Bandar Abbas Chamber, Irish Chambers of Commerce, Los Angeles Area Chamber and the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce are the latest members to enter the International Certificate of Origin (CO) Accreditation Chain, managed by ICC’s World Chamber Federation (WCF).
With their newly established status as accredited members of the CO Chain, the Bandar Abbas Chamber (Iran) Los Angeles Area Chamber (United States), 16 New Zealand Chambers, and 31 Irish Chambers now benefit from the use of ICC’s internationally-recognised CO label. This certified mark assures banks, businesses, customs administrations and traders that their COs have been issued according to the most stringent and harmonized certification standards.
Established by ICC’s WCF in 2012, today the CO Chain comprises 733 chambers across the world. Together, this network of chambers issues more than 8.5 million COs a year, with the official ICC WCF Label, adhering to the universal certification standards, ICC WCF International CO Guidelines, to issue trade documents in their respective countries.
Through the CO Chain, ICC WCF enables chamber leaders to promote the use of universal certification standards and processes to better serve the global trading community. Being a member instills confidence that chamber competency and credibility, as trusted third parties in the issuance of Cos, remains up to date.
Approval of the new members was made during an ICC WCF International CO Council meeting, which was held virtually from 18-19 May 2020, with 47 CO experts from 32 countries. Chaired by Martin Van der Weide, Deputy Chair of the ICC WCF International Certificate of Origin Council and Policy Manager on Origin of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, the diverse group discussed the increase in usage of the CO verification website in 2020, which stemmed from an uptick in fake documentation to obscure the origin of counterfeit products due to the global health crisis. The site drew more than 176,000 users, compared with just 60,000 users in 2019. Now, more than ever, Customs and trade stakeholders are looking to mitigate fraud risks and ensure security, which the label and website provide.
The Council also discussed launching guidance around the use of dual systems, self-certification and preferential COs, in Free Trade Agreements, and the development of a new ICC trade service for chambers, which aims to give increased credibility to invoice declarations made by an exporter in the framework of self-certification.
The meeting concluded with an exchange of information among members, regarding trade regulation around the world. Roman Bruehwiler, Senior Adviser of the Swiss Federal Customs Administration in the Free Trade and Customs Agreements section presented an update and revision of the Kyoto Convention.
For more information about the new members of the ICC WCF International CO Accreditation Chain, please check the following link:
