“MEMBER SERVICES” DIRECTORATE

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Certificates of origin of goods - General Form are used for exports from Bulgaria to Albania, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Vietnam, Georgia, Egypt, India, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Korea, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Moldova, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Serbia, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and other Asian, African and Latin American countries.

This document proves the non-preferential origin of goods.

The certificate is validated by BCCI in 1 original and 3 copies, at the request of the exporting company. It has to be filled in legibly in English, French, German or Russian, depending on the requirements of the client.

A separate certificate of origin has to be issued for each individual shipment. For example, if certain goods are exported by three trucks, the goods in each truck have to be accompanied by a separate certificate of origin.

The documents are received and processed by the BCCI experts working in Sofia and by the BCCI experts stationed in the regional chambers of commerce and industry.

1. EXPORTER: make an entry of the exact name of the Bulgarian exporter-company, BULSTAT, full address(Postal code, city, str., No)

on the same line, at the top hand side: No……/date…….: this box should not be filled in by the exporter. Ref. No and date of validation of the certificate by BCCI are entered here.

2. CONSIGNEE: make an entry of the exact information about the consignee – name, full address.

Note: If, in compliance with the terms of the letter of credit or upon explicit written request of the consignee this box is not to be filled in, only the text “to order” is entered here.

3. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: make an entry of the country where the goods are manufactured (the country of origin).

4. TRANSPORT DETAILS: make an entry of the way of transportation of the goods: by train, by sea, by air, by car etc.; MEANS OF TRANSPORT: make an entry of the kind of transport and if possible of the registration number of the vehicle of transportation of the goods.

5. REMARKS: make an entry only if necessary
6. MARKS, NUMBER AND KIND OF PACKAGES, DESCRIPTION OF GOODS(IN CODE AND/OR IN FULL): make an entry of the designated mark on the package, the number and the kind of the packages and a thorough description of the goods in such a way as to enable the products to be identified by the customs officer examining them or put down the customs code.

7. QUANTITY: make an entry of the quantity of the exported goods in accordance with the export invoice by using the three-letter code of the relevant unit of measure.
8. On bottom of page you will find the following text written in Bulgarian, English, French and German: The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry certifies hereby, after control of the present documents, that the goods described above originate in the country shown in Box 3.

Certificate of Origin – General Form can also certify foreign origin of the goods, for example when re-exporting. This has to be entered in Box 3 of the certificate.

BCCI’s logo and the full name of the Chamber written in Bulgarian, English, French and German are to be found at the bottom left hand-side of the form.

The place of validation of the certificate (city…..) is entered at the bottom right hand-side of the certificate, an authorized official of the BCCI lays his/her signature and the English seal of the Chamber is stamped here.

The original is stamped with special stamps of the Chamber according to the Tariff of Rates of Services rendered by the Chamber. The cost of the stamps depend on the cost of the exported goods in the certificate.

On the overleaf of the last copy of the certificate the exporter fills in the following declaration:

The undersigned…………………………, occupying the position of…………………

in company……………………………….

DECLARES, that

the company exports………………………(kind of the goods, customs No…….)

…………….. valued at………………….to…………………….(country of destination).

The information in the certificate is correct and the goods are produced in…………………..(country).

I am aware that for furnishing untrue information I am liable to legal penalties.

The declaration is signed by the representative according to the court registration whose signature specimen has been submitted to BCCI or a person given express authority by him/her whose signature specimen has also been submitted to BCCI and the company’s seal is stamped.

When upon submitting the certificate for validation in BCCI the information concerning the quantity of the goods, means of transport etc. cannot be filled in, the following text is included in the above cited declaration.

A) FOR COMPANIES WHICH ARE REGISTERED WITH BCCI -

The Chamber employee verifies routinely the accuracy of information and authenticity of the signature using the data base of the Trade Register. If there is a change in some circumstances, the information on the file is updated and the certificate is validated

B) FOR COMPANIES WHICH ARE NOT REGISTERED WITH BCCI –

Certificates are validated upon presentation of the following documents:

