When the origin of a product is or has to be proved on importation by the production of a certificate of origin, that certificate shall fulfil the following conditions:
it shall be made out by a reliable authority or agency duly authorized for that purpose by the country of issue;
it shall contain all the particulars necessary for identifying the product to which it relates, in particular:
the number of packages, their nature, and the marks and numbers they bear,
the type of product,
the gross and net weight of the product; these particulars may, however, be replaced by others, such as the number or volume, when the product is subject to appreciable changes in weight during carriage or when its weight cannot be ascertained or when it is normally identified by such other particulars,
the name of the consignor;
it shall certify unambiguously that the product to which it relates originated in a specific country.
1.A certificate of origin issued by the competent authorities or authorized agencies of the Member States shall comply with the conditions prescribed by Article 47 (a) and (b).
2.The certificates and the applications relating to them shall be made out on forms corresponding to the specimens in Annex 12.
3.Such certificates of origin shall certify that the goods originated in the Community.
However, when the exigencies of export trade so require, they may certify that the goods originated in a particular Member State.
If the conditions of Article 24 of the Code are fulfilled only as a result of a series of operations or processes carried out in different Member States, the goods may only be certified as being of Community origin.
Certificates of origin shall be issued upon written request of the person concerned.
Where the circumstances so warrant, in particular where the applicant maintains a regular flow of exports, the Member States may decide not to require an application for each export operation, on condition that the provisions concerning origin are complied with.
Where the exigencies of trade so require, one or more extra copies of an origin certificate may be issued.
Such copies shall be made out on forms corresponding to the specimen in Annex 12.
1.The certificate shall measure 210 × 297 mm. A tolerance of up to minus 5 mm or plus 8 mm in the length shall be allowed. The paper used shall be white, free of mechanical pulp, dressed for writing purposes and weigh at least 64 g/m2 or between 25 and 30 g/m2 where air-mail paper is used. It shall have a printed guilloche pattern background in sepia such as to reveal any falsification by mechanical or chemical means.
2.The application form shall be printed in the official language or in one or more of the official languages of the exporting Member State. The certificate of origin form shall be printed in one or more of the official languages of the Community or, depending on the practice and requirements of trade, in any other language.
3.Member States may reserve the right to print the certificate of origin forms or may have them printed by approved printers. In the latter case, each certificate must bear a reference to such approval. Each certificate of origin form must bear the name and address of the printer or a mark by which the printer can be identified. It shall also bear a serial number, either printed or stamped, by which it can be identified.
The application form and the certificate of origin shall be completed in typescript or by hand in block capitals, in an identical manner, in one of the official languages of the Community or, depending on the practice and requirements of trade, in any other languages.
Each origin certificate referred to in Article 48 shall bear a serial number by which it can be identified. The application for the certificate and all copies of the certificate itself shall bear the same number.
In addition, the competent authorities or authorized agencies of the Member States may number such documents by order of issue.
The competent authorities of the Member States shall determine what additional particulars, if any, are to be given in the application. Such additional particulars shall be kept to a strict minimum.
Each Member State shall inform the Commission of the provisions it adopts in pursuance of the preceding paragraph. The Commission shall immediately communicate this information to the other Member States.
The competent authorities or authorized agencies of the Member States which have issued certificates of origin shall retain the applications for a minimum of two years.
However, applications may also be retained in the form of copies thereof, provided that these have the same probative value under the law of the Member State concerned.
Articles 56 to 65 lay down the conditions for use of certificates of origin relating to agricultural products originating in third countries for which special non-preferential import arrangements have been established, in so far as these arrangements refer to the following provisions.
1.Certificates of origin relating to agricultural products originating in third countries for which special non-preferential import arrangements are established shall be made out on a form conforming to the specimen in Annex 13.
2.Such certificates shall be issued by the competent governmental authorities of the third countries concerned, hereinafter referred to as the issuing authorities, if the products to which the certificates relate can be considered as products originating in those countries within the meaning of the rules in force in the Community.
3.Such certificates shall also certify all necessary information provided for in the Community legislation governing the special import arrangements referred to in Article 55.
4.Without prejudice to specific provisions under the special import arrangements referred to in Article 55 the period of validity of the certificates of origin shall be ten months from the date of issue by the issuing authorities.
1.Certificates of origin drawn up in accordance with the provisions of this subsection shall consist only of a single sheet identified by the word ‘original’ next to the title of the document.
If additional copies are necessary, they shall bear the designation ‘copy’ next to the title of the document.
2.The competent authorities in the Community shall accept as valid only the original of the certificate of origin.
1.The certificate of origin shall measure 210 × 297 mm; a tolerance of up to plus 8 mm or minus 5 mm in the length may be allowed. The paper used shall be white, not containing mechanical pulp, and shall weigh not less than 40 g/m2. The face of the original shall have a printed yellow guilloche pattern background making any falsification by mechanical or chemical means apparent.
