Implementation of Electronic Certificates of Origin for Trade Agreements

CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT

INFORMATION NOTE Implementation of electronic Certificates of Origin for Trade agreements

The Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA), Customs Department, is the competent authority which is responsible for the issuance of Certificates of Origin for: 

Ø  Movement Certificates EUR.1, under the Türkiye-Mauritius Free Trade Agreement (EURT),

Ø  Indian Ocean Commission Trade Protocol (IOC),

Ø  SADC Protocol on Trade (SADC),

Ø  Pakistan-Mauritius Preferential Trade Agreement (PMPTA),

Ø  African Continental Free Trade Area Certificate of Origin (AFCFTA), 

Ø  Mauritius-China Free Trade Agreement (MCFTA), 

Ø  India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) and the

Ø  Mauritius-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

In line with the objective to facilitate trade, the Mauritius Revenue Authority- Customs Department hereby wishes to inform of the forthcoming implementation of electronic issuance of preferential certificate of origin on 01 June 2025 -  

•       The MRA Customs Department shall issue an electronic Certificate of Origin, and a soft copy will be sent to the Exporter via the Customs Management System and email; and

•       The Exporter shall share this electronic Certificate of Origin with the Importer in the Importing Member State/State Party, for customs clearance.

Verification of Authenticity of electronic Certificate of Origin:

The electronic Certificate of Origin issued by the MRA contains the e-signature and e-stamp which can be verified against the list of specimen signatures and stamps notified to Member States.

Officials of the competent authority in the importing country can follow either one of the below methods for verification of authenticity of electronic preferential certificates of origin:

1)   USE OF QR CODE

a.    Open a QR Code scanner app and scan the QR code on the eCoO.

b.    A link will appear. Click on the link to view the certificate details to confirm its authenticity.

2)   USE OF ONLINE VERIFICATION PORTAL- applicable for all Certificates of Origin which have been issued either electronically or in hard copy by this office 

a.    Access the dedicated web link https://www.mra.mu/index.php/eservices1/customs

b.    Click on Online Verification of eCoO

c.     Select the type of Certificates (EUR1/EURT/EURK, IOC, SADC, CECPA, PMPTA,

AFCFTA or MCFTA);

d.    Type the Certificate ID which has been submitted to the importing authority

(without the '/0' which is the version no) in the Certificate ID box;

e.    Click on Search Button to populate the result of the Certificate ID;

f.     The web form will populate details of the Certificate if same is valid.

 A user guide for online verification of Certificates of Origin can be accessed on the portal.

Any queries may be directed to below contact points.

§  MRA Customs Department (Origin Unit)- (230) 2020500

      Email Inquiries: customs@mra.mu, origin.customs@mra.mu

Sources : MRA