Private sector leader Qatar Chamber has joined the Certificate of Origin (CO) Accreditation Chain during the International CO meeting held in Jaipur, India, it was announced on Tuesday.
With its newly-established status as the 24th member country of the CO Chain, Qatar Chamber would benefit from the use of the internationally recognised International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) CO label. The new service will enable private companies and Qatar Chamber members to submit for issuing country of origins (COOs) via its website without visiting chamber’s headquarters.
Qatar Chamber director general Saleh bin Hamad al-Sharqi said the chamber would issue COOs online starting from the second quarter of 2019, noting that this step would stimulate trade and increase non-oil exports of the country.
The chamber issued more than 25,339 certificates of origin during the first nine months of 2018, including 1,158 online COOs, he pointed out.
Al-Sharqi said the system will help businessmen and companies save time and effort, and it will “contribute to streamlining trade and flourishing trade between Qatar and world countries.”
“The manual transaction for the CCOs will continue alongside with the online COOs because there are many countries don’t deal with online COOs,” he added.
Sheikha Tamader al-Thani, the director of International Relations and Chambers Affairs at Qatar Chamber and ICC Qatar, said the chamber would hold a workshop in cooperation with the ICC on the online COOs in January 2019 to raise awareness on its benefits and how it is issued in line with standards approved by the ICC.
“The Qatar Chamber is currently reviewing the co-operation with a Singaporean company to set up an electronic platform for issuing COOs,” she noted.
On the issuance the COOs, she said applying for the service will be through the chamber’s website, adding that Qatar Chamber will review the submitted data and approve it electronically. The applicant can print the approved electronic certificate of origin or upload it from the website, she continued.
