International Trade Law News

Now that the goods from El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua are now eligible to enter the U.S. under the U.S. - Central America - Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), as with all free trade agreements U.S. importers must obtain a certificate of origin from their supplier in order to claim preferential duty status. U.S. exporters are also required to provide their customers with a certificate of origin to claim preferential duty status for goods being exported to El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Unlike NAFTA, there is no official CAFTA-DR certificate of origin form. Rather, Article 4.16 of the CAFTA-DR agreement provides that claims for preferential treatment may be made in any written form, as long as the following required information is provided:

• Name of person that certifies and when necessary, contact information or any other form of identification;
• Tariff classification under the harmonized system and description of the merchandise;
• Upon the request of custom authorities, provide additional information that demonstrates the origin of the product;
• Date of Certification;
• Information demonstrating that the good is originating;
• If the Certification will be use for several shipments, the period covered by the Certification should be detailed (not to exceed 12 months).