Government of India
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Department of Commerce
Directorate General of Foreign Trade

Trade Notice No. 48/2020-2021

Dated: 25.03.2021
Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi

To,

All Exporters/Members of Trade
All Designated Issuing Agencies

Subject: Electronic filing of Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO) through the Common Digital Platform for India’s Exports w.e.f. 15th April 2021

In continuation to the earlier Trade Notice 42/2020-2021 dated 19.02.2021, it is informed that the electronic platform for Certificate of Origin (CoO) (URL:https://coo.dgft.gov.in ) is being expanded beyond Preferential Certificate of Origin to facilitate electronic application of Non-Preferential Certificates of Origin.

2. The objective of the platform is to provide an electronic, contact-less single window for the CoO related processes. Applications for Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin may also be submitted through e-CoO platform w.e.f. 15th April 2021. However, there shall be a transition period for CoO(NP) issuing agencies to on-board this common digital platform. Submitting CoO(NP) applications on this online platform shall not be mandatory for the exporters in the immediate. The existing procedure of submitting paper CoO applications directly to the designated issuing agency shall also be in operation in parallel. Submission and issuance of CoO(NP) by the issuing agencies through their paper based system may continue up to 31st July 2021 or until further orders.

3. It may be noted here that for online Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin applications, the e-CoO system shall generate a set of three (3) CoO leaves i.e. electronic,original and duplicate. The electronic copy shall bear the image signature of the officer and stamp of the issuing agency. The other copies shall not bear the image sign and seal of the issuing agency. Wherever required, the exporter may choose to get the prints of these remaining copies duly signed in wet-ink by the issuing officer along with the stamp of the issuing office.

4. As part of this online CoO(NP) application process, the exporters can also choose to avail the option of requesting for attestation of the supporting documents submitted with the said application, wherever required. These wet ink signed copies of the CoO(NP) and the attested documents (if any) may be collected by the applicant exporter by post or in person, for suitable submission to the concerned authorities in the importing country.

5. The authenticity of the online CoO(NP) issued shall be verifiable through QR code displayed on the certificate. Additionally, verification may also be done by keying the certificate number at the verification link on the e-CoO platform ( https://coo.dgft.gov.in ).

6. The concerned Indian Exporters may please take note of the following points with regard to the process being notified herewith:

· Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) would be required for the purpose of electronic submission of applications. The digital signature would be the same as used in other DGFT applications;

· The DSC should be Class III. The given DSC may be of either categories -- individual based DSC or organization based DSC or a DSC with the IEC of the firm embedded into it;

· Any new applicant exporter would require a one-time registration at the given portal. The password would be sent on the email and mobile number of the IEC holder. In case the IEC holder desires to update their email on which communication is to be sent, the same may be done by using the ‘Modify/Update IEC’ service on the DGFT website https://dgft.gov.in

· Once registration is completed, the IEC details would be auto-populated from the DGFT-IEC database. Applicant is required to ensure that updated IEC details are available in the DGFT system prior to registration. Necessary steps may be taken to update the IEC details online, where required.

· Any applicant exporter who is already availing services on this common digital platform for issuance of Preferential Certificate of Origin is not required to register again. Existing credentials may be used for logging in to the portal for CoO(NP) as well.

8. For further guidance on registration and application submission process, the Help Manual & FAQs may be accessed on the landing page at https://coo.dgft.gov.in . For any further assistance you may utilize any of the following channels —

· Raise a service request ticket through the DGFT Helpdesk service
· Call the toll-free DGFT Helpdesk numbers
· Send an email to DGFT CoO Helpdesk at [email protected]

This issues with the approval of the competent authority.

(Issued from File No. 01/02/54/AM21/EG&TF)

(Md. Moin Afaque)
Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade