Certifications

The Chamber offers you the possibility of obtaining various types of certifications according to your needs:

Certificates of origin

The Principality of Andorra, respecting the Customs Union Agreement with the EU, applies the same criteria as the EU to determine the origin of the goods: non-preferential origin and preferential origin.

Non-preferential origin

It is used in the exchange of goods between countries that follow the guidelines of the WTO trade rules and the rules for determining it are unique to each country.

With regard to EU countries and Andorra, they acquire the origin of non-preferential law:

The products obtained in their entirety in the country:

• mineral products extracted from the soil
• products of the vegetable kingdom that are harvested there
• live animals that are born and raised there
• products from live animals raised there
• products of hunting or fishing practiced there
• the products of sea fishing and other products taken from the sea, outside the territorial sea of the country, by vessels registered or registered in the country in question and flying the flag of this same country
• the goods obtained on board factory ships from the products mentioned in point (f) originating in the country in question and provided that these factory ships are registered or registered in the said country and fly its flag
• the products of the soil or marine subsoil outside the territorial sea, provided that this country exercises, for the purpose of exploitation, exclusive rights over this soil or subsoil
• waste and debris resulting from manufacturing operations and articles out of use, with the reservation that they have been collected there, and can only be used to recover raw materials
• those obtained exclusively from the goods mentioned in points (a) to (i) or their derivatives, at any stage

A commodity in the production of which two or more countries have intervened acquires the origin of the country in which the last transformation has been carried out that meets the following four conditions:

• transformation or substantial product: the transformed product has its own properties or functions and are different from the products used in the transformation
• economically justified transformation: transformation that is part of the normal production process
• transformation carried out in a company equipped for this purpose
• transformation that has led to the manufacture of a new product or that has represented an important manufacturing stage

Although the non-preferential certificate of origin does not present any refund or reduction of customs duties, in certain third countries the presentation of an Andorran certificate of origin facilitates import procedures: the customer quickly gets an idea of the controls sanitary, quality and safety tests to which the goods have been subjected. It’s an easy way to give your products a brand image.

If you wish to certify your products, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Andorra is the entity authorized by the Government of Andorra to issue certificates of non-preferential origin. Contact us at ccisata@andorra.ad and we will inform you of the procedure to follow.

Certificate of non-preferential origin

Preferred origin

It is used in commercial exchanges between third countries that have signed association agreements with the Community. Its purpose is to favour commercial exchanges with these countries, through the reduction or suspension of import duties and quantitative restrictions.

• Agricultural products (classified in chapters 1 to 24 of the HS), with a certificate of Andorran origin and exported to the countries of the Community, are exempt from import duties.
• The appendix to Decision 1/99 of the EC-AD Joint Committee of 06.05.199 contains the conditions for acquiring the Andorran origin of agricultural products.
• For industrial products (classified in chapters 25 to 97 of the HS), the EU and the Principality of Andorra have agreements with:
  • the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
  • the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA)
  • with Bulgaria and Romania (last member states of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe that are not part of the EU)
  • the Mediterranean countries
  • the countries of the System of Generalized Preferences (GSP)
  • This type of certificate is issued only by the customs authorities and requires a prior written request. In this sense, and since the Community has established strict and very precise rules to determine the preferential origin of goods, we recommend that if you are interested in certifying your products with certificates of preferential origin, you contact Andorran Customs (duana.origen@andorra.ad – Mr. Josep Lluís Santuré).

Certificate of preferential origin EUR1

Certificate of preferential origin FormA

Certificate of preferential origin mention invoice

Certificates: Legalization of invoices and commercial documents

In some cases, when a sale is made in certain countries, the buyer requests that the accompanying invoices or commercial documents be authenticated by a Chamber of Commerce or another competent entity.

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