Self Certification
Free Trade Agreements under Self-Certification regime
What is a Self-Certification regime?
A Self-Certification regime allows exporters, producers or importers, depending on the specific Free Trade Agreement (FTA), to self-certify the originating status of their goods under the respective FTA based on information available so that preferential tariff treatment is accorded for the goods imported. Self-certifying requires either the exporters, producers or importers to make an origin declaration on a commercial document such as the commercial invoice, packing list, delivery note or bill of lading.
The onus lies on the entity issuing the origin declaration to familiarise themselves with the Rules of Origin requirements and to certify that the goods being imported do meet the relevant criteria to be originating under the FTA.
Can I do Self-Certification and what are the requirements?
The origin declaration must contain specific data elements as prescribed in the specific FTA including information stating how the product qualifies for an FTA. You may find the FTAs as well as the relevant requirements and procedures in the table below.
To self-certify under the ASEAN Trade-in Good Agreement (ATIGA) and under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), please refer to “Approved Exporter and Certified Exporter Scheme”.
| S/ N | FTAs that are under the Self-certification or Self-declaration regime | Relevant Customs circulars |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | European-Singapore Free Trade Association FTA (ESFTA) involving Iceland, Liechenstein, Norway and Switzerland | 2003 Circular |
| 2. | Non-textile goods under the USSFTA | Circular No. 45/2003 |
| 3. | Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (Trans-Pacific SEP) involving Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore | Circular No. 10/2006 |
| 4. | Panama-Singapore FTA | Circular No. 15/2006 |
| 5. | Singapore-Costa Rica FTA | Circular No. 09/2013 |
| 6. | Agreement between Singapore and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Partnership (ASTEP) | Circular No. 06/2014 |
| 7. | Turkey-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (TRSFTA) | Circular No. 12/2017 |
| 8. | Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) | Circular No. 16/2017 |
| 9. | Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) | Circular No. 13/2018 |
| 10. | European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) | Circular No. 18/2019 |
| 11. | New Zealand-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Partnership (ANZSCEP) | Circular No. 21/2019 |
| 12. | UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement | Circular No. 15/2020 |
Singapore Customs does not issue Preferential Certificate of Origin for all originating goods in the FTAs seen above as these FTAs adopt a self-certification regime, where the certification of a good’s origin is to be declared by a specific entity (e.g. producer, exporter, importer) in a manner prescribed in the relevant FTA. The goods exported out of Singapore or imported into Singapore under self-certification regime are still governed by the Regulations of Imports and Exports Act . For goods exported out of Singapore, the importing authorities may raise a verification request as prescribed under the legal text of the FTA should they doubt the originating status of the goods.