Govt eases Certificate of Origin for India-EFTA exports

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Tuesday said it has amended a provision to facilitate domestic exporters to obtain the Certificate of Origin (CoO) under the India-EFTA free trade agreement, through self-declaration.

The FTA between India and the four-nationEuropean Free Trade Association came into effect October 1. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland are the EFTA members.

A certificate of origin is required for claiming duty concessions under free trade agreements as it proves where the goods originate.


A paragraph of the Handbook of Procedures 2023 “has been amended to facilitate exporters to obtain the CoO under the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) through self-declaration, in addition to the existing system of issuance of CoO by the authorised agencies,” the DGFT said in a public notice.

To simplify the certification process for exporters and enhance trade efficiency, the government earlier this year upgraded its system of issuing electronically generated certificates of origin to help exporters.