I am exporting K-beauty products overseas, but issuing certificates of origin to receive FTA preferences is too complex. Is it true that this procedure is being simplified? Released

Recently, the Korea Customs Service announced that it will significantly simplify the issuance procedure for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Certificates of Origin to more actively support the exports of K-beauty companies.

In particular, a total of 17 items, including 6 cosmetic items such as lipsticks and mask packs, have been newly designated as "items for simplified origin verification," and this system is scheduled to take effect from June 30.

This change is reportedly being promoted to help small and medium-sized exporting companies that have sufficient marketability and export competitiveness but have faced difficulties in preparing complex origin verification documents.

Previously, to receive a Certificate of Origin for preferential FTA tariffs, companies had to submit eight types of documents to the customs office (or the Chamber of Commerce) to prove that the goods were made in Korea. These included the Statement of Origin, Bill of Materials (BOM), Manufacturing Process Chart, Raw Material Purchase Statement, Raw Material In/Out Ledger, Cost Calculation Statement, Goods Supply Agreement, and Confirmation of Origin.

However, from now on, submitting just a single "Confirmation of Domestic Manufacture (Comprehensive)" will replace all eight previous types of documents.

Before: Statement of Origin + 7 types of supporting documents (BOM, Manufacturing Process Chart, etc.) = Total of 8 documents

Improved: 1 type of Confirmation of Domestic Manufacture (Comprehensive)

As procedures are simplified in this way, FTA utilization is expected to become much easier, significantly improving the export price competitiveness of our companies.

To enable our companies to more actively utilize FTAs, the Korea Customs Service has been designating items whose origin can be verified solely by the fact that they were manufactured and processed domestically due to their manufacturing characteristics as "items for simplified origin verification" and simplifying the issuance procedure since 2017.

In addition to the 17 items newly added this time (including 6 cosmetic items), 326 items had already been designated as "items for simplified origin verification."

However, there is an important note.

The applicable FTA agreement may differ for each item.

Therefore, exporting companies must verify in advance whether the items they export are subject to a specific FTA agreement.

This is because not all items for simplified verification apply equally to all FTA agreements.