Thousands of trade documents are received daily by chambers of commerce around the world from companies preparing their international trade shipments.

In addition to the ATA Carnet,  an international customs document that permits duty-free and tax-free temporary import of goods,  managed by ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF), chambers issue non-preferential Certificates of Origin  which certify the country of origin of a particular product  as part of their documentation service. Recently there has been an increasing trend for national governments to allow the chamber community to also deliver preferential Certificates of Origin, which  enable products to enjoy tariff reduction or exemption when they are exported to countries extending these privileges.

In the United Kingdom, with the reduction of UK Customs service offices and the belief that the role of UK Customs should be more trade facilitation than document stamping, the British Chamber of Commerce and other organizations were asked to take over the job of authenticating preferential Certificate of Origin documents like the EUR1 form and the ATR certificate for Turkey. The arrangement was approved by the EU in Brussels earlier this year. The delivery of the EUR-1 document is now also being performed by chambers of commerce in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Georgia.

One of the benefits to business, according to Pers Anders Lorentzon from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Southern Sweden, is better customer service. “In Sweden, both customs and chambers of commerce issue Certificates of Origin. Like the UK, Sweden has 15 customs offices plus a network of 30 chambers of commerce delivering this service.” In the UK, only 30 to 40 customs offices provided this service, but now exporters have over 100 chambers through which they can obtain their EUR-1.

Another advantage for the customer is that they can now bring their EUR1 and ATR forms to the chamber along with their other Certificates of Origin, said John Dunsmure, Managing Director of the British Chambers of Commerce.

Chambers are also issuing other forms of Preferential Certificates of Origin such as Form A in countries like Macedonia, Bulgaria, China, Syria and Mongolia.

WCF’s Certificates of Origin Task Force is currently concluding a worldwide study into which countries’ chambers are issuing preferential Certificates of Origin. The survey will help WCF assist chambers working with their governments to expand this documentation area, which, in turn, will contribute to improvement in the efficiency of customs administrations.

WCF says that the role of chambers in the delivery of preferential Certificates of Origin could be expanded to other forms such as the ATR form for Turkey, which both the chambers in the UK and Sweden are actively pursuing.