K&K Customs & Consulting

01

What is FTA?

Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is an agreement between countries that eliminates tariffs and trade barriers on the exchange of goods and services, thereby granting exclusive trade benefits to each other. FTAs are concluded in various forms, such as FTA, CEPA, EPA, and SECA, and are generally understood under the broad concept of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

02

Issuance of C/O

A Certificate of Origin (C/O) is a document that certifies that the exported goods were cultivated, raised, manufactured, or processed in our country. To apply FTA tariff rates, the Certificate of Origin must meet the origin determination criteria specified in the agreement and be provided as required by the agreement.

Category	Institution Issued	Self-Issued
Definition	A system where the customs authority of the country of origin, or an authorized institution, verifies and issues the Certificate of Origin based on the methods and procedures defined by the agreement.	A system where the exporter verifies the origin of the goods and issues the Certificate of Origin themselves based on the methods and procedures defined by the agreement.
Applicable Agreements	Korea-Singapore, Korea-ASEAN, Korea-India, Korea-Vietnam, Korea-China, Korea-Australia, RCEP, Israel, Cambodia, Indonesia	Korea-Chile, Korea-EFTA, Korea-EU, Korea-Peru, Korea-Turkey, Korea-Australia, Korea-Canada, Korea-New Zealand, Korea-Colombia, Korea-Central America, RCEP (for certified exporters)
Notes	• Korea-EFTA: Institution-issued for Swiss cheese • Korea-Australia FTA: Only institution-issued certificates are possible in Australia	• Korea-EU, Korea-UK: Self-issued allowed only if the export amount exceeds 6,000 Euros and the exporter is a certified exporter • RCEP: Self-issued for certified exporters, exporters, or producers

03

Approved Exporter

This is a system where the customs authorities grant the authority to issue Certificates of Origin (for agreements such as the Korea-EU FTA, Korea-UK FTA, RCEP, etc.) or provide simplified submission of supporting documents to exporters certified as having the capability to verify origin

Category	Company-specific Certified Exporter	Item-specific Certified Exporter
Scope of Benefits	All agreements, all items	Certified agreements, HS 6-digit level
Certification Validity Period	5years	5years
Certifying authority	Headquarters Customs (Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Gwangju) and Pyeongtaek Direct Customs
Certification Criteria	- Origin verification capability per agreement and compliance with laws - Designation and operation of a person responsible for origin management	- Origin verification capability at the HS 6-digit level and compliance with laws - Designation and operation of a person responsible for origin management

04

Declaration of Origin

This document is prepared when the producer or supplier of materials or final products used in the production of export goods is requested by the producer or exporter to verify the origin of the relevant materials or final products. It is then provided to the producer or exporter. For materials or final products that are supplied continuously and repeatedly to the same producer or exporter over an extended period, the producer or supplier can issue a comprehensive origin verification certificate. This certificate can be reused for up to 12 months from the date of the first origin verification.

05

Advanced Ruling for FTA Origin

∙ Advanced Ruling for FTA Origin is a system where, if there are any doubts regarding the fulfillment of the origin determination criteria, which are the basis for applying preferential tariffs, an applicant can request a review of these issues before submitting the import declaration for the goods. The Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service will review the request and provide the results.

∙ By utilizing the Advanced Ruling for FTA Origin, you can confirm in advance whether the goods you intend to import are eligible for FTA preferential tariffs. This allows for stable application of preferential tariffs upon import, and mitigates the risk of post-import origin verification by customs, which could potentially result in retroactive duties.

06

Post Origin Verification

This refers to the investigation of the origin of goods, conducted on domestic importers, exporters, producers, institutions issuing origin certificates, exporters, and producers in the partner country, to verify the appropriateness of the preferential tariff applied under the agreement and the origin of the import and export goods.

An import origin investigation targets goods imported into Korea from the partner country and subject to FTA tariff rates. An export origin investigation is conducted by customs on goods exported from Korea to the partner country, following a verification request from the partner country’s customs authorities

※ K&K participates annually in the government-supported FTA consulting program, which is available for free to small and medium-sized enterprises. If you are interested, please contact us through the 1:1 inquiry section on our website, via email, or by phone!

07

Key Services of K&K

• Application for item-specific/company-specific approved exporter • Determination of FTA origin through BOM analysis • Issuance of certificates of origin on behalf • Issuance of origin verification certificates/statements of origin on behalf • Verification of compliance with origin requirements • Response to origin verification by Korean customs and counterpart customs authorities • Application for pre-examination of origin • Post-FTA management • Customized FTA origin education for companies • Consulting for FTA utilization strategies • Government-supported consulting projects related to FTA

K&K Customs & Consulting

K&K Customs & Consulting

Main Services

FTA consulting