I’m exporting K-beauty products, but issuing a Certificate of Origin for FTA benefits is very complex. I heard news that this procedure will be simplified; is that true? Released

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

In particular, 17 items, including 6 cosmetic items such as lipsticks and mask packs, have been newly designated as 'targets for simplified origin verification,' and this system is scheduled to be implemented starting June 30.

These changes are reportedly being pushed forward to help small and medium-sized exporting companies that have sufficient marketability and export competitiveness but have struggled with preparing complex origin verification documents.

Previously, to obtain a Certificate of Origin for FTA preferential tariffs, eight types of documents proving that the product was made in Korea had to be submitted to the customs office (or the Chamber of Commerce). These included a Statement of Origin, Bill of Materials (BOM), manufacturing process chart, raw material purchase statement, raw material inventory ledger, cost calculation statement, goods supply contract, and confirmation of origin.

However, from now on, submitting a single 'Confirmation of Domestic Manufacture (Comprehensive)' will be enough to replace all eight of the previous documents.

Previous: Statement of Origin + 7 types of supporting documents (Bill of Materials, manufacturing process chart, etc.) = 8 types of documents in total

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

This simplification of procedures is expected to make FTA utilization much easier, thereby significantly enhancing the export price competitiveness of Korean companies.

Since 2017, the Korea Customs Service has been designating items whose origin can be verified solely by the fact they were manufactured or processed domestically due to their manufacturing process characteristics as 'Simplified Origin Verification Items' and has simplified the issuance procedures to help companies utilize FTAs more actively.

In addition to the 17 newly added items (including 6 cosmetic items), 326 items had already been designated as 'Simplified Origin Verification Items.'

However, there is an important cautionary note.

The applicable FTA agreements may vary for each item.

Therefore, exporting companies must check in advance whether the items they export are applicable under a specific FTA agreement.

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