carlow chamber

Certificate of Origin Registration Process

Certificates of Origin

A Certificate of Origin is a document attesting that goods in a particular export shipment are wholly obtained or produced or manufactured or processed in a particular country (country of origin). 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.

Certificates of Origin are intended solely to prove the origin of goods in order to satisfy customs or trade requirements. Certificates of Origin should only be issued when they are actually needed, for example, in the following circumstances:

To meet customs requirements in the importing state
The customer/buyer/importer (consignee) requires it
To meet ‘quota’ or statistical requirements imposed by the importing country
To comply with the banking or trade finance requirements/letters of credit

The main forms of Certificates of Origin are:

European Certificate of Origin
Arab-Irish Certificate of Origin

To Register

Before a company can apply for a Certificate of Origin certain information is required by the Chamber:

Indemnity Form

An Indemnity Form must be completed by the company before the Chamber can provide a certification service. The undertaking of indemnification is needed with respect to the information provided by the company to the Chamber.

The company agrees to abide by standard rules and indemnifies the Chamber against inaccuracy of documents or misleading information.
The applicant must be based in the 26 counties and be registered with the Companies Registration Office.
Must include a list of authorised signatories for the company on the company’s headed paper, (with a sample of signature). The signatories will be authorised to sign applications for certificates on behalf of the company.
Non-members of County Carlow Chamber must also supply the Chamber with a letter of incorporation or a banker’s reference, must confirm that the company maintains an account with the bank.
The Chamber also reserves the right to visit the business in question to establish the authenticity of information provided.
The Indemnity Form is available from Carlow Chamber and is renewed annually. Indemnity Information and Form 2026 updated

Certificates of Origin online applications

County Carlow Chamber works with essCert to provide a fast, efficient and reliable online service for processing your certificates. All certs can be processed through the online system.

Once you are registered to use the system you simply log in and enter all certificate details. Shortly after your online submission, we will apply our Chamber official stamp and signature digitally and then email you to confirm approval. You can then issue an EU Certificate of Origin right at your own printer (you will need to maintain a stock of blank certificates – which are available from the Chamber).

Ordering Blank Certificates

This can be done by calling +353 (059) 9132337 or email admin@carlowchamber.com

Payment is required in advance and once received the blank Certificates of Origin will be posted to you.

To register with County Carlow Chamber for the Certificates of Origin service, including registration for the online system, please click below:

essCert Countries & Chambers | essCert

Where additional documentation is required for registration, please forward directly to County Carlow Chamber.

Preferential Certificates of Origin (EUR1 and ATR Forms)

The European Union has concluded trade arrangements with certain non-EU countries that allow exports from the EU to enter the markets of these countries at a reduced or nil rate of duty. They also allow imports from these countries into the EU at a reduced or nil rate of duty. These arrangements are known as Preferential Trade Agreements and the duties involved are referred to as preferential rates of duty.

For information on Preferential Certificates of Origin (EUR1 and ATR Forms), please contact the Irish Revenue Office.

Arab Irish Certificates of Origin

The Arab Irish Chamber of Commerce is responsible for the checking, certification and legalisation of commercial documents for the Arab markets. The Arab-Irish Certificate of Origin should be used for the 19 Arab countries represented by AICC. The Arab-Irish Certificate of Origin is issued by the AICC directly to its members and is also distributed through the local Chamber network throughout Ireland for non-members. JA-ICC Certificates of Origin must be certified by the AICC following completion by the exporter. When there is a requirement for certificates and other documents to also be legalised, the AICC will arrange this with the relevant Arab embassy. The Certificate of Origin is required for the following reasons:

•   It is a legislative requirement of the importing Arab country
•   To comply with Letter of Credit or banking requirements
•   It is proof of origin for importer
•   To meet customs authorities requirements

Certificates of Origin can be accepted in Arabic and French. If your certificate is in either of these languages, please provide an English translation.

