Certificate of Origin (CoO)

Origin decides duty rates, quota treatment and whether goods are admissible at all. A certificate of origin states it for a shipment, and in most cases is certified by a chamber of commerce that checks your documents agree with each other before stamping.

It is non-preferential: it says where the goods are from but claims no reduced rate. A preference claim under a trade agreement needs that agreement's own instrument instead.

Origin is where goods were wholly obtained or last substantially transformed — not where they shipped from, and not where the seller is registered.