Certificate of Origin Not Mandatory in Iran

EghtesadOnline: First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri has given a nod to a proposal by the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture to ease rules demanding the Certificate of Origin for imported goods before customs clearance.

News ID: ۷۴۷۵۱۷

11 June 2019

In a letter to Jahangiri, the chief of ICCIMA Gholamhossein Shafei urged him to remove the CO obligation from the list of documents needed for clearing imported goods from the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.

“Under the present conditions when the country is facing economic restrictions, commercial documents, including the CO, normally are subject to changes. Moreover, sometimes the CO simply does not exist for submission to the customs officials,” read the letter published on the ICCIMA website.

A CO is an international trade document that certifies goods in a particular cargo are wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. The papers also serve as a declaration by the exporter, according to Financial Tribune.

As per the existing customs rules, for clearing goods the CO must be attached to the import declaration papers and submitted to the customs administration.

However, in some cases rules allow customs officials to allow clearance of goods the origins of which is clear for IRICA without the need for a CO.

Shafei says the easing of rules will help boost domestic production and that such measures have a precedent in the past.

It appears that due to the mounting US sanctions some countries do not issue a CO for their exports to Iran fearing being exposure and being placed on the United States blacklist.

US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear treaty Iran had signed with six world powers in 2015 and re-imposed economic sanctions.

The hostile US move has hurt Iran’s economy, including its key oil and petrochemical exports. Trump’s America has declared that it will punish countries and companies trading with Iran.