EUR.1 or certificate of origin. Not two names for the same thing.

The buyer writes “send me the certificate of origin” and the forwarder replies “you need an EUR.1”. They're both right, and they're talking about two different documents.

This piece is part of the guide to export operations for small food producers and untangles two documents that get mixed up. The full set of paperwork that goes with a shipment, including invoice and packing list, is covered in documents for a food shipment abroad.

The template, to download

Two files for the same decision. The PDF draws the tree: four questions, the answers, and the six cases on one line each. The Excel sheet does the same with drop-downs: pick the country, enter the value, answer the questions on origin and on the Chamber of Commerce certificate, and two cells tell you which proof you need and which you don't.

File	Contents	Link
The treePDF, to read	The four questions with their answers, and the six typical cases, with the preferential proof and the Chamber of Commerce certificate side by side.	eur1-o-certificato-origine-albero-en.pdf
The sheetExcel, with drop-downs	Country, value, origin and whether a certificate has been requested: the two dark cells give the answer.	eur1-o-certificato-origine-albero-en.xlsx

The files are free. There's no form in the way, we don't ask for an email address, and we don't get notified when anyone downloads them. Neither file checks for you whether the product meets the agreement's rules of origin: that answer is worked out agreement by agreement, with your forwarder, and until you have it, the sheet won't have you declare anything.

The two kinds of origin, and why there are two

Goods always have a non-preferential origin, which says where they were produced. They may also have a preferential origin, which is an extra qualification: it means they meet the rules of a trade agreement and so enter that country paying less duty, or none.

That's where two separate documents come from, with two different issuing bodies and two different purposes. Calling both of them “certificate of origin” in your emails is the quickest way to be sent the wrong one and only notice once the goods have left.

Document	What it proves and who issues it	When to use it
Certificate of originnon-preferential origin	It proves where the goods were produced, the “made in”. It's issued by the local Chamber of Commerce, at the exporter's request.	For countries with which the European Union has no customs agreement in force, and whenever the buyer or a letter of credit asks for it.
EUR.1preferential origin	It certifies that the goods qualify for the preferential treatment set out in an agreement. It's endorsed by the customs authority, usually through your forwarder.	For countries linked to the EU by a preferential agreement, when the value exceeds the threshold below which an invoice declaration is enough.
Invoice declarationpreferential origin	An origin statement written on the invoice by the exporter. No body issues it and nobody endorses it.	For shipments worth up to €6,000. Above that, you need approved exporter status or REX registration.

The certificate of origin, in detail

The Turin Chamber of Commerce defines it in a line that removes any ambiguity: a document, issued by the local Chamber of Commerce, certifying the non-preferential origin of the goods.

Two practical consequences. First, it doesn't save the buyer a cent in duty, because that's not its job. Second, if the buyer asks for it expecting a duty reduction, they're asking for the wrong document, and it's better to tell them before the shipment than after.

You apply to the Chamber of Commerce in the province where your business is based, with the sales invoice as supporting evidence. It's issued quickly and costs a few tens of euros, amounts that in practice don't change any decision.

The EUR.1, and where it applies

The EUR.1 only exists where there's an agreement. Among the countries with preferential customs agreements with the EU, the Turin Chamber of Commerce lists Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Turkey, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia, among others.

Customs endorses the document, usually through your forwarder, and the financial benefit goes entirely to the buyer: with the EUR.1 in hand, they pay reduced duty or none at all. For you it's a genuine selling point, because it lowers the final price without touching yours. It's endorsed in the same customs step where the export declaration is lodged, which is a different document and provides proof that the goods have left the EU.

The catch is that preferential origin has to be proven, not just declared. The rules vary from agreement to agreement and look at the processing, not just where the goods were packed: a product put together in Italy from foreign raw materials can be Italian for “made in” purposes and not for preferential purposes.

The €6,000 threshold

For shipments worth up to €6,000, proof of preferential origin is given with a declaration the exporter writes on the invoice, without going through customs. That's why many first shipments never come across an EUR.1, and the people sending them don't suspect the document exists.

Above that threshold you need the certificate endorsed by customs, or a registered status that authorises you to declare origin yourselves. For the United Kingdom, for example, the reference is the REX number: GOV.UK says REX numbers “are needed if the exporter exports consignments with a total value of more than 6,000 euros”.

The United Kingdom doesn't use the EUR.1

This is the exception that causes the most confusion, because the UK is many Italian producers' first market outside the EU. The agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom doesn't use the EUR.1: preference is claimed with an origin declaration made by the exporter, or on the basis of the importer's knowledge.

If you're looking for an EUR.1 form for a shipment to London, you're looking for a document that doesn't exist in that relationship. The rest of the UK procedure, with pre-notifications and health certificates, is in exporting food to the United Kingdom.

Which document you need, in one calculation

The rules from these sections, lined up. The country, the shipment value, the status you hold and the product's origin decide the proof of preferential origin. The Chamber of Commerce certificate of origin is decided separately, because it answers a different question.

Costs and timings, as published by one Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of Commerce fees are public and rarely change. The Lecce Chamber of Commerce lists: certificate of origin with a copy €10, each extra copy €5, version with legalisation stamp €8, certificate of free sale €3 in administrative fees.

On timing, the same Chamber states two working days for the certificate of origin and three for the certificate of free sale, counted from submission of the complete paperwork. These figures apply to Lecce: other Chambers publish their own fees and timings, and it's worth checking yours before promising a date.

When the paperwork stops putting itself together

With two shipments a year, remembering which document each country needs is a job memory can handle. With fifteen shipments to six different markets, each with its own proof of origin and its own threshold, memory stops coping, and that's where hold-ups start.

That's when the list needs to come out of someone's head and into a place that fills it in automatically, with documents built from the same data instead of by hand every time. With one rule that matters more than the technology, set out in Ethics: the system prepares and flags, but no document goes out until a person has read and approved it. On a proof of origin that sign-off is substance, because a wrong declaration is a false declaration.

Questions and answers