The certificate of origin, online and verifiable

The starting point

A document that decides the price of the export

The certificate of origin attests where a good was produced. With it, the exporter gets the preference their country negotiated; without it, they pay the MFN tariff.

In person, one model per agreement

The exporter has to know which one applies, and choosing wrong costs the preference. Of 82 customs administrations, 33 issue it only on paper.

Authenticity by email or by telephone

When the importing country's customs cannot confirm it, the preference is disputed at the border.

Paper files, no statistics

The country cannot know what it exports, under which agreement, or how much negotiated preference is being used.

Sources for this section: ICC · Certificates of origin · WCO · Digitalization of the certificate (2023) · WCO · Irregularity typologies (2013) · WCO · Interconnectivity framework (2025)

The question is no longer whether the certificate of origin can be digitalized. In October 2025 the World Customs Organization published the first interconnectivity framework for the electronic exchange of origin data between authorities. The standard exists; the service is missing.

The service

From application to verifiable certificate

The exporter declares what they export and where to; the system retrieves what the State already holds, determines the applicable agreement and issues the corresponding certificate. The screens are a recreation: the logic and the fields, not any country's portal.

single window · certificate of origin

SW Foreign trade single window

ExporterDestinationGoodsAgreementOperationReview

Exporter details

Retrieved from the business register and the exporter register.

Legal name

AGROEXPORTADORA NACIONAL S.A.

Tax ID

8-0421-0037

Address

Av. del Puerto 1240, Ciudad Capital

Exporter register

EXP-2019-0884 · valid

Authorized representative

Registered signatory

Exporter status

Producer

Once only. UN/CEFACT Recommendation 33: what one administration already holds, no other asks for again.

ContinueSave draft

The exporter does not type what the State already knows. They sign in with the single government account and their data arrives verified.

single window · certificate of origin

SW Foreign trade single window

ExporterDestinationGoodsAgreementOperationReview

Country of destination and importer

Destination is the first of the two variables that determine the certificate.

Country of destination

Germany

Port of entry

Hamburg

Importer

KAFFEE IMPORT HANDELS GMBH

Importer ID

DE 812 345 678

Importer address

Speicherstadt 14, Hamburg

Means of transport

Maritime

Nothing is typed by hand. Countries, ports and importers come from catalogues the authority maintains.

ContinueBack

Destination and importer. The same country is always written the same way: that allows comparing and verifying.

single window · certificate of origin

SW Foreign trade single window

ExporterDestinationGoodsAgreementOperationReview

Goods and HS subheading

From the national tariff nomenclature, aligned with the Harmonized System.

Subheading (HS)

0901.21

Description

Roasted coffee, not decaffeinated

Unit

Kilogram

Quantity

18 000

Gross weight (kg)

18 940

FOB value (USD)

96 300.00

Origin criterion

Wholly obtained product

The options depend on the rule of origin of the agreement the system determines.

ContinueAdd another good

The HS subheading is the second variable. The applicable rule of origin depends on it.

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single window · certificate of origin

SW Foreign trade single window

ExporterDestinationGoodsAgreementOperationReview

Applicable agreement and certificate form

The system determines it. The exporter does not choose a form.

Regime checked	Destination	Goods	Result
Generalized System of Preferences	Germany	0901.21	Applicable · Form A
Regional trade agreement	Germany	0901.21	Not applicable
Non-preferential certification	Germany	0901.21	Available as an alternative

The agreements table is configuration, not code. A new agreement enters into force, a row is added and the service applies it.

Form to issue

Certificate of origin · preference scheme

Rule of origin

Wholly obtained · met

ContinueSee the legal basis

The certificate model is determined by the system, not the exporter. With the destination and the tariff subheading it resolves the exact model and the rule of origin to be met.

administration · trade agreements table

AD Service administration

FormAgreementsTemplatesRules

Trade agreements in force

What the issuing authority maintains on its own, from the browser.

Regime	Countries	Form	Status
Regional trade agreement	13 countries	Regional form	In force
Preference scheme	Importing bloc	Form A	In force
Bilateral agreement	1 country	Bilateral form	In force
Non-preferential	Rest of the world	General form	In force
Bilateral agreement	1 country	Bilateral form	Under negotiation

No code written. Adding an agreement or adjusting a rule is done by the issuing authority's team.

The country operates the service. Agreements, forms and rules are maintained from the platform.

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Certificate verification QR code — **The certificate issued.** Bilingual, electronically signed and with a unique verification code. *Illustrative data.*

public verification · no account needed

✓ Verification of certificates of origin

Public lookup

Certificate CO-2026-000148 · authentic

Looked up from the customs of destination. No account, no email, no phone call.

Status

✓ Valid and authentic

Issuing authority

Accredited issuing authority

Date of issue

12 March 2026

Exporter

AGROEXPORTADORA NACIONAL S.A.

HS subheading

0901.21 · 18 000 kg

Regime invoked

Preference scheme · Form A

Public, immediate and traceable. It is the first step towards direct exchange between customs administrations.

Verification, in one click. Customs, the bank or the buyer confirm authenticity on the spot.

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record of issuances · issuing authority

RE Record of certificates issued

IssuancesExportersAgreementsReports

Each certificate, a row of data

Queryable by the issuing authority, national customs and, if the country so decides, the customs of destination.

Certificate	Date	Destination	Subheading	Regime	FOB value
CO-2026-000148	12·03·2026	Germany	0901.21	Preferences	96 300
CO-2026-000147	12·03·2026	Brazil	2009.11	Regional	41 850
CO-2026-000146	11·03·2026	Canada	0603.11	Preferences	12 400
CO-2026-000145	11·03·2026	Japan	0306.17	Non-preferential	78 020
CO-2026-000144	10·03·2026	Chile	1801.00	Regional	33 700

What the record makes it possible to answer. How much is exported under each agreement and which preferences go unused.

The origin statistics come out of issuance. No extra work, and today they exist in no filing cabinet.

The result

What remains installed in the country

The cooperation does not end with a system switched on, but when the issuing authority operates the service on its own.

01

Application, approval and issuance online

Guided form with pre-validated data.
An agreements table that resolves destination and tariff heading into a certificate model.
National tariff nomenclature integrated.
Bilingual digital templates for each model.
Public verification by unique code.

The exporter does not choose the model: the system provides it.

02

The capacity in the issuing authority

Configuration from the browser: fields, rules, models and desks.
Training on the country's real service.
The local team publishes to production before the project ends.
The platform code belongs to UNCTAD and is delivered with the system.

The operation is transferred, no dependency is created.

03

Structured records and exchange

Structured record of issuances, queryable and exportable.
Basis for exchange with the customs of destination.
Utilization statistics by agreement, product and destination.
Design aligned with the WCO interconnectivity framework.

A digital certificate no one can verify is still paper.

Reference experiences

Electronic certificates already in operation

None is a single model: each solution was adapted to its legal framework. What repeats is not the technology, it is the sequence.

Electronic certificate of origin systems in operation
Where	What is in operation	Since	Source
ASEAN	The ten member States exchange the certificate through the regional single window.	2019	ASEAN Single Window
Singapore	Approved in the single window and transmitted in real time to the partner country's customs.	—	Networked Trade Platform
China · Korea · India	The certificate data reaches the importing customs at the moment of issuance.	2023	India–Korea, EODES
Latin America · ALADI	Argentina exchanges only digital certificates with Brazil and Uruguay; Colombia issues almost everything digitally.	2025	ALADI report, Dec. 2025
European Union	The registered exporter self-certifies: trust moves from the stamp to the register.	2017	REX system
Türkiye	Prepared by the company, approved by the chamber and controlled by customs, online.	2017	MEDOS, TOBB
Jamaica	The issuing authority stopped accepting manual applications.	2021	Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce
Global chamber network	Online verification across 800 accredited chambers in 40 countries.	—	International Chamber of Commerce

Sources consulted on 5 August 2026. Each link opens the original source.

Foundation

Which international standards it rests on

The service is designed on instruments the country has already signed or that are already its customs' reference.

World Trade Organization

Agreement on Rules of Origin

Requires administering rules of origin consistently and impartially, and publishing them.

Read the text →

World Trade Organization

Trade Facilitation Agreement

Article 10.2 commits to accepting electronic copies; 10.4, to establishing a single window.

Read Article 10 →

World Customs Organization

Interconnectivity framework, 2025

The first standard for exchanging origin data between the issuing authority and the importing customs.

Read the framework →

World Customs Organization

Revised Kyoto Convention, Annex K

The only multilateral text on documentary evidence of origin.

Read Annex K →

UN/CEFACT · United Nations

Recommendation 33 · Single window

Information is submitted once, at a single entry point.

Read Recommendation 33 →

ISO/IEC · electronic signature

Verification and authenticity

The verification code follows ISO/IEC 18004; authenticity, the electronic signature recognized by national law.

Read the standard →

The proposal

The roadmap: twelve months, three phases

It is not a contractual promise: it is the order in which things work.

Phase 1

Months 1 – 3

Understand the procedure

Install or adapt the platform.
Document the procedure as it exists today.
Map the agreements in force and each one's certificate form.
Simplify before digitalizing.
Verify the legal basis for the electronic document and signature.

The procedure documented and the service designed.

Phase 2

Months 4 – 8

Build and pilot

Configure form, rules, templates and approval desks.
Integrate the tariff nomenclature and the exporter register.
Connect the electronic signature and online verification.
Pilot with the issuing authority and real exporters.
Train the local team on their own country's service.

Real certificates issued in pilot from month 4.

Phase 3

Months 9 – 12

Launch and hand over

Public launch and support through the transition.
Stabilization and measurement of the first months.
Full transfer of the operation to the local team.
Prepare the data exchange with the customs of destination.

The country operates the service without external assistance.

Duration

12 months

Three phases, with a pilot from month 4.

Indicative budget

EUR 400 – 650 thousand

Depending on scope and integrations.

Modality

Technical cooperation

With the issuing authority as counterpart.

Platform

eRegistrations

UNCTAD e-government, without writing code.

Conditions

What is needed from your country

Nothing on this list comes from UNCTAD. If something is missing it is worked on in phase 1; if it does not exist, better to know before signing.

An issuing authority with a mandate

Whoever today holds the legal power to certify the origin of goods.

A sponsor and funding

An authority backing the project and funding identified or to be explored.

Legal basis for the electronic document

The law and the agreement's regime must recognize the electronic document and signature.

The national tariff nomenclature

In whatever state it is: it links the goods to their rule of origin.

The exporter register

Even if it is a spreadsheet. Without a register there is no verification.

The table of agreements in force

With which countries, which model and which rules. Assembling it is often the first useful work.

A local team that stays

Two or three people who will operate the service when the cooperation ends.

Customs at the table

From day one: it consumes the certificate and will negotiate the exchange with other customs administrations.

The first step

Three steps, no commitment

Starting the conversation does not require a government decision. It requires half an hour.

1 · A conversation

Half an hour with the issuing authority to see if the procedure fits. No commitment.

2 · A scoping mission

With the issuing authority and customs: which agreements apply, what exists and what is missing. A real scope comes out of it.

3 · A formal proposal

Scope, timeline and budget in writing, subject to mandates and available resources.