IMPORTING COUNTRY IN CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN FORM A

QUESTION

Dear Mr. Old Man,

I have a case  regarding importing country in Certificate of Origin as follows.

LC states:

– Applicant:     FROXA SA.

AVDA.EL CHOPO… SPAIN

– Port of discharge: LEIXOES PORT, PORTUGAL

Certificate of Origin Form A presented shows importing country as PORTUGAL instead of SPAIN.

Can we raise the discrepancy “Certificate of Origin showing PORTUGAL stead of SPAIN as  importing country”?

Looking forwarding to receiving your reply.

Thanks and best regards,

NTLC

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ANSWER

Hi,

There is no discrepancy.

The wordings in Box 12 of Certificate of Origin Form A are as follows

“The undersigned hereby declares that the above details and statements are correct: that all the goods  were produced in [name of exporting country] and that they comply with origin requirements  specified for those goods in the Generalized System of Preferences for goods exported to [name of importing country or name of destination country]”.

It is normal that the name of the importing country would be the same as that in Box 2 (Consignee). However, it is not always so, especially when the applicant is only the middleman in a back-to-back transaction in which the goods are not imported into his country but  the country of the end-buyer.

Not sure but the applicant domiciled in Spain might be the middleman in a back-to-back letter of credit transaction in which the goods are to be shipped to Portugal – the country of the actual importer. The Certificate of Origin is filled in and issued in such manner to reflect the nature of the transaction.

Kind regards.

Mr. Old Man