Form F is the preferential origin certificate under the China–Chile Free Trade Agreement, carried as code F on the export declaration. China Customs or CCPIT issues it, Chile's Servicio Nacional de Aduanas accepts it, and your Chilean broker wants the original before entry. This guide covers who can file, the issue window you cannot miss, what the 12-month validity really covers, how the 40% value test is run, and the errors that turn a routine entry into an origin verification.
Form F — printed on the form as Certificate of Origin Form F for China–Chile FTA — 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 meet the China–Chile origin rule so the Chilean importer can declare the agreement rate instead of the MFN rate.
It is not a discount coupon. The rate your buyer actually gets depends on the tariff schedule for the 8-digit Chilean code, and on whether the goods clear the origin test — the product-specific rule for that heading, or a 40% regional value content where no product-specific rule applies. It also does not touch Chile's VAT: IVA is assessed separately, at the standard 19% rate.
Who files: the exporter or the manufacturer, or an agent holding a signed power of attorney. When: before or at the time of shipment, with a 12-month validity from issue. If that window is missed, retroactive issuance is possible within one year of the shipment date — but only for force majeure, an inadvertent error or other reasonable cause, and the certificate says so on its face. Cost: the issuing office charges nothing; you pay the agent's service fee.
Two dates explain the version of the rules you are filing under today: the original China–Chile agreement took effect on October 1, 2006, and the upgrade protocol — the one that rewrote the origin rules — took effect on March 1, 2019.
China and Chile signed their free trade agreement on November 18, 2005. Chile was the first Latin American country to sign one with China, and the deal has been in force since October 1, 2006. In November 2017 the two governments signed the protocol that revised both the goods agreement and the services supplement; it entered into force on March 1, 2019, and the origin rules moved with it.
The filing rules live in two places. The Measures on the Administration of Origin for Import and Export Goods under the China–Chile FTA, published as GACC Announcement No. 39 of 2019 and effective March 1, 2019, set the origin tests 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 and amendments. On the declaration, the certificate is code F.
Origin is decided one of three ways. Wholly obtained: grown, raised, mined, caught or produced entirely in China. Produced entirely from originating materials: every input is itself Chinese or Chilean under the agreement. Otherwise, the goods have to pass the product-specific rule for their heading — a tariff shift, a value test, or a stated manufacturing process — and where no product-specific rule applies, the fallback is a regional value content of at least 40%.
The value test is not a margin calculation. Under Article 6 it is (FOB value − value of non-originating materials) ÷ FOB value × 100