The World Customs Organisation (WCO) ‘Guidelines on Certification of Origin’, dated July 2014 and released for public information reads as follows:
The origin of goods is one of the crucial elements for international trade. Recognising the various purposes in which the origin of goods plays a vital role, the Customs administrations around the world must implement rules of origin in an effective and efficient manner.
What is certification of origin? A set of comprehensive rules of origin generally comprises origin criteria to determine the country of origin/originating status of a product and also procedural requirements to support a claim that the product satisfies the applicable origin criteria. Certification of origin constitutes the primary part of such procedural requirements.
On the other hand, currently there are no clear and effective international standards on the definition of a proof of origin and related procedures. The WTO Agreement on Rules of Origin (RoO) is silent on procedural aspects. Even though the Revised Kyoto Convention provides certain definitions in Chapter 2 of Specific Annex K which refers to ‘Documentary evidence of origin’, the provisions do not recognise the increase of free trade agreements (FTAs) in recent decades and the various concepts of procedural requirements included in these agreements. In the case of preferential trade, FTAs or legislation on Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) set out the respective procedural requirements.
The WCO offers a number of definitions relating to origin, such as certification of origin, self-certification of origin, proof of origin, indication of origin, origin criteria, consignment criteria, GSP and FTA.
You may well derive benefit from studying the guidelines.