Certificate of Origin - is it required by a customer?

Scenario. Company based in Belgium purchases a product manufactured in Germany, has a Certificate of Origin (COO) for the product from the German manufacturer. Product is sold as part of a range of goods by the Belgium company, which has a separate UK branch, registered as a Ltd company. Customers in the UK place orders through the UK branch, goods are imported / sent from Belgium and from a UK storage warehouse. Does the UK customer need a certificate of origin? Why would they need one? Sending the original COO will breach a NDA. Can the Belgium company or the UK company write their own COO showing the products original country or Belgium? (if the UK customer does require one and not just want one). Thanks

It would be quite unusual for a certificate of origin to be required for customs unless there is some doubt about the goods declared origin. It is sufficient to state the origin on the commercial invoice. If the goods are unaltered they will remain German origin no matter where they are consigned from. The Belgian exporter certainly shouldn’t say they are Belgian. If on the other hand you are talking about benefitting from duty reductions under the UK- EU Trade agreement then the Belgian exporter must have evidence from the German supplier that the goods qualify under the specific origin rules set out in the agreement. This is called a suppliers declaration. The Belgian exporter would then make out their own statement on EU origin quoting their REX number ( Issued by the Belgian customs). The goods would still show as German on the commercial invoice.

Hi
I would advise contacting the Customs and International trade helpline on 0300 322 9434.
Thankyou.
Regards.