Ref: CAFTA-DR
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States, Central America, and the Dominican Republic, known by its acronym in English as CAFTA-DR, establishes that an importer may request preferential tariff treatment based on a written or electronic certification of origin issued by the importer, exporter, or producer.
One of the requirements for this certification is that it must include the name of the certifying person, that is, the employee of the company that certifies the origin of the goods.
Recently, Costa Rican customs authorities, as part of their customs control processes, have been requiring that the person signing CAFTA-DR certificates of origin must be the legal representative or a person with the power to do so.
In this regard, it is important to remember that the provisions of Annex A of Executive Decree 34753-H-COMEX, published in the Official Gazette La Gaceta 184 of Costa Rica on September 24, 2008, which contains the “Regulations for the application and administration of the customs provisions and rules of origin of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement”, establish that the CAFTA-DR certification of origin must contain the signature of the person formalizing said certification and if the signatory is a legal entity, the legal representative or another person, for example, an attorney with sufficient powers to issue a certification on behalf of the signatory, must sign.
Therefore, if you are an importer or customs broker, it is recommended to avoid future complications by ensuring that the person signing the certificates of origin is the legal representative, or if it is someone other than the legal representative, it is important to ensure that said person has sufficient legal authority to sign the origin document, for example, through a special power of attorney.
If you have any questions or require advice on this or other topics, please contact us. costarica@catradeconsulting.com
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