Starting next September 20th, Foreign trade operators in Chile and Uruguay will be able to use the Digital Certificate of Origin (COD) or the paper Certificate of Origin, interchangeably, with equal legal validity, to access tariff preferences, within the framework of the trade agreements between both countries (ACE 35 MERCOSUR-Chile and ACE 73 Uruguay-Chile).
The Uruguayan Ministry of Economy announced that “this is possible after the Pilot Plan for the implementation of the COD between Chile and Uruguay concluded in recent days.” It clarified that “in this way, all the technical tests carried out before actually using the COD as an option to the Certificate of Origin on paper (internal and external homologation tests and pilot plan) were completed.”
The benefits of using the COD in foreign trade are mainly summarized in that it is an instrument for facilitating foreign trade., consequently, paper is eliminated and the issuance and reception of the document is streamlined. These benefits have been highlighted by Uruguayan foreign trade operators, who can currently use the COD with Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. With the incorporation of Chile as a commercial partner, Uruguay begins a new stage in the exchange of the COD with the countries of the Pacific Alliance (PA).
The digital certification with Chile (based on ALADI's technical specifications) also includes a novelty in relation to the current procedure with MERCOSUR partners, which refers to the fact that The exchange of digital certificates will be carried out through the VUCEs of both parties, which results in greater benefits in the implementation of the COD. The inclusion of VUCEs is a modality that will also be adopted with the remaining AP countries.
The implementation of the COD in Uruguayan foreign trade is the responsibility of the Trade Policy Advisory Office of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in coordination with the National Customs Directorate and the VUCE.MEF statement)
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