PREPARATION OF NAFTA CERTIFICATE

A blank NAFTA certificate accompanies these instructions. The following step by step instructions should assist you with the accurate completion of NAFTA certificates.

Field #1

Exporter Name & Address / The full legal name, address, and legal tax identification number of the Company should appear here.

Field #2

Blanket Period / This field is completed if the certificate covers multiple shipments of identical goods as described in Field #5 that are imported into a NAFTA country for a specified period of up to one year.

Field #3

Producer Name & Address / The full legal name, address, and legal tax identification number of the producer. If more than one producer’s good is included on the certificate, attach a list of additional producers. It is acceptable to state “Available to Customs upon request” in this field.
Field #4
Importer Name & Address / The full legal name, address, and legal tax identification number of the importer should appear here. If the importer is not known, state “Unknown”. If there are multiple importers, state “Various”.
Field #5
Description of Goods / Provide a full description of each good. The description should be sufficient to relate it to the invoice description and to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule description. It is also a good idea to show the product code or material number.
Field #6
HTS Number / For each good described in Field #5, identify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification to the sixth digit.
Field #7
Preference Criterion / For each good described in Field #5, state the criterion (A thru F) which is applicable. In order to be entitled to preferential tariff treatment, each good must meet at least one of these criteria. Criteria A thru F are explained below.
Field #8
Producer / This field is completed with a “Yes” for each item your Company manufactures. If your Company is not the manufacturer, use one of the following depending on your backup documentation:
“No - 1” if you have knowledge that the good qualifies as an originating good. THIS IS DANGEROUS AND IF USED MUST BE ADEQUATELY SUPPORTED!
“No - 2” if you have a letter from the supplier stating the product is NAFTA eligible.
“No - 3” if you have a NAFTA certificate from the supplier stating the product is NAFTA eligible.
Field #9
Net Cost / For each good described in field #5, where the good is subject to a regional value content (RVC) requirement, indicate “NC” if the RVC is calculated according to the net cost method. You should also put the averaging period in this field if you have elected to calculate the RVC in that fashion. If you are not using the net cost method to qualify your product for NAFTA complete this field with “No”. Refer to the Instructions regarding RVC outlined earlier in these procedures.
Field #10 / Depending on where your product is manufactured, this field should be one of the following: “US” (United States), “CA” (Canada), or “MX” (Mexico).
Field #11 / This field must be completed, signed, and dated by the exporter.

Additional information on the proper completion of NAFTA certificates can be found at:

Preference Criterion

The Preference Criterion shown below should be used when completing Field #7.

Preference Criterion / When to Use
A / Goods which are “wholly obtained or produced” entirely in the territory of one of more NAFTA countries. These goods cannot contain materials from a non-NAFTA country. The purchase of a good in the territory does not necessarily render it “wholly obtained or produced”. Experience has shown that Criterion A is seldom applicable to automotive goods.
B / Goods in which all non-originating materials used in the production of a finished good have undergone an applicable change in tariff classification (called “Tariff Shift”) and/or satisfied certain domestic content requirements (called “Regional Value Content”).
C / Goods produced entirely in the territory of Canada, Mexico, and/or the United States exclusively from originating materials. If all of the materials used to make a good are originating, then the good itself is originating. All of the materials used to produce a good must be proven to originate by meeting the appropriate Rule(s) of Origin. Generally, a Certificate of Origin for each material is necessary to prove it is originating.
D / Goods are produced in the territory of one or more of the NAFTA countries but do not meet the applicable rule of origin because certain non-originating materials do not undergo the required change in tariff classification. The goods do nonetheless meet the regional value content requirements.
E / Certain automatic data processing goods, and their parts, that do not originate in the territory are considered originating upon importation into the territory of a NAFTA country from another NAFTA country.
F / The good is an originating agricultural good under preference criterion A, B, or C above and is not subject to a quantitative restriction in the importing NAFTA country because it is a “qualifying good”. This criterion does not apply to goods that wholly originate in Canada or the United States and are imported into either country.

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