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Certificate of Origin

Certificates of Origin

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Inc. (“the Partnership”) is a locally designated agency to validate Certificate of Origins (COO). COOs are documents required by foreign governments that validates the country of origin of where the product was manufactured. The COO must be signed by the exporter, notarized, and then validated by a designated organization such as the Partnership.

Fill out the Letter of Indemnity for either U.S. Originated Goods or Non-U.S. Originated goods and have it notarized. The Letter of Indemnity releases the Partnership from any liability with regards to the goods.

All COO requests and corresponding documents MUST be submitted via email at certsoforigin@thepartnership.org, or additional fees will apply, as noted below.

There is a $10 rush fee for any documents that are submitted to be processed in under 24 hours.  Additionally, in person requests that are not previously scheduled via certsoforigin@thepartnership.org are subject the additional $10 fee to expedite processing.

Obtaining a Certificate of Origin

1. All companies requesting certification of COOs must submit a Letter of Indemnity prior to the BNP certifying your COO. A signed letter will remain in effect for 2 years, as long as the signor of the letter remains an official of the company.

This letter must be printed on the company’s letterhead and signed by the Proprietor, Partner, Officer or Secretary of the company. This letter will be kept at the Partnership and referenced each time a COO is processed.  Partnership may require reissuance of the Letter of Indemnity at any time, however it shall be forever indemnified for previously issued COOs.

In addition, a “Signature Card” must be completed. This document, which requires the names of authorized signatories and their signatures, must be completed and emailed to the Partnership.  Signature cards must be updated at least annually and whenever there are changes during the year.

*Note: There may be a delay in processing of your COOs without a completed Letter of Indemnity and Signature Card. If the Partnership does not have one on file you will be contacted to provide this prior to processing your COO.

2. Provide either a manufacturers invoice or commercial invoice indicating where your goods have been manufactured.

3. Fill out the Certificate of Origin document (Typed).

All Certificates of Origin must include the following statement:

The Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Inc., a recognized chamber of commerce under the laws of the State of New York, certifies, in reliance solely on the exporter’s representation and not on the basis of independent verification, that to the best of its knowledge and belief, the products named in this document originated in the United States of America.

4. Email your notarized Letter of Indemnity and Signature Card (as required), corresponding invoices and Certificate of Origin document to certsoforigin@thepartnership.org.

5. Please allow 1-2 business days for processing. You will receive an email indicating that the documents have been processed and are ready to be collected at the Partnership’s offices or mailed out.

Payment Process:

  • An invoice will be emailed to you when you are notified the documents are ready. The invoice will include all COOs received for processing, including any fees for additional requested services. Payment is required at time of pick up.
  • In person requests for COOs will require credit card for payment.

Additional Instructions:

  • Please be aware that many countries require the Certificate of Origin form to be typed and not hand-written. You may verify this with the importing country.
  • If you are shipping your goods to the Middle East that all documents to be signed in BLUE INK.
  • Documents must indicate that the goods are made in the United States for Certificates of Origin for goods made in the U.S. Please note if you have goods from U.S. and Non-U.S., two separate forms must be used as they cannot be on the same Certificate of Origin.
  • A rush fee of $10 will be applied for each document that is requested to be processed within 24 hours without prior email communications to certsoforigin@thepartnership.org.
  • You can also request that the completed documents be mailed out to you instead of being picked up at our office. This is an extra $10 fee plus shipping and handling.
Certificate of Origin Costs:
BNP Member Cost $10/document
Non BNP Member Cost $25/document
Extra Services
Rush Service * $10 (per request)
Mail Service ** Applicable Shipping & Handling

*An additional fee will be charged for each request that must be processed within 1 business day, submitted via the online form or in person.

**An additional shipping and handling fees will be charged if you request to receive the completed forms in the mail, as opposed to picking them up in person. Please note to avoid the shipping and handling fee you can provide a prepaid FedEx account number or UPS shipping label.

Additional Documentation: