International Standard Banking Practice

Certificate of Origin

Paragraph L1 to L8

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Basic requirement and fulfilling its function

L1) When a credit requires the presentation of a certificate of origin, this will be satisfied by the presentation of a signed document that appears to relate to the invoiced goods and certifies their origin.

L2) When a credit requires the presentation of a specific form of certificate of origin such as a GSP Form A, only a document in that specific form is to be presented.

Issuer of a certificate of origin

L3) a. A certificate of origin is to be issued by the entity stated in the credit.

b. When a credit does not indicate the name of an issuer, any entity may issue a certificate of origin.

c. i. When a credit requires the presentation of a certificate of origin issued by the beneficiary, the exporter or the manufacturer, this condition will also be satisfied by the presentation of a certificate of origin issued by a Chamber of Commerce or the like, such as, but not limited to, Chamber of Industry, Association of Industry, Economic Chamber, Customs Authorities and Department of Trade or the like, provided it indicates the beneficiary, the exporter or the manufacturer as the case may be.

ii. When a credit requires the presentation of a certificate of origin issued by a Chamber of Commerce, this condition will also be satisfied by the presentation of a certificate of origin issued by a Chamber of Industry, Association of Industry, Economic Chamber, Customs Authorities and Department of Trade or the like.

Content of a certificate of origin

L4) A certificate of origin is to appear to relate to the invoiced goods, for example, by:

a. a goods description that corresponds to that in the credit or a description shown in general terms not in conflict with the goods description in the credit; or

b. referring to a goods description appearing in another stipulated document or in a document that is attached to, and forming an integral part of, the certificate of origin.

L5) Consignee information, when shown, is not to conflict with the consignee information in the transport document. However, when a credit requires a transport document to be issued "to order", "to the order of shipper", "to order of issuing bank", "to order of nominated bank (or negotiating bank)" or "consigned to issuing bank", a certificate of origin may show the consignee as any entity named in the credit except the beneficiary. When a credit has been transferred, the first beneficiary may be stated to be the consignee.

L6) A certificate of origin may indicate as the consignor or exporter an entity other than the beneficiary of the credit or the shipper as shown on any other stipulated document.

L7) When a credit indicates the origin of the goods without stipulating a requirement for the presentation of a certificate of origin, any reference to the origin on a stipulated document is not to conflict with the stated origin. For example, when a credit indicates "origin of the goods: Germany" without requiring the presentation of a certificate of origin, a statement on any stipulated document indicating a different origin of the goods is to be considered a conflict of data.

L8) A certificate of origin may indicate a different invoice number, invoice date and shipment routing to that indicated on one or more other stipulated documents, provided the exporter or consignor shown on the certificate of origin is not the beneficiary.