2.The certificates shall be printed and completed in one of the official languages of the Community.
1.The certificate shall be completed in typescript or by means of a mechanical data-processing system, or similar procedure.
2.Entries must not be erased or overwritten. Any changes shall be made by crossing out the wrong entry and if necessary adding the correct particulars. Such changes shall be initialled by the person making them and endorsed by the issuing authorities.
1.Box 5 of the certificates of origin issued in accordance with Articles 56 to 59 shall contain any additional particulars which may be required for the implementation of the special import arrangements to which they relate as referred to in Article 56 (3).
2.Unused spaces in boxes 5, 6 and 7 shall be struck through in such a way that nothing can be added at a later stage.
Each certificate of origin shall bear a serial number, whether or not printed, by which it can be identified, and shall be stamped by the issuing authority and signed by the person or persons empowered to do so.
The certificate shall be issued when the products to which it relates are exported, and the issuing authority shall keep a copy of each certificate issued.
Exceptionally, the certificates of origin referred to above may be issued after the export of the products to which they relate, where the failure to issue them at the time of such export was a result of involuntary error or omission or special circumstances.
The issuing authorities may not issue retrospectively a certificate of origin provided for in Articles 56 to 61 until they have checked that the particulars in the exporter's application correspond to those in the relevant export file.
Certificates issued retrospectively shall bear one of the following:
expedido a posteriori ,
udstedt efterfølgende,
Nachträglich ausgestellt,
Εκδοθέν εκ των υστέρων,
Issued retrospectively,
Délivré a posteriori ,
rilasciato a posteriori ,
afgegeven a posteriori ,
emitido a posteriori ,
[F1annettu jälkikäteen — utfärdat i efterhand ,
utfärdat i efterhand [F2,] ]
[F3Vystaveno dodatečně ,
Välja antud tagasiulatuvalt ,
Izsniegts retrospektīvi ,
Retrospektyvusis išdavimas ,
Kiadva visszamenőleges hatállyal ,
Maħruġ retrospettivament ,
Wystawione retrospektywnie ,
Izdano naknadno ,
[F4Vyhotovené dodatočne ,] ]
[F5издаден впоследствие ,
eliberat ulterior ,]
in the ‘Remarks’ box.
Textual Amendments
F1 Inserted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded (94/C 241/08).
F2 Substituted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded.
F3 Inserted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded.
F4 Substituted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 883/2005 of 10 June 2005 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (Text with EEA relevance).
F5 Inserted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1792/2006 of 23 October 2006 adapting certain regulations and decisions in the fields of free movement of goods, freedom of movement of persons, competition policy, agriculture (veterinary and phytosanitary legislation), fisheries, transport policy, taxation, statistics, social policy and employment, environment, customs union, and external relations by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.
1.Where the special import arrangements for certain agricultural products provide for the use of the certificate of origin laid down in Articles 56 to 62, the entitlement to use such arrangements shall be subject to the setting up of an administrative cooperation procedure unless specified otherwise in the arrangements concerned.
To this end the third countries concerned shall send the Commission of the European Communities:
the names and addresses of the issuing authorities for certificates of origin together with specimens of the stamps used by the said authorities,
the names and addresses of the government authorities to which requests for the subsequent verification of origin certificates provided for in Article 64 below should be sent.
The Commission shall transmit all the above information to the competent authorities of the Member States.
2.Where the third countries in question fail to send the Commission the information specified in paragraph 1, the competent authorities in the Community shall refuse access entitlement to the special import arrangements.
1.Subsequent verification of the certificates of origin referred to in Articles 56 to 62 shall be carried out at random and whenever reasonable doubt has arisen as to the authenticity of the certificate or the accuracy of the information it contains.
For origin matters the verification shall be carried out on the initiative of the customs authorities.
For the purposes of agricultural rules, the verification may be carried out, where appropriate, by other competent authorities.
2.For the purposes of paragraph 1, the competent authorities in the Community shall return the certificate of origin or a copy thereof to the governmental authority designated by the exporting country, giving, where appropriate, the reasons of form or substance for an enquiry. If the invoice has been produced, the original or a copy thereof shall be attached to the returned certificate. The authorities shall also provide any information that has been obtained suggesting that the particulars given on the certificates are inaccurate or that the certificate is not authentic.
Should the customs authorities in the Community decide to suspend the application of the special import arrangements concerned pending the results of the verification they shall grant release of the products subject to such precautions as they consider necessary.
1.The results of subsequent verifications shall be communicated to the competent authorities in the Community as soon as possible.
The said results must make it possible to determine whether the origin certificates remitted in the conditions laid down in Article 64 above apply to the goods actually exported and whether the latter may actually give rise to application of the special importation arrangements concerned.
2.If there is no reply within a maximum time limit of six months to requests for subsequent verification, the competent authorities in the Community shall definitively refuse to grant entitlement to the special import arrangements.