The “Approved Exporter” status applies to trade with the EU, CEFTA, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ukraine, as in accordance with the provisions set forth in the relevant free trade agreement, and aims to simplify the procedure of certifying the preferential origin of exported goods.
Approved exporters are entitled to document the preferential origin of the goods on their own responsibility by completing a declaration of origin on the invoice, without having to obtain the EUR.1 certificate, regardless of the export value. Thus, the status of “Approved Exporter” provides several advantages, including faster customs clearance, minimized costs, less delays and simplified export formalities.
The status of “Approved Exporter” may be requested by any exporter who meets the requirements set forth in Article 691 (1) of Customs Code of the Republic of Moldova no. 95/2021.
Under the new normative regulations, the restriction imposed on granting the “Approved Exporter” status to customs brokers was ruled out.
Article 22 of Appendix I to the PEM Convention expressly establishes that a customs broker can concomitantly obtain the status of Approved Operator if listed also as an exporter.
Documents required to obtain the status
To obtain the “Approved Exporter” status, the exporter shall submit an application to this effect to the Central Office of the Customs Service.
The following documents shall be attached to the application:
- incorporation documents
- the underlying contracts governing the exports of originating products
- description of the workflow of obtaining finished products
- the price structure of the finished product, where non-originating materials are used in the manufacture thereof and the rule of origin implies a value
- documents containing information about the raw materials and the materials effectively used in the manufacture of finished products, i.e. quantity, value, origin, tariff classification; this information should be sufficiently detailed to make a clear distinction between originating and non-originating materials, as appropriate
- documents accompanying, at the time of importation, the materials used to obtain the exported finished products, for operations carried out over the last 12 months, i.e. customs declaration, proof of origin, related invoice, packing list, transport document, certificate of non-manipulation
- documents certifying that no refund of customs duties has been obtained for the non-originating materials used in the manufacture of the goods and that all customs duties or duties with an equivalent effect applicable to said materials have actually been paid, as the case may be
- any other documents in support of the information declared in the application.
The Customs Service shall review the application in accordance with the stipulations set forth in Articles 15-29 of the Customs Code by taking into account, in particular, the origin criterion applied, the origin of the raw materials and of the materials used, and the accuracy of the information provided in the application, and shall take the decision on granting the status within 90 days at most from the date of acceptance of the application.
The Certificate of Approved Exporter is issued free of charge, for an unlimited period.
The Customs Service shall monitor the use of the “Approved Exporter” status and, based on the risk analysis or the results of subsequent checks carried out within the international administrative support procedures, may order the subsequent verification of the exporter’s economic activity, in accordance with Article 341 and Article 343 of the Customs Code.
In the event that the Approved Exporter fails to fulfil the obligations assigned, the Customs Service shall undertake the measures provided for in ps. 20-22 of Annex 2 to the Order of the Director of the Customs Service No. 528-O/2023 regarding the Approval of technical rules on certain simplifications regarding the preferential origin of goods.
Obligations of the Approved Exporter
The rights and obligations of the Approved Exporter are established in Article 70 of Customs Code no. 95/2021. The Approved Exporter shall be responsible for as follows:
- to ensure that the declaration of origin is made for only the goods that meet the requirements on preferential origin
- to ensure that a copy of the document where the declaration of origin is made and copies of documents confirming the preferential origin of exported goods listed in the declaration of origin are duly maintained for at least 3 years from the date of issue of the declaration of origin
- to report, by the 10th day of the month following the reporting month, the documents where the declarations of origin were made, according to the template form provided in Annex 3 of Annex 2 to Order 528-O/2023
- to notify the Customs Service on any change in the name, legal address, production process of goods, and export contractual relationship concluded under preferential procedures, within 10 working days at most from the moment such change occurred
- to ensure, whenever requested by the Customs Service, all the conditions needed to carry out the verification of the production activity, in order to confirm the production capacities and the correct determination of the preferential origin of exported goods.
Preparation of the declaration of origin
When performing customs operations, the exporter shall use, in the invoice or any other commercial document, the exact wording used in the declaration of origin.
The declaration shall be entered in the invoice or any other commercial documents describing the exported goods in sufficient detail to allow the identification of goods. The declaration shall also indicate the certificate number.
The text of the declaration must correspond to the model set out in the appropriate free trade agreement, and shall be edited in one of the language versions provided.
Romanian version: „Exportatorul produselor ce fac obiectul acestui document (se menționează numărul certificatului de exportator aprobat) declară că, exceptând cazul în care în mod expres este indicat altfel, aceste produse sunt de origine preferențială (se menționează țara de origine).
("The exporter of the products that are the subject of this document (to mention the number of the certificate of Approved Exporter) declares that, unless expressly indicated otherwise, these products are of preferential origin (to mention the country of origin).
(Place and date), (Signature of the exporter, name of the person signing the declaration)".
Legislation:
