𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄

🖨️ 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻:

Paper-based certificates are widely used because in most cases, they must bear the signatures and stamps of the exporters or manufacturers, and those of the issuing authorities. Moreover, the verification and acceptance of electronic documents still take time to be widely applied, so the abolition of paper-based certificates of origin is impossible in the near future.

Although more and more trade agreements allow the traders to print the certificates themselves on plain paper, it is quite common that they are pre-printed by a competent authority and sold or delivered to the applicants. For instance, the free trade agreement between Thailand and India requires that the certificate of origin must be printed in a specific way, which means that the trader cannot print it by himself.

🌐 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻 (𝗲-𝗖𝗢):

Fast becoming more widely used and accepted as millions of certificates are issued every year, and to keep pace with the shift to e-business, electronic certificates of origin or "e-CO" are being implemented. Electronic certificates of origin are not only a means to facilitate and provide a secure trading environment but also save time, costs and increase transparency.

The use of electronic certificates of origin is anticipated to increase considering the support from both the business community but also from policy makers. Notably, The WTO's Agreement on Trade Facilitation came into force, bringing a new benchmark for the use of electronic documents, including certificates of origin. Article 10.2 of the agreement provides that:

2. 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙨

2.1 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴.

2.2 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘶 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

2.3 𝘈 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘋𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘗𝘪𝘬