Form B is the preferential certificate of origin under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, carried as agreement code 01 on the export declaration. China Customs issues it at the port of export, or CCPIT does, and your broker presents the original with the entry. APTA is not a free trade agreement: each member cuts only the lines it put on its schedule, and it cuts them by a margin rather than to zero. This guide covers who can file, the three-working-day window after shipment, what twelve months of validity actually buys you, how the 45% value test is run, where the fees sit, and the mistakes that turn a routine claim into an origin verification.
Form B — printed on the form as Certificate of Origin (Combined declaration and certificate), Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, and called the B cert or the APTA certificate in daily trade — is a preferential certificate of origin. It is issued by China Customs at the port of export or by CCPIT and its local branches, and its job is narrow: certify that the goods are Chinese origin under APTA rules and sit on the destination member's schedule, so your importer can enter them at the agreement rate instead of the MFN rate.
It is not a zero-duty pass. APTA runs on positive lists: each member cuts only the lines it scheduled, and it cuts them by a margin of preference — 32.59% on average across the fourth round — rather than to zero. Your destination still taxes the landed value on its own terms, VAT or GST included, and the certificate does not touch that line.
Who files: the exporter or the manufacturer, or an agent holding a signed power of attorney. When: at the time of export, or no later than three working days after shipment, with twelve months of validity from issue. Miss that window and the certificate becomes a retroactive issuance — allowed within one year of the shipment date, but marked as such on its face. Cost: the issuing office charges no visa fee; you pay the agent's service fee.
Three dates explain the version of the program you file under today: the 1975 Bangkok Agreement, the 2005 rename in Beijing, and the fourth round that took effect on July 1, 2018.
The agreement started in 1975 as the Bangkok Agreement, signed by Bangladesh, India, Lao PDR, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka under the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. In November 2005 the members renamed it the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement at a ministerial council in Beijing. China joined in May 2001 — its first preferential trade arrangement. The fourth round, adopted as the Second Amendment, took effect on July 1, 2018, and the members now schedule 10,660 tariff lines between them. Mongolia signed its accession protocol in September 2020 and has traded with China on APTA terms since January 1, 2021.
Chinese issuance rests on two instruments. The Measures on the Administration of Origin for Import and Export Goods under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (GACC Order No. 177, published November 3, 2008, amended by Order No. 198, in force January 1, 2009) set the origin rules and the certificate requirements. The Measures on the Administration of Certificate of Origin Visas for Export Goods (GACC Order No. 270, in force September 1, 2024) govern acceptance, review, retroactive issuance, re-issue and amendment. On the declaration, APTA is agreement code 01, and the entry carries the certificate type and number (GACC Announcement No. 34 of 2021).
Origin is decided one of four ways. Wholly obtained or produced in the exporting member — box 8, criterion “A”. Otherwise, non-originating materials and parts must not exceed 55% of the FOB value, which is the same thing as a regional value content of at least 45% — criterion “B” with the percentage. Or originating content accumulated across members reaches 60% of FOB — criterion “C” with the percentage. Or the goods meet the product-specific rule for the heading; the current list uses a change in tariff heading for 156 four-digit headings, and the form carries the corresponding criterion code. Bangladesh and Lao PDR, the two least-developed members, work to a wider tolerance: non-originating content up to 65%, cumulated content down to 50%.
Two side rules settle as many cases as the value test. Minimal operations never confer origin — simple assembly, repacking, relabeling, simple mixing, dilution and similar processing do not count, however much paperwork surrounds them. And direct consignment applies: goods must move from the exporting member to the importing member without entering trade or consumption in a third country. Transshipment, splitting and repacking are allowed only under customs control, and the file has to show it.
Bangladesh and Lao PDR work to 65% non-originating and 50% cumulated. Simple assembly, repacking and relabeling never earn origin, and no certificate can fix that after the fact.
Your broker files the entry and settles duty at the border, and the origin document is what decides which duty column the goods land in. Without it, the same cargo is assessed at MFN. An entry that claims the agreement rate without support gets amended, which usually costs more than the duty at stake.
With a valid Form B, the entry goes in at the agreement rate. Take a line at a 20% MFN rate with a 30% preference: the agreement rate lands at 14%, six points off the landed cost on the invoice value. On a container of machinery, that is real money.
China and India have no free trade agreement. APTA is the only preferential route between them, and India scheduled 3,142 lines at the fourth round with an average cut of 33.45%. The list leans industrial — chemicals, machinery, steel — with agricultural lines on it as well.
None of the three has a bilateral FTA with China, and none is in RCEP. Mongolia has traded on APTA terms since January 2021, scheduling 366 lines at a 24.18% average cut. For these destinations, Form B is the whole preference program.
Credits opened for these destinations routinely call for “Certificate of Origin under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, one original”. A different shipper name, an issue date after the on-board date or a value that does not match is a documentary discrepancy, and payment waits until it is waived.
Preferential entries are examined after release. Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard cases are decided on origin as well, so the certificate is the first document pulled when a case file opens.
Every claim leaves a trace in both customs systems. A certificate that had to be amended or a preference that was disallowed follows the importer into later entries, and it shows up in how often the containers get pulled.
APTA has seven members: Bangladesh, China, India, Lao PDR, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka. Chinese exports to the other six get the agreement rate when the line is on that member's schedule and the goods pass the origin rule. The figures below are the fourth-round offers, in force since July 1, 2018.
| Member | Lines scheduled | Average cut | What it means at the border |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 3,142 | 33.45% | No FTA with China — Form B is the only preferential route |
| Republic of Korea | 2,797 | 33.39% | Also in the China–Korea FTA — compare Form K before filing |
| China | 2,191 | 33.09% | Our own schedule — applies to imports entering China |
| Lao PDR | 999 | 30.17% | Also in the China–ASEAN FTA — compare Form E before filing |
| Sri Lanka | 568 | 22.06% | No bilateral FTA — Form B is the only preferential route |
| Bangladesh | 597 | 21.77% | No bilateral FTA — Form B is the only preferential route |
| Mongolia | 366 | 24.18% | APTA terms with China since January 1, 2021 |
| Total | 10,660 | 32.59% | The fourth-round package as published |
The number is the margin of preference — (MFN rate minus agreement rate) divided by the MFN rate — not the rate you pay. A 30% cut on a 5% line saves 1.5 points; the same cut on a 30% line saves 9. Whether a certificate is worth the work turns on the line's MFN rate, the margin on that line and the invoice value, not on the average in this table.
The lists are positive. A line that is not scheduled gets nothing, certificate or not, which is why the first thing we check is the destination's schedule and not the origin story. The fifth round is still under negotiation; treat these figures as the current published position and confirm the live rate with your broker before you fix a price.
Inside China, Form B comes from either China Customs at the port of export or CCPIT and its local branches. Both are legally valid, both are accepted by the six partner customs administrations, and the choice usually comes from the contract, the letter of credit or the buyer's preference.
| Channel | What it is | Where you file | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| China Customs | Government issuing authority — the customs house at the port of export | Internet + Customs at online.customs.gov.cn (tax and fee services → origin management → certificate issuance), or the Single Window at singlewindow.cn → origin certificate → Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement | Your buyer or the credit wants a government-issued certificate, or you want the certificate tied to the declaration data |
| CCPIT | Chamber-of-commerce issuer — the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and its local branches | CCPIT origin certificate system at co.ccpit.org or declare.ecoccpit.net | Your buyer specifies a chamber certificate or a chamber stamp, or your company already files everything through the CCPIT system |
Filing and review are electronic end to end. What changes by destination is how the paper comes out. For consignments to Korea and India, GACC allows self-printing on A4 in color; the electronic seal and signature carry the same effect as a pre-printed certificate. For Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Lao PDR and Mongolia, the certificate is still printed on controlled stock and issued at the customs counter, so that visit belongs in the schedule, not in the follow-up.
There is no residency requirement. Any customs house or CCPIT branch accepts an online filing. Cargo out of Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta is normally filed with Shenzhen Customs or CCPIT Shenzhen, which keeps follow-up simple; cargo moving through Guangzhou, Nansha, Huangpu, Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao, Tianjin or Xiamen is filed with the office that matches the port of export.
The rules run in reverse for imports into China. The certificate has to come from the partner's designated agency, be issued at export or within three working days of shipment, and run twelve months. If China Customs doubts the certificate or the origin, it can ask the issuing agency to verify; the goods may be released against a security equal to the duty at stake, and if no answer arrives within four months, or the answer does not establish origin, the preference is denied and the security converts to duty.
The rule is short. The certificate is issued on the application of the exporter or the manufacturer, and either of them can appoint an agent with a signed power of attorney filed with the issuing office. In daily practice that gives you three arrangements.
The manufacturer keeps its own profile current and files its own certificates. Tightest control over the origin story, and it works best when the product range is narrow and there is a documents desk on site.
The exporter applies in its own name, so the name on the certificate matches the invoice and the bill of lading it issued. The sensible route for high-volume shippers with a dedicated documents team.
We file on your behalf and the certificate still carries your name or your supplier's name — never ours. The usual route for companies with no profile yet, a thin documents desk, or cargo spread across several ports.
The company profile has to exist in the system: unified social credit code, Chinese and English name and address, contacts. Export origin registration was abolished on November 1, 2023, so a first-time applicant maintains the profile rather than a separate registration file, and a company already registered with customs as an importer or exporter can sync that record instead of re-entering it. Self-printing also needs the company seal and the declarant's signature uploaded and authorized. When an agent files, the e-port entrustment and the power of attorney go in as well.
APTA gives you a narrow window. The certificate is issued when the goods are exported, or within three working days after shipment — and it is valid for twelve months from the date of issue, not from arrival. Neither date is a formality: the form carries the means of transport, the routing and the departure date, none of which exists until the booking is confirmed.
Vessel and voyage, port of loading, discharge port and the routing are locked. Pull the invoice, packing list, HS codes and the material story for the goods.
Run the value test or the product-specific rule before anything is typed. Keep the bill of materials and the supplier invoices behind the number you will declare.
Filed in the Customs or CCPIT system, description taken line by line from the commercial invoice. Review takes two business days; a clean file often clears the same day.
PDF goes to the importer's broker for pre-filing, the original goes with the shipping documents or by courier. The certificate number has to match the entry.
Then the certificate is issued retroactively. Under the visa measures it can be requested within one year of the shipment date, with the bill of lading or air waybill as proof of that date, and it is marked on its face as issued retroactively. What it cannot do is pretend the timing was met: some letters of credit refuse a retroactive certificate outright, and a destination officer is entitled to ask why a shipment that left three weeks ago is only now being certified.
One more ordering rule: the issue date may not precede the invoice date. An application dated before the invoice it refers to is a rejection waiting to happen, and the fix runs through the issuing office, not the printer.
Self-filing and agent filing walk the same official path. What changes is who fills the form, who checks it, and who does the rework when a field is wrong. Form B carries one step a plain CO does not: settling the origin criterion before anything is typed.
Destination is one of the six, and the line is on that member's schedule. No scheduled line, no preference — certificate or not.
Wholly obtained, the 55/45 value test, 60% cumulation, or the product-specific rule. Write down which one, and the numbers behind it.
Commercial invoice, packing list, and bill of lading or air waybill. Reconcile number, date, value, package count, gross and net weight, and marks.
The certificate carries a six-digit HS line; the destination declares on its own tariff. The first six have to agree with the invoice and with the entry your broker will file.
Enter company and goods details. The description follows the invoice line by line — specification, quantity, HS code — and box 8 states the criterion you actually used.
The authority responds within two business days; corrections usually come back in one pass. Then self-print for Korea and India, or collect at the counter for the other four.
PDF first so the broker can pre-file, original with the shipping documents or by courier. Ask the broker to tie the certificate number to the entry.
Certificate copy, application file and origin support are kept at least three years from issue — that is the file you produce when a verification request lands.
The document list is short. One item on it is heavier than the rest: the origin support. That is where Form B parts company with a plain CO, and where review questions usually start.
| Box | What goes in | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Exporter | Name, address and country of the exporter | Chinese and English names that disagree with the company profile and the invoice |
| 2 Consignee | Name, address and country of the importer | A middleman's name in a three-party deal, with nobody able to claim the preference |
| 4 Transport and route | Mode, vessel or flight, ports of loading and discharge, routing through any third country | “By sea” with no ports, or a routing that contradicts the bill of lading |
| 5 Tariff heading | Six-digit HS heading on the current form | A four-digit code carried over from old stock, or a heading that is not on the schedule |
| 6–7 Marks and description | Marks as packed; description line by line — product, specification, model, quantity | “Machinery”, “parts”, “goods”: words that describe nothing |
| 8 Origin criterion | “A”; “B” with the non-originating percentage; “C” with the cumulated percentage; or the product-specific code | The wrong route, or a percentage that does not reconcile with the bill of materials |
| 9 Gross weight and quantity | Normal measure; gross weight for packed goods, with net weight noted where only net is stated | A weight that disagrees with the packing list or the declaration |
| 10 Invoice | Number and date of the commercial invoice actually used | A revised invoice that never made it into the certificate |
| 11 Declaration | Origin country, destination country, place and date, signature and company seal | A destination country that is not a member, or a date earlier than the invoice |
| 12 Certification | Place, date, signature and seal of the issuing office | Stamped or altered outside the office, or a seal that overlaps the data |
Two separate numbers, paid to two different parties: the official fee charged by the issuing office, and the fee charged by whoever prepares and files the certificate.
China Customs publishes no charge for origin certificate issuance, and the CCPIT system bills none either. Certificate stock, review and the electronic seal are not charged to the applicant.
What we charge covers labor: running the origin test, assembling the file, reconciling the three document sets, filing, chasing the review, printing or counter collection, delivering, and reworking an error. One certificate, one price.
The question is never which certificate is best. It is which agreement gives this line a cut. Start with the destination and the tariff line, not with the form.
| Certificate | Code | Covers | Works for this entry? |
|---|---|---|---|
| APTA — Form B | 01 | India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Korea, Lao PDR | Yes, on scheduled lines only |
| Certificate of origin — CO | CO | Any destination, no agreement needed | No preference; proof of origin only, MFN rate |
| China–ASEAN — Form E | E | The ASEAN ten, Lao PDR included | Yes for Laos; usually deeper than APTA |
| China–Korea FTA — Form K | K | Republic of Korea | Yes for Korea; compare against Form B line by line |
| RCEP | RC | ASEAN ten plus China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand | Yes for Korea; regional cumulation rules differ |
| GSP — Form A | A | Historic GSP donor countries | No; the donors have withdrawn GSP treatment for China |
Korea is in the China–Korea FTA and Laos is in the China–ASEAN FTA, and both schedules go deeper than APTA's line-by-line cuts. For Korea the FTA phases a large part of the industrial tariff to zero over its staging periods; for Laos the ASEAN schedule covers far more headings than the 999 lines APTA offers. So the order for those two destinations is Form K or Form E first, and Form B only where the line sits outside that agreement's schedule or the arithmetic comes out better.
India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mongolia are the opposite case. No bilateral FTA, no RCEP membership for India, and no other preferential door into those markets: Form B is the whole program. One entry, one certificate — you cannot stack APTA on top of another agreement, and you cannot split a line between two.
Issuance is the easy half. Destination customs examines preferential entries after release, and the question is rarely whether a certificate exists — it is whether the certificate holds up against the invoice, the tariff line and the production record.
Imported parts declared as wholly obtained, or a 45% claim with no cost build-up behind it. This is the most common and the most expensive problem, and it can be checked years after the entry.
“Machinery”, “parts”, “goods” describe nothing. The description box has to follow the invoice line by line — product name, model, quantity, tariff heading — and name the producer where the form asks for it.
A valid certificate for a line the member never scheduled buys nothing at the border. The heading in box 5 has to match both the invoice and the schedule the claim relies on.
Invoice number, date, value, package count, gross and net weight, marks — any mismatch against the packing list, bill of lading or declaration opens the door. Correcting a filed entry costs more than getting the invoice right the first time.
Cargo routed through Hong Kong, Singapore or another hub has to stay under customs control, out of processing beyond the permitted operations. An itinerary decided at booking decides this, not the paperwork afterwards.
A certificate issued long after shipment without being marked retroactive, or a form with visible erasure or overprinting, invites a question about authenticity. Corrections on Form B have to be struck through and stamped by the issuing office.
Destination customs can ask China to confirm the certificate and the origin of the goods. While that runs, release may be held, a security deposit demanded, or duty assessed at the MFN rate up front. If the answer does not satisfy the authority, the duty difference is collected with interest, and the importer's preferential history gets worse.
On the China side the rule is explicit: a verification request that goes unanswered for four months, or an answer that does not establish origin, ends the preference and converts the security into duty. For the exporter there is one effective defense — settle the origin criterion and align the three document sets before anything is filed. That is why our routine starts with the bill of materials and ends with a cross-read of invoice, packing list and bill of lading, not with the filing screen.
The twelve questions that come up most often from buyers and brokers in the APTA markets, answered with the rule rather than the sales pitch.
Form B is the preferential certificate under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, printed as Certificate of Origin (Combined declaration and certificate), Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement and carried as agreement code 01 on the export declaration. A plain CO is non-preferential: it proves the goods are Chinese and supports the MFN rate and trade statistics, but grants nothing under any agreement. Both come from the same offices, but the filing content, the origin test and the duty outcome are different.
Bangladesh, India, Lao PDR, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka — China's six partners under APTA. The goods also have to sit on that member's schedule and pass the origin rule. A certificate naming a country outside the agreement is a certificate the destination cannot use.
No. APTA is a positive-list arrangement: each member cuts scheduled lines by a margin of preference, averaging 32.59% across the fourth round, rather than to zero. The rate you pay depends on the destination line, and the certificate only makes that rate available. VAT or GST applies on the landed value separately and is not reduced.
The issuing office completes its review within two business days of accepting a clean filing, and most certificates go out the same day or the next. The hard deadline is the three-working-day window after shipment; anything later is a retroactive issuance. For Korea and India you can self-print as soon as it clears; for the other four destinations add a counter collection.
The issuing office charges no visa fee — neither China Customs nor the CCPIT system bills one. What you pay is the agent's service fee, quoted per certificate and itemized by origin work, rush handling, counter collection, amendments, extra originals and any chamber stamp.
The exporter or the manufacturer, or an agent appointed with a signed power of attorney. When we file on your behalf, the certificate stays in your name or your supplier's name; we never issue one in our own name.
Yes, a company profile has to exist in the system: unified social credit code, Chinese and English name and address, contacts. Export origin registration was abolished on November 1, 2023, so the profile is what you maintain, and a company already registered with customs as an importer or exporter can sync that record. Self-printing also needs the company seal and the declarant's signature uploaded.
Four routes: wholly obtained or produced in China; non-originating materials at or below 55% of FOB, which is a regional value content of at least 45%; originating content accumulated across members reaching 60% of FOB; or the product-specific rule for the heading, currently a tariff-heading change for 156 four-digit headings. Bangladesh and Lao PDR work to 65% and 50%. Simple assembly, repacking and relabeling are minimal operations and confer nothing.
Yes, within one year of the shipment date, on a retroactive application supported by the bill of lading or air waybill and marked as issued retroactively. The certificate is meant to be issued at export or within three working days, so expect the date to be questioned — some letters of credit refuse a retroactive certificate outright.
Twelve months from the date of issue. Amendments and certified true copies have to be requested inside that window, and a certificate presented after it expires no longer supports the preference. A retroactive certificate runs from its own issue date, which is why the shipment date has to be documented.
Direct consignment still holds if the third country did no more than unload, reload, repack, relabel to meet the importer's requirements, split the consignment or preserve the goods in condition, all under that country's customs control. Keep the transshipment document and the dates; a routing decided at booking is easier to defend than paperwork reconstructed afterwards.
Compare first. For Korea, run the China–Korea FTA (Form K) and RCEP against Form B line by line; for Laos, run the China–ASEAN FTA (Form E). Those schedules are usually deeper than APTA's, so Form B is normally the fallback for lines the other agreement does not cover or where the arithmetic favors APTA. One entry, one certificate — you cannot combine two agreements on the same line.
We are a freight forwarder and documentation desk in Shenzhen, working out of Futian. Export declarations, origin certificates, fumigation, commodity inspection and legalization for one order are delivered through one window wherever the rules allow it.
The destination line is checked against the schedule, and the origin test is settled, before the filing screen is opened. A wrong agreement wastes the fee; a wrong criterion buys an amendment at best and a verification at worst.
Form B has to be issued at export or within three working days, so our filing slot sits after the booking is confirmed and before the vessel loads. For Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Lao PDR and Mongolia the counter collection is booked at the same time.
Cargo out of Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Nansha, Huangpu, Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao, Tianjin or Xiamen is filed with the office that matches the port of export, so the certificate and the routing agree.
The PDF goes out the moment it clears so the importer's broker can pre-file. The original travels with the bill of lading or by courier, and the file is archived for the three-year retention period.
Tell us the destination, what the goods are made of, and when the vessel loads. You get the agreement comparison, an origin assessment, the issue slot we can hold, the document checklist, and an itemized quote for the filing — from Shenzhen, for cargo out of any China port.
