20 countries members of the CO Accreditation Chain

Local chambers in Italy, Norway, Poland, the United States and the United Arab Emirates have become the latest members of the International Certificate of Origin (CO) Accreditation Chain.

“The CO Chain is all about quality and integrity.”

The announcement was made during an International CO Council meeting of more than 45 CO experts from 31 countries, which took place in Athens, Greece on 2-3 May 2017. The meeting was chaired by Peter Bishop, Deputy CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Welcoming the new members, Martin Van der Weide, Chair of the International CO Accreditation Committee, said: “The CO Chain is becoming more and more recognized not only by chambers but also by Customs and the trading community. We are pleased to welcome the first US Chamber in the CO Chain who demonstrated its CO issuing procedures were in line with the ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF) International CO Guidelines.

“The CO Chain is all about quality and integrity,” Mr Van der Weide added. “There is a common misconception by international organizations concerning chambers and their role in issuing COs. In this fast changing world, it is more important than ever that chambers work in harmony, delivering the same quality global services to local business, no matter where in the world they may be. Chambers have competent trade staff and expertise and have been supporting exporters for decades and in some cases, centuries. As part of a global trade network, we encourage all chambers to join this international chain.”

The new members are:

Polish Chamber of Commerce (Poland)Oslo Chamber of Commerce (Norway)American World Trade Chamber of Commerce (US)

In Italy (with UnionCamere as national coordinating body):

Chamber of commerce industry handicraft and agriculture of BolzanoChamber of commerce industry handicraft and agriculture of FirenzeChamber of commerce industry handicraft and agriculture of MilanoChamber of commerce industry handicraft and agriculture of Pesaro and UrbinoChamber of commerce industry handicraft and agriculture of Treviso Belluno

To date, there are 15 accredited chamber members from Italy.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (with Dubai Chamber of Commerce as national coordinating body):

Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and IndustryUmm Al Quwain Chamber of Commerce and Industry

With the addition of the two UAE chambers, all seven UAE chambers are now members of the CO Chain.

Significant progress has also been made in establishing a robust structure for the chain’s operations in countries like France, Italy and UAE through the creation of national coordinating bodies (NCB). ICC WCF would like to thank all its NCBs for their active support so far.

Source: iccwbo.org