Form A

FTA / RoO

The certificate of origin historically used under EU GSP by exporters in beneficiary developing countries. Being replaced by REX.

Sources

1. CBIC — Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR), Notification No. 81/2020-Customs (N.T.) taxinformation.cbic.gov.in accessed 23 September 2026

CAROTAR does not name particular certificate forms, but it is the frame any of them is now read in: rule 3 requires the certificate to be produced per item and its details entered on the bill of entry, and rule 3(2) allows denial without verification where a certificate “is incomplete and not in accordance with the format as prescribed by the Rules of Origin” or “is produced after its validity period has expired”. Whichever form a scheme uses, the Indian test is the same: correct format under that scheme’s rules, valid, unaltered, and matching the goods.

What CAROTAR does and does not settle. These rules govern how an importer into India claims and proves preferential origin. They do not define the substantive origin criteria — cumulation, value content, tariff shift, wholly obtained — which are set by each trade agreement’s own Rules of Origin. CAROTAR says so itself at rule 8(3): “In the event of a conflict between a provision of these rules and a provision of the Rules of Origin, the provision of the Rules of Origin shall prevail to the extent of the conflict.” So read the agreement for what qualifies, and CAROTAR for what India requires of the importer who claims it.

Related terms

• Absorption Principle
• Bilateral Cumulation
• Certificate of Origin
• Change in Tariff Classification
• Cumulation
• Diagonal Cumulation

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).