Outsource NAFTA Certificate Verification Services

The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is a tripartite trade agreement between the three countries which make up the North American continent - Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994, removing investment and trade barriers and setting out guidelines for doing business within the North American Free Trade Agreement trade zone.

Between 1994 and 2008, with the exception of a few Canadian and US industries, import duties on most commercially imported goods originating from the three member countries have been abolished, or lower, preferential tariff rates have been agreed upon.

Verification of NAFTA Certificates

Business entities engaged in cross-border trade, importing and exporting activities in the NAFTA free trade zone, should possess a valid Certificate of Origin (CoO), also referred to as 'statement of origin', certifying that commercial imports entering Canada have originated from Mexico or the US and are eligible for lower import duties or other preferential treatment as per North American Free Trade Agreement terms. Tariff classifications and Value for Duty (VFD) should also be mentioned on the Canada Customs Coding or B3 Form. O2I is specialized in providing NAFTA verification services.

Customs brokerage companies processing such shipments are required to include active and valid certificates in the final accounting package submitted to customs authorities. Since most brokers have outsourced data processing and document preparation activities, including the B3 form building process, to reliable service providers such as Outsource2india (O2I); the verification of NAFTA certificates is also completed by the data processing team during B3 form preparation.

Claiming preferential treatment without an active NAFTA certificate attracts monetary penalties for not only the shipment owner, but also the customs broker acting for such shipments. As a licensed customs broker, the onus of ensuring complete documentation and compliance to relevant regulatory requirements is an important component of the Code of Ethics formulated by the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers (CSCB).

Outsourcing your B3 form building process, including the verification of NAFTA certificates to O2I, ensures that you are always in compliance of customs regulations and can avoid financial and other penalties.

Contact us to outsource NAFTA certificate verification services and B3 form processing service requirements.