants.
Numerous webinars on a variety of topics are planned in the coming months. The first webinar on customer service was held last November. Two other webinars are planned for this year, one on Web 2.0 and the other on a topic to be determined according to participant interest.