Julie Austin, International Trade Quality Manager at the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce shares her expertise on the changes to the printing of UK Certificates of Origin. What is plain paper printing? Plain printing as its name implies is where the entire certificate is printed on plain paper rather than just printing details on to a pre-printed form. Many countries now print UK Certificates of Origin this way including China, Belgium, Netherlands, Finland, and Singapore. Will this affect other documents such as EUR1’s and Arab-British Certificates? No. This change only applies to UK Certificates of Origin. Will the online system be adapted to allow for this change? Yes. All applications for a UK Certificate of Origin will have to be done online. What happens if I cannot apply online or do not want to print the UK Certificate of Origin myself? The Chamber will be able to process the application for you and print it out for you if you wish. What format will the UK Certificates of Origin be received in? You will be able to print UK Certificates of Origin from the system as picture file or save it as a pdf. What happens if the document is printed in black and white? The UK Certificates of Origin must be printed in colour otherwise it is likely to be refused by customs authorities. It is written in the international conventions controlling Certificates of Origin that they be in colour. Do I need special paper to print the UK Certificates of Origin? No. Standard quality copier paper is acceptable. Will these documents be accepted by all countries? Yes. The British Chambers of Commerce have notified all relevant authorities if the change. Over 40 % of Certificate of Origin issued worldwide are now done this way. What happens if the country concerned requires a wet stamp? Where countries require a wet stamp the Chamber will print and wet stamp the document for you. Can we still raise more than one original UK Certificate of Origin if needed? Yes. It will now be easier to do this as the certificate number will not need to be changed on the additional originals. Will the UK Certificate of Origin still have unique numbers? Yes. Each Chamber will have their own two letter prefix followed by a seven-digit unique number. If a certificate has been issued before the 1st April and the good do not arrive until after will this still be valid? Yes. All UK Certificate of Origin issued before the 1st April will remain valid and will be accepted by customs authorities. Will customs authorities etc still be able to use the QR code and the ICC verification website to check my UK Certificates of Origin? Yes. Can we still make amendment to documents? From the 1st of April it will not be possible to amend UK Certificate of Origin by hand as they will not match the online version. Can we still have yellow copy documents? Yes there will be an option to download the yellow copy if required, however the copy is to be printed on plain paper and in black and white print. I currently use the UK Certificate of Origin form for Egyptian legalisation. How will these changes affect my application? You will apply as normal via the standard or chamber printed method and we will print the application, wet stamp and sign and forward on to the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce for processing. What happens if I accidentally print onto a UK Certificate of Origin blank form? This will not be accepted by overseas Customs, and you will need to apply again ensuring you add the “replacement” statement in the remarks box. If I have remaining unused UK Certificates of Origin would they need returning/destroying? Yes. Your Chamber will be able to advise you. Sometimes we cannot upload evidence to the system as the files are large and have to send by email – can this continue? Yes. At present this will still be acceptable but may change on the future. Can other documents such as invoices be stamped this way? Yes. This is currently available via the online systems and will not change. Do I need to let my colleagues know who arrange Letter of Credit applications for my company? Yes, we advise that you inform all colleagues who are involved in international activities on behalf of your company. If you have any further questions, just get in touch with our friendly International team at: [email protected] or call us on01603 729706
