By Harsh Ashar August 31, 2023

What is Preferential Certificate of Origin? Who is authorised to issue the Preferential CoO?

What is a Certificate of Origin?

A Certificate of Origin is an official document that certifies the country where the product or goods have been manufactured.

This certificate is used in many places:

Tariff and Trade Agreements
Customs Clearance
Provide Consumer Information

What is a preferential Certificate of Origin?

A Preferential Certificate of Origin is given to goods subject to preferential tariff treatment in the Payment of duties.

A reduction of the standard tariff
A complete exemption from the taxes

These are examples of duties.

These kinds of situation arise when two or more countries come together for a trade agreement entailing such exemptions when the goods are exported or imported between the countries.

Here are the Agencies who are authorised to issue the Preferential Certificate of Origin.

Sr. No.	Trade Agreements	Agencies Authorised to issue Preferential CoO
1	India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) All Export Promotion Councils (iii) SEZs (iv) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (v) and other agencies as per Public Notice No 44/2015-2020 of DGFT
2	Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products (iv) Tobacco Board for Tobacco products
3	India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISLFTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
4	ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement (ASEAN-India FTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
5	India-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IKCEPA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
6	India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (IMCECA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
7	India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IJCEPA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products (iv) Textiles Committee–for textiles and madeups
8	India-Afghanistan Preferential Trading Agreement (India-Afghanistan PTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
9	South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
10	India-Chile Preferential Trading Agreement (India-Chile PTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
11	India-Mercosur Preferential Trading Agreement (India-Mercosur PTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
12	Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) All Export Promotion Councils (iii) SEZs (iv) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods
13	SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA)	(i) DGFT (ii) All Export Promotion Councils (iii) SEZs (iv) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (v) and other agencies as per Appendix 2D of DGFT
14	India-Thailand Early Harvest Scheme	(i) DGFT (ii) All Export Promotion Councils (iii) SEZs (iv) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (v) and other agencies as per Appendix 2D of DGFT
15	India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA)	(i) DGFT (ii) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (iii) Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-for Marine products
16	Generalized System of Preference (GSP) Scheme	(i) DGFT (ii) All Export Promotion Councils (iii) SEZs (iv) Export Inspection Council (EIC)-for all goods (v) and other agencies as per Appendix 2C of DGFT