For further information on the import requirements of the Arab states represented by the AICC, please refer to the AICC website: www.aicc.ie

Non-members: Certificates of Origin can be purchased directly from your local Chamber of Commerce. All documents must be stamped by your local Chamber before submitting to the AICC.

A.T.A Carnets

Dublin Chamber of Commerce is the national guaranteeing association for ATA Carnets for Ireland. Cork Chamber of Commerce is also able to issue these documents.

ATA Carnets are used for the temporary export of three types of goods to any of the other 69 signatory countries to the ATA and/or Istanbul Conventions.
1.   Commercial Samples
2.   Goods for Trade Fairs or exhibitions
3.   Professional Equipment

The EUR1 movement certificate is used for all preferential countries except those benefiting from the EU’s GSP scheme. EUR1 forms are issued by the competent Customs Authority in the exporting country, be it an EU member state or partner country. In Ireland the competent authority is the Revenue Commissioners. See www. revenue.ie/en/customs

EU-UK Free Trade Agreement

It is important to note that HMRC is not requiring certificates of origin for goods moving between the EU and UK. Tariffs will not be applied to goods that are either “wholly obtained’” from the UK or EU, or “substantially transformed” in the EU or UK.

Companies can assess whether their products satisfies these requirements on the Commission’s My Trade Assistant platform.

For goods imported to benefit from this duty-free treatment, exporting companies must make a claim for preferential treatment. The claim has to be based on a statement of origin, made out by the exporter, stating that the product qualifies for preferential treatment. It is up to the exporter to make sure that the conditions are met to issue a statement of origin and that the information provided is correct.

NOTE: New requirement for exports to Egypt only. .

As of 1^st October 2021, the Egyptian authorities have entered into force the ‘Advanced Cargo Information System’. This means that EU exporters will now have to register on the CargoX-Platform (free of charge). Meanwhile, Egyptian Importers have to register on the NAFEZA-Portal, which is the Single Window System of Egyptian Customs.

Shipment data must be entered into the Nafeza Portal before shipment by the Egyptian importer. On the basis of the data entered, the Nafeza Portal will generate a so-called ACID-Number. This number will be automatically sent to the exporter and to the importer. The EU exporter must insert this ACID-Number onto all commercial documents which accompany the shipment (including Certs of Origin). it is recommended that this ACID be entered into Box 4: Transport details on Certificates of Origin.

This process has been initiated so that authorities in Egypt can perform a risk assessment before the shipment arrives in Egyptian harbours. Upon arrival clearance processes will hopefully be much quicker than in the past.

The German-Egyptian Chamber in Cairo is providing all information on the new requirement. They also have a very useful Q&A section on this change which can be accessed here: https://aegypten.ahk.de/en/advanced-cargo-information-system

Guidelines for Completion of EU Certs of Origin

Box 1: Consignor (Irish Exporter) Full name and address required. The Consignor must be based within the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland and must be registered with the Companies Registrations Office. Name and address of the company must be typed in the consignor box. Consignor means the person drawing up the invoice for the goods and/or who is responsible for exporting them.

Box 2: Consignee Full name and address of the purchaser abroad or the words ‘to order’ followed by the name of the country of the final destination if known or by the name of the country of first destination followed by the words ‘for subsequent re-exportation’. Please note that for an EU cert this should be a non-Arab country. If they have completed this for an Arab country you must reject the cert and ask the company to complete an Arab-Irish cert.

Box 3: Country of origin This is the most important box as the origin description is the prime function of the certificate. This box must state the country where the goods originate. It must be noted that goods do not necessarily have to be of Irish origin.
Goods of Community Origin: If the good originates from within the European Community then the wording ‘European Community’ and the specific country must be included. Countries must be written in full – abbreviations such as UK are not accepted.
Goods of third country origin: Insert the name of the third country.
Multiple origins: If there is more than one country of origin, the country of origin must be cross-referenced to the items in box 6. If the space provided in box 3 is insufficient the country of origin shall be clearly and separately stated in box 6 against each item listed in that box and box 3 should state that the country of origin is listed in box 6.

