The World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted a national Workshop on Rules of Origin in Astana, Kazakhstan from 28 November to 2 December 2022 with 41 participants from the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan (SRC). The workshop was conducted by an expert from the WCO secretariat and an accredited expert on Rules of Origin from the Customs Administration of Maldives. The WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) for Europe took also part in this workshop.
The workshop began with an opening address by Ms. Dzhetibayeva Aliya, Director of Methodology Department of the SRC. She expressed her sincere thanks and gratitude to the WCO Secretariat for funding and organising this face-to-face workshop in Astana. She stressed that issues of origin of goods are one of the priority areas for interaction within the framework of economic cooperation among countries participating in the free trade agreements.
Ms. Narynkul Tagaynazar, Director of the ROCB for the WCO Europe Region, reaffirmed her continued commitment to supporting Members in the region through capacity building activities at both national and regional levels, and also shared information and a joint organizational plan with the WCO Secretariat, the WCO ROCB for Europe Region and Kazakhstan Customs based on regional events of the WCO Regional Training Centre in Kazakhstan in 2023.
During the Workshop, the WCO facilitators presented various technical and practical issues for the correct determination of origin, including the Guidelines on Certification of Origin, Preferential Verification of Origin, Advance Rulings and Origin Irregularities, which were designed to assist WCO Members in smoothly running origin related procedures. Several cases and practical issues were discussed during the workshop, including the overlapping application of non-preferential and preferential rules of origin, the correct application of FTAs, and challenges related to origin verification and irregularities, which shed the light on the correct application of the rules. The discussions also highlighted the importance of verifying the originating status of goods, rather than merely verifying the authenticity of the certificate of origin.
The workshop concluded successfully with positive feedback from participants who greatly appreciated the insights and experiences shared during the 5-day event.