Certificates of Origin
Genesis
Launched in 2022, Genesis is a reliable verifying tool, useful not only to exporters for their origin statement but also to importers and customs authorities, working together to reduce fraud risks, costs and to facilitate smoother customs checks.
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The Genesis platform
The trusted verification tool helping to reduce risks and costs for smoother customs check.
Why Genesis ?
Rules of Origin (ROOs) are commonly used to determine if goods are eligible for duty-free or reduced duties under Free Trade Agreement (FTA) rules even though they may contain non-originating (non-FTA) components.
Certified invoice ‘origin’ declarations, a self-certification process carried out by the exporter, are used within the numerous FTAs in place (361 FTAs are in force as of 1 January 2024 according to Word Trade Organization). When applied efficiently, they strengthen the trustworthiness of exporters, reduce the risk of fraud thus legal liability for importers, and ensure smoother customs checks.
To date, there are no regulations or obligations on the certification of an invoice declaration. Such declaration is carried out by suppliers/ exporters either on a voluntary basis or upon the request of customs authorities/ importers as part of the procedures listed in an FTA.
The lack of knowledge and understanding of preferential rules of origin by exporting companies – especially smaller businesses can result in mistakes while self-certifying the origin on the invoice declaration. This can be exacerbated by the fact that preferential rules of origin generally vary depending on the agreement and the type of product.
Genesis serves as a user-friendly, secure and cost-effective platform to support businesses of any sizes in the Origin declaration process.
Several chambers participated in a successful pilot phase, which ended in March 2023. After a series of training on preferential rules of origin and testing in early 2024, the platform is scheduled to deploy in July 2024.
Certification process
Exporters can apply online in just a few steps to their local chamber of commerce to obtain the certification of the invoice declaration and origin statement.
An importer, upon receiving an invoice declaration, will see that the document and preferential origin claim has been certified by a chamber of commerce in the country of export. This indicates a reduced level of risk in the transaction and potentially enables the chamber to benefits from duty-free import or reduced duties under the existing FTA between the two countries/territories
Chambers
Genesis enables chambers of commerce to diversify their services to the business community, and maintain their trusted reputation as a facilitator of trade and credibility in the field of Origin.
For chambers interested in joining Genesis or to request a demo, please contact us.