Box 4: Transport Details Although completion of this box is optional, it is advisable to indicate the means of transport to be used (air, ship, lorry etc.). The description ‘mixed transport’ should be used when the goods are to be carried successively by several different forms of transport, as is often the case.

Box 5: Remarks This box may be useful for details which cannot be entered elsewhere and which might be useful in the identification of the consignment (e.g. a reference to certain documents connected with the consignment such as the order number, licence, letter of credit etc.). In order to respect commercial secrecy, it is advisable not to mention the name of the producer or manufacturer of the goods. If the needs of the trade require it, exceptionally, reference to the manufacturer can be made in this box.

Box 6: Description of goods. The goods must be described according to their usual commercial designation in the language of the Member state issuing the certificate. Technical terms for products may also be used.
General descriptions (‘chemical products’, ‘spare parts’, ‘machines’) or a reference to quality etc. are not acceptable. The space in this box is usually sufficient to enable the description of all the goods in a single consignment to be entered. However, if the goods are too numerous to enable them all to be included, a general description can be given:
Followed by the words “as per attached document” giving its number and date; or
One or more certificates of origin may be used which will then be treated as sequels to the first. All of the boxes of any supplementary forms must be completed and the forms must bear the same serial number

Box 7: Quantity column All quantities must be entered using the metric system i.e. lbs or Kgs. In certain trades other units of measurement are more appropriate e.g litres, metres, cubic dimensions or simple quantity. The vast majority of certificates include net or gross weights or both.

Box 8: Issue of certificates This box is reserved for the chamber to stamp with the chamber seal and to include the signatory of the authorised chamber signatory to certify the certificate. The name of the signatory must be repeated in block letters or in typing. A “signature stamp” setting out in clear print the name of the signatory can be of assistance and is used by some chambers. The date must be that of the day on which the certificate is issued.

All duplicate sheets of the form should be kept together and the application must be signed on the final (pink) page by the applicant.

All boxes must be completed – none are optional

Guidelines for Completion of Arab Certificates of Origin

Arab Certificates of Origin are required when exporting from the European Union to any country in the Arab league.

Arab League countries (Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen).

When exporting to Arab League countries a stamp from the Arab Irish Chamber is also required. For more information go to www.jaicc.ie/export_documentation

Box 1 must only state an Irish company or an Irish company with its full name and address on behalf of another country/company
Box 6 must have the full name and address of the manufacturer even if the manufacturer is the exporter
Country of origin in Box 5 must match manufacturer which is stated in Box 6
Blue and green copies of the certificate of origin must accompany the original and duly signed and dated in Boxes 8 & 9 – All 3 copies must be submitted with original – local Chambers are not to retain any copy (photocopies of the Cert should be made and retained for Chamber records)
If copies of the original certificate of origin requires to be certified or legalised these must be typed up on the official white copy certificate of origin – photocopies are not acceptable
All certificates of origin must be completed in type script – hand written certificates are not acceptable
Separate certificates of origin and invoices must be completed for air and sea shipment. One set of documents cannot go to the same importer for sea and air shipments.
If an exporter makes a mistake on the certificate of origin it is up to discretion of the local chamber on how many times they stamp the certificate. Please note that the JAICC must stamp and initial the mistake. If there are too many stamps on the certificate, some Embassies will not accept them.
Please ensure that local Chambers do not stamp the commercial invoice over the total of the invoice. The total of the invoice must be clear as this is need as some Embassies legalisation fee is based on the total. If it is not clear the exporter must do another one which is only incurring unnecessary delay and expense on behalf of the exporter.
For exporting of textiles containing a synthetic blend, the blend constitution should be mentioned. If one of the constituents is acrylic fibre, the name and address of the manufacturer must be mentioned.