While the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement may only be freshly introduced, some key problems are being experienced by industry relating to Certificates of Origin (COO) issued in China by the relevant agencies. There has been a high level of enquiries made to Tomax as to the origin criteria being used for manufactured goods.

It appears that the Chinese issuing authorities are misreading part of the act that relates to Wholly Obtained Goods (WO) as referenced in Article 3.3. Clients should be mindful and seek clarification where doubt exists as to Wholly Obtained (WO) goods particularly noting the issues of any short payment of customs duty and associated penalties if a COO is applied and is subsequently found to be invalid.

Certificates of Origin - Box # 10 Criterion:
- WO - Wholly Obtained - means goods that are animal, plant, mineral or vegetable origin;
- WP - Wholly Produced - means manufactured goods that are produced from China originating materials;
- PSR - Product Specific Rule - means manufactured goods that are produced from non-originating and originating materials.

This query has been raised right around Australia and is causing confusion. Many suppliers are insisting to their importing clients that the goods are WO where that is in fact not the case, often upon advice from the Chinese authorities. Please be wary of this and for more information please do not hesitate to contact us on 1300 186 629.