CCC moves from COs to eCOs

Electronic issuance of Certificates of Origin (e-CO) will allow exporters to apply directly from their PCs via the Internet. This system is expected to save time and costs, reduce paper work and human error and eliminate delays to users, the CCC said in a statement.

The latest service improvement drive of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) will set out to enhance the present system of Certificate of Origin to a fully secured online eCO, to be launched at the Chamber tomorrow.

Electronic issuance of Certificates of Origin (e-CO) will allow exporters to apply directly from their PCs via the Internet. This system is expected to save time and costs, reduce paper work and human error and eliminate delays to users, the CCC said in a statement.

The Chamber will initiate the issuance of Certificates of Origin in two Phases.

In the first phase, which will begin tomorrow, exporters are allowed to submit their e-CO via a secured e-mail system and the CCC will print the copies in the number required and register the document as usual, complete with stamps and signatures.

This system will also allow exporters to forward their documents to the Chamber any time during the day and collect the registered documents at a time convenient to them, without the hassle of waiting.

The Chamber will continue to offer the standard service as well as the eCOs and will be ready to move towards paperless Certificates of Origin, which is the second Phase of the CCC e-CO project, by the beginning of 2008. With the development of the second phase, exporters will be able to apply for a Certificate of Origin online and the Chamber will be able to check, approve and stamp the Certificate of origin electronically and return direct to the exporter online, who then will print it out at their own Office premises.

Developments are also expected to reach the level in which the Certificate of Origin could be directly forwarded online to the Banks and even beyond that to the importing country’s Customs point, in fast tracking international trade.

This development by the Chamber is supported by the SAARC and Trade Promotion Projects which is implemented jointly by CCC and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).