• Copy of the registration of the company with the court
• If the lawful representative is submitting the documents for validation, he/she should lay his/her signature in front of an employee from the Trade Register of BCCI on a specimen declaration form printed by the Chamber. The signature specimen is kept in a special file and is not further required at later validations of certificates of origin.
• If the certificates of origin are submitted for validation by another person and they have been signed by the lawful representative, an original of the signature specimen attested by a notary public, or, a certified copy has to be submitted.
• If the certificates of origin are signed by an attorney, the original power of attorney signed by the lawful representative and stamped with the corporate seal has to be submitted. For powers of attorney with fixed duration, after its expiration, a new one has to be submitted
• If the attorney is submitting the documents in person, he/she lays his/her signature in front of an employee of the Trade Register, on a specimen declaration form
• If the attorney is not submitting the documents in person, an original signature specimen, attested by a notary public has to be presented.
• Document for the statistic number (EIK/BULSTAT) of the company.

NOTE:The registration with the BCCI Trade Register facilitates a lot the procedure because the relevant information is already uploaded in the computer system and the check is routine. So the above documents are not required for each validation of a certificate. Besides, the Chamber members benefit of preferential prices.

DOCUMENT, PROVING THE ORIGIN OF GOODS

 Depending on the kind of the goods, the document may be:

• Letter or invoice by the manufacturer, specifying the origin of the goods, or,
• Copy of a customs declaration for the importation of the goods, certificate "EUR.1" or another certificate of origin, issued and validated by a competent foreign institution (for foreign origin), or,
• Quality certificate, or,
• Phytosanitary certificate (for exports of goods of vegetable origin), or,
• Veterinarian certificate (for exports of animal goods), or,
• Analysis or laboratory certificate (for exports of medicines, cosmetics, chemical preparations, etc.), or,
• Another document specifying the origin of goods.

Certificates of origin Form "A" are used for exports from Bulgaria to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, Japan, the Russian Federation, Belarus.

They have to be produced in order to benefit of preferential treatment at the importation of Bulgarian goods in these countries, i.e. this is a preferential certificate.

Bulgarian exporters can benefit of preferential treatment when importing goods to the above countries if the goods meet certain requirements, set by the countries. The basis is the concept of the origin of goods, i.e. the exporting country has to prove that the goods were produced entirely in the country, or, that they have undergone a sufficient degree of processing, according to the accepted preferential schemes. This fact is proved and certified by certificates Form "A".

Certificates of origin Form "A" are validated by BCCI in 1 original and 3 copies, at the request of the exporting company. They have to be filled in legibly in English or French. The forms of the certificates are made according to the requirements of the General System of Preferences.

A separate certificate of origin has to be issued for each individual shipment. For example, if certain goods are exported by three trucks, the goods in each truck have to be accompanied by a separate certificate of origin.

The documents are received and processed by the BCCI experts working in Sofia and by the BCCI experts stationed in the regional chambers of commerce and industry.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRIES TO BE MADE IN THE CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN – FORM “A”

Goods consigned from(Exporter’s business name, address, country): make an entry of the exact name of the Bulgarian exporter-company, BULSTAT, full address(Postal code, city, str., No);

Goods consigned to(Consignee’s name, address, country): make an entry of the business name and the exact address of the consignee company;

Means of transport and route(as far known): make an entry of the mode of transportation of the goods: by train, by sea, by air, by car etc and the route if known. This is a facultative requirement;

For official use: this box is left blank. It is left for remarks of the importer. The box is filled in case of issuing of a duplicate of the certificate of origin – Form “A” or the certificate is issued after the goods have left the territory of the country – (retrospectively);

Item number: make an entry of the reference number of the goods described in the certificate;

Marks and numbers of packages: make an entry of the designated mark on the package and the number of packages;

Number and kind of packages; description of goods: make an entry of the number and the kind of the packages and a thorough description of the goods in such a way as to enable the products to be identified by the customs officer examining them;

Origin criterion: This is the most important box – the origin criterion. Make an entry of the relevant index corresponding to the origin criterion of the goods in accordance with the rules and the preferential schemes of the country of destination.

1. When the product is wholly obtained in the Republic of Bulgaria with Bulgarian prime and raw materials, enter the letter “P” in box 8.
2. If the product is obtained in the Republic of Bulgaria and imported prime and raw materials have been used for its production, the product should have been sufficiently worked or processed so as to acquire domestic(Bulgarian)origin. In practice the rule for “sufficient degree of processing” might be expressed by:
• change of the customs code of the finished product in comparison with the customs positions of the imported prime and raw materials used for its production;
• a list of the adaptations which make it possible for the products manufactured with imported raw materials to acquire Bulgarian origin. Each country giving preference to Bulgaria makes such a specific list;
• the rule for the “ad valorem” percentage when the percent of the value of the imported prime and raw materials use for the production of the goods does not exceed a certain percent defined by the country of destination estimated as a percentage of the ex-factory price of the exported finished product.

In the examples listed above, enter the letter “W” in Box 8 followed by the four-digit Customs Nomenclature tariff heading of the exported product, for example “W 8445”.

When the goods are for export to the USA, enter the letter “Y” in Box 8 followed by the sum of the cost of the domestic materials and the direct cost of processing, expressed as a percentage of the ex-factory price of the product, for example “Y 35%”.

Gross weight or other quantity: enter the gross weight and the quantity of the exported goods by using the 3-letter code of the respective unit of measure.

Number and date of invoices: enter the number and the date of issue of the export invoice.

It is hereby certified, on the basis of control carried out, that the declaration by the exporter is correct: this is the box where the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry validates the accuracy of the information declared by the exporter in Box 12 of the certificate. The employee of the BCCI, authorized to validate certificates of origin “A” Form lays his/her signature here, enters the date and the place of validation of the certificate and stamps the seal of the Chamber in English.

The undersigned hereby declares that the above details and statements are correct; that all the goods were produced in: in this Box the official representative according to the court registration of the exporting-company or another person authorized by him/her fills in and signs a declaration by virtue of which he/she bears responsibility for incorrect information filled in the certificate. The name of the country where the product has been manufactured is entered here, underneath stays the country of destination. The date and place of issue of the certificate are entered beneath and the representative of the exporting company lays his/her signature. The signature has to be laid by the person themselves both on the original of the certificate and on the three copies as well.

Reference number of the validation of the certificate by BCCI is entered at the top right-side hand of the form and underneath stays the country where the certificate has been issued, in this case the Republic of Bulgaria.

The original is stamped with special stamps of the Chamber according to the Tariff of Rates of Services rendered by the Chamber. The cost of the stamps depends on the cost of the exported goods in the certificate.

On the overleaf of the last copy of the certificate the exporter fills in the following declaration:

The undersigned…………………………, occupying the position of…………………in company……………………………….

DECLARES, that

the company exports………………………(kind of the goods, customs No…….)

……… valued at………………….to…………………….(country of destination).

The information in the certificate is correct and the goods are produced in………………….………(country).

I am aware that for furnishing untrue information I am liable to legal penalties.

The declaration is signed by the representative according to the court registration whose signature specimen has been submitted to BCCI or a person given express authority by him/her whose signature specimen has also been submitted to BCCI and the company’s seal is stamped.

When upon submitting the certificate for validation in BCCI the information concerning the quantity of the goods, means of transport etc. cannot be filled in, the following text is included in the above cited declaration.

The Chamber employee verifies routinely the accuracy of information and authenticity of signature using the data base of the Trade Register. If there is a change in some circumstances, the information on the file is updated and the certificate is validated.

Certificates are validated upon presentation of the following documents:

• Copy of the registration of the company with the court
• If the lawful representative is submitting the documents for validation, he/she should lay his/her signature in front of an employee from the Trade Register of BCCI on a specimen declaration form printed by the Chamber. The signature specimen is kept in a special file and is not further required at later validations of certificates of origin.
• If the certificates of origin are submitted for validation by another person and they have been signed by the lawful representative, an original of the signature specimen attested by a notary public, or, a certified copy has to be submitted.
• If the certificates of origin are signed by an attorney, the original power of attorney signed by the lawful representative and stamped with the corporate seal has to be submitted. For powers of attorney with fixed duration, after its expiration, a new one has to be submitted
• If the attorney is submitting the documents in person, he/she lays his/her signature in front of an employee of the Trade Register, on a specimen declaration form
• If the attorney is not submitting the documents in person, an original signature specimen, attested by a notary public has to be presented.
• Document for the statistic number (EIK/BULSTAT) of the company.

NOTE:The registration with the BCCI Trade Register facilitates the procedure a lot because the relevant information is already uploaded in the computer system and the check is routine. So the above documents are not required for each validation of a certificate. Besides, the Chamber members benefit of preferential prices.

DOCUMENT, PROVING THE ORIGIN OF GOODS

Depending on the kind of the goods, the document may be:

• Letter or invoice by the manufacturer, specifying the origin of the exported goods, in compliance with the rules for preferential treatment or,
• Copy of a customs declaration for the importation of the goods, certificate "EUR.1" or another certificate of origin, issued and validated by a competent foreign institution (for foreign origin), or,
• Quality certificate, or,
• Phytosanitary certificate (for exports of goods of vegetable origin), or,
• Veterinarian certificate (for exports of animal goods), or,
• Analysis or laboratory certificate (for exports of medicines, cosmetics, medicines, chemical preparations, etc.), or,
• Another document specifying the origin of goods.

The certificate of origin-Textile form is used for exports of textile products to EU member-countries.

It is most often used for the export of goods made in Bulgaria on an OPT/CMT basis.

1. Preliminary certificates of origin of goods shall be issued by BCCI on forms printed by the Chamber;
2. The same are to be filled in Bulgarian.
3. “Preliminary” Certificate stands at the top right-side hand of the form.
4. In Box 1 enter the applicant for financial aid under the SAPARD programme and the information about him/her as follows:
1. for physical persons – enter the first, father and family name, personal number, address and number and date of registration as an agricultural producer in compliance with Regulation No 3/29 January 1999 of the Ministry of Agriculture for setting up and maintenance of a register of agricultural producers.
2. for juridical persons – enter the name, BULSTAT and full address.
5. In Box 2 enter the seller/supplier of the products with his/her relevant information(see item 4, letters “a” and “b”)
6. In Box 3 enter the origin of the goods which must be Bulgarian or of a member country of the EU or of the countries applying for implementation of the SAPARD programme – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey.
7. In Box 4 enter the producer of the goods with his/her relevant information.
8. Box 5 is to be filled in only in case of emerging of some additional circumstances or requirements – for example entry of a sub-contractor of the project etc.
9. In Box 6 enter a description of the goods and their eventual quantities. If it refers to some complex equipment, all the elements which are subject of the investment should be included in the certificate. If they are numerous, they can be in the form of a specification or a list and every element should be listed with its origin, producer and quantity. The specification is joined to each copy of the certificate as an inseparable part of it.
10. In Box 8 the employee of BCCI who has issued the certificate lays his/her signature and stamps the seal of BCCI in Bulgarian.
11. The reference number and date of issue of the certificate come at the top right-side hand of the certificate. The numbering should begin from No 00001 the code of the respective Regional Chamber of Commerce being entered first. The copies of these certificates are classified separately from the others validated by BCCI.
12. The original is stamped with BCCI’s stamps according to the Chamber’s Tariff of Rates of Services.
13. A declaration on the overleaf of the last copy should be filled in:

I, the undersigned…………………………………………………………...……… personal number………………………….. representing the company ………………………….……………………………….

DECLARE, that

I apply for financial aid under the SAPARD programme.

The information in the certificate is correct and the product(s) is/(are) produced in………………….………(country). It is valued at…………………………. .

I am aware that for furnishing untrue information I am liable to legal penalties.

• copy of the identity card of the person ;
• copy of a registration card of an agricultural producer;
• signature specimen of the person;
• if the certificate is submitted for validation by an attorney – copy of the power of attorney signed by the applicant and a specimen of the attorney.

If the juridical person is entered in the Trade Register of BCCI, the accuracy of the information in the database is verified and the information on file is updated if required.

If the juridical person is not entered in the Trade Register of BCCI, the following documents shall be presented: copy of the court certificate for the actual status, BULSTAT registration, tax registration, signature specimen of the lawful representative according to the court registration. In cases when the certificate is submitted for validation by an attorney, refer to the rules of the preceding paragraph.

Note: Some specific sectors call for submitting of other documents as well: for example for the “wine growing” sector – copy of a certificate for entry in the National Register of producers of wine grapes, wine, wine and grapes products at the National Viticulture Wine-growing Chamber, license etc.

Under item 6 – for proving the origin of the goods – copies of preliminary contracts, concluded by the applicant with the producers or the suppliers of the goods as well as letter-declarations from the producers or other documents for proving the origin depending on the specific character of the sector for which is the application;

When issuing of a preliminary certificate the applicant should be made to pay special attention to the accuracy of the information which will be entered into it and the submitted evidentiary documents. Otherwise upon the allotment of the financial aid when the original documents shall be submitted – certificates of origin of goods, sale-trade contracts etc., there might appear inconsistence with the submitted preliminary documents which will give rise to serious problems.

1. The final certificates of origin of goods(under the SAPARD programme) shall be issued by BCCI on forms printed by the Chamber;
2. The same are to be filled in Bulgarian.
3. “Original” respectively “copy” stands at the top right-side hand of the form.
4. In Box 1 enter the applicant for financial aid under the SAPARD programme and the information about him/her as follows:
1. for physical persons – enter the first, father and family name, personal number, address and number and date of registration as an agricultural producer in compliance with Regulation No 3/29 January 1999 of the Ministry of Agriculture for setting up and maintenance of a register of agricultural producers.
2. for juridical persons – enter the name, BULSTAT and full address.
5. In Box 2 enter the seller/supplier of the products with his/her relevant information(see item 4, letters “a” and “b”)
6. In Box 3 enter the origin of the goods which must be Bulgarian or of a member country of the EU or of the countries applying for implementation of the SAPARD programme – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey.
7. In Box 4 enter the producer of the goods with his/her relevant information.
8. Box 5 is to be filled in only in case of emerging of some additional circumstances or requirements – for example entry of a sub-contractor of the project etc.
9. In Box 6 enter a description of the goods and their eventual quantities. If it refers to some complex equipment, all the elements which are subject of the investment should be included in the certificate. If they are numerous, they can be in the form of a specification or a list and every element should be listed with its origin, producer and quantity. The specification is joined to each copy of the certificate(original and duplicates) as an inseparable part of it.
10. In Box 8 the employee of BCCI who has issued the certificate lays his/her signature and stamps the seal of BCCI in Bulgarian.
11. The reference number and date of issue of the certificate come at the top right-side hand of the certificate observing the numbering stipulated when issuing of certificates of origin under the SAPARD programme. The copies of these certificates are classified in the same file together with the preliminary certificates validated by BCCI.
12. The original is stamped with BCCI’s stamps according to the Chamber’s Tariff of Rates of Services.
13. A declaration on the overleaf of the last copy should be filled in:

I, the undersigned…………………………………………………………...……… personal number………………………….. representing the company …………………….……………………………….

DECLARE, that

I apply for financial aid under the SAPARD programme.

The information in the certificate is correct and the product(s) is/(are) produced in………………….………(country). It is valued at…………………………. .

I am aware that for furnishing untrue information I am liable to legal penalties.

Under item 4, letter “a”:

• copy of the identity card of the person;
• copy of a registration card of an agricultural producer;
• signature specimen of the person;
• if the certificate is submitted for validation by an attorney – copy of the power of attorney signed by the applicant and a specimen of the attorney.

If the juridical person is entered in the Trade Register of BCCI, the accuracy of the information in the database is verified and the information on file is updated if required.

If the juridical person is not entered in the Trade Register of BCCI, the following documents shall be presented: copy of the court certificate for the actual status, registration BULSTAT, tax registration, signature specimen of the lawful representative according to the court registration. In cases when the certificate is submitted for validation by an attorney, refer to the rules of the preceding paragraph.

Note: Some specific sectors call for submitting of other documents as well: for example for the “wine growing” sector – copy of a certificate for entry in the National Register of producers of wine grapes, wine, wine and grapes products at the National Viticulture Wine-growing Chamber, license etc.

Under item 6 – for proving the origin of the goods:

• copies of certificates EUR.1, certified for authenticity with the original by the customs authorities;
• copies of other types of certificates of origin of goods issued or validated by the respective competent organizations;

• copies of contracts, concluded by the applicant with the producers or the suppliers of the goods as well as letter-declarations from the producers or other documents(for example an invoice with a declaration) for proving the origin depending on the specific character of the sector for which is the application. In cases of complex equipment the origin of all the elements which are subject of the investment is to be proven.

Contact details:
Tel: (+359 2) 8117 406
Fax: (+359 2) 987 32 09
E-mail: tradereg3@bcci.bg, tradereg2@bcci.bg