FTA PORTAL - AJCEPA Case Model

Back-to-Back Certificate of Origin (CO) is a method in which a certificate of origin is reissued from an intermediate country to the final exporting country. For example, when a product is exported from the country of origin to the final destination country through an intermediate country, the intermediate country issues a new certificate of origin based on the certificate of the country of origin. This method can be utilized in the following case models:

Role The intermediary trading company imports goods from the country of origin and re-exports them to the final destination.

Advantages This method allows the intermediary trading company to conduct trade without holding inventory, ensuring continuity of the certificate of origin to maintain tariff benefits.

Example The intermediary trading company imports goods from the country of origin and re-exports them to the final destination.

Role In the hub-and-spoke model, one central country (hub) is used to distribute goods to various destinations (spokes).

Advantages This central hub simplifies logistics and documentation processes, making it efficient to manage re-exports to multiple countries.

Example Global Company B uses Philippines as a hub to re-export products to various countries in Asia. When re-exporting from Philippines, a new certificate of origin is issued to maintain tariff benefits in the importing countries.

Back to back CO requirements

Goods re-exported to a country within the region that has signed the same free trade agreement (AJCEPA) can be issued and issued a linked certificate of origin in an intermediate transit country based on the certificate of origin of the initial exporting country.

However, the following requirements must be met:

A valid original certificate of origin or a true copy thereof must be presented.
The validity period of the linked certificate of origin must not exceed the validity period of the original certificate of origin.
The certificate of origin must contain relevant information from the original certificate of origin.
A certificate or any other information given by the customs authorities of such one or more Parties or non-Parties, or other relevant entities, which proves that the good has not undergone operations other than unloading, reloading and any other operation to preserve it in good condition in those Parties or non-Parties.
In case of a partial export shipment, the quantity of the partial export shall be presented in place of the total quantity of the original certificate of origin, and the total quantity re-exported pursuant to the partial shipment shall not exceed the total quantity of the original certificate of origin.