SADC and EUR.1 certificates of origin
A buyer in Botswana, Berlin or Birmingham pays less duty on your goods if you can prove they are South African under the trade agreement. That proof is a certificate of origin certified by SARS customs, and before customs will certify one you must be registered as an exporter under that specific agreement. We do the registration, get your blank certificates issued and walk you through the first consignment. Fixed price, in writing.
Independent paperwork service. ProperSA is an independent private company, not SARS. An exporter can register under a trade agreement and apply for certificates at a customs branch at no charge. Our fee pays for preparing the registration correctly, lodging it with a mandate, applying for the blanks and showing you how each shipment gets certified.
What is included
- Your customs client number and exporter registration checked first, because SARS will not register you under a trade agreement without one
- Registration as an exporter under the agreement you sell into: SADC, or SADC-EU, SACUM-UK or SACU-EFTA for the EUR.1. SARS handles these preferential registrations on the paper DA 185 with annexure 4A2 at a customs branch, which we prepare and lodge with your mandate
- The application for blank certificates of origin on SARS form SC-RO-02-A02, up to 50 at a time, at the customs branch nearest your premises
- A worked first certificate for your product, with the tariff heading, the origin criterion and the invoice reference completed the way customs expects
- A one page routine for every later consignment: one certificate per two digit tariff chapter, presented with the export declaration for certification, and the records to keep for three years
- A note on whether your goods should get a binding origin determination from SARS before you claim, where imported inputs make it unclear
How it works at SARS
SARS policy SC-RO-02 on the administration of trade agreements says a client must register with customs under the specific trade agreement to qualify for preferential benefits, as set out in SC-CF-19. Registration as a local exporter under SADC, the SADC-EU EPA, SACUM-UK or SACU-EFTA is one of the few customs registrations SARS still takes on the paper DA 185 at a branch rather than online.
Once registered, the exporter applies for blank certificates on SC-RO-02-A02 at the customs branch nearest its premises, normally up to 50 at a time. Each consignment then gets its own certificate, completed by you and certified by customs together with the export declaration. Exporters who ship regularly can apply for Approved Exporter status and make an origin declaration on the invoice instead of a certificate; we tell you when volumes justify that.
The certificate is not the qualification. The goods must meet the agreement’s rules of origin. Where inputs are imported and the answer is not obvious, SARS issues a binding origin determination valid for three years, and asking for one is cheaper than the buyer’s duty bill when a claim is rejected.
How ordering works
- Order online and answer the questionnaire on what you export, to which countries and under which customs code.
- We prepare the DA 185 and 4A2 registration for the agreement, you sign the mandate, and we lodge it at the customs branch and follow it up.
- We apply for your blank certificates, complete the first one with you, and place the routine and the records list in your portal.
Not sure which agreement you fall under? Ask us first and you get a written answer within one business day.
What we will need from you
- Your customs client number as a registered exporter. No number yet means import and export codes come first.
- Which agreement: SADC for Southern Africa, or the EUR.1 agreements for the EU, the UK or EFTA. One agreement per order.
- What you export, with the tariff headings if you know them, and where the inputs come from, which decides whether the goods qualify.
- Company registration documents, the authorised officer’s certified identity document, proof of the physical premises and the bank details SARS asks for on every customs registration, most of which it already holds from your exporter registration.
- A signed mandate for us to lodge at the customs branch on your behalf, which we send you.
- A recent commercial invoice for a typical shipment, for the worked first certificate.
Frequently asked questions
Is a SADC certificate the same as an EUR.1?
No. Both are preferential certificates of origin that let your buyer import at a reduced or zero duty, but each belongs to a different trade agreement. The SADC certificate of origin is for the Southern African Development Community. The EUR.1 movement certificate is used under the SADC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement for the European Union, the SACUM-UK agreement for the United Kingdom and the SACU-EFTA agreement for Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. You register with SARS separately for each agreement you export under, and we do one agreement per order.
Do I need an importer or exporter code first?
Yes. SARS only registers you under a trade agreement once you are a registered exporter with a customs client number. If you do not have one yet, our import and export codes service comes first, and the two can be ordered together.
How does each shipment get its certificate?
SARS issues blank certificates on application, up to 50 at a time. For each consignment you complete a certificate, one per two digit tariff chapter, and present it to customs with the export declaration for certification. Our service gets you registered, gets the blanks issued and walks you through the first consignment. Certifying every later shipment is your routine, or your clearing agent’s.
What does SARS charge?
Nothing for the registration or for the certificates. Our R2 190 is the whole cost of getting set up.
Do my goods actually qualify?
Only goods that meet the agreement’s rules of origin qualify, and imported inputs can disqualify a product. Where it is not obvious, SARS will give a binding origin determination that stays valid for three years, and we tell you when to ask for one rather than guess. A wrong origin claim is the buyer’s duty bill and your problem.
Keep exploring
- Export documents explained with examples, including a filled in SADC certificate
- Import and export codes, R1 990
- Cross-border road transport permits
- Free landed cost calculator
This is an administrative service performed with your authority on your own SARS customs registration. Whether particular goods qualify under a trade agreement’s rules of origin is a customs determination; ProperSA does not give that opinion and refers you to SARS for a binding origin determination where it is unclear. The process is as set out in SARS policies SC-RO-02 and SC-CF-19 at the date of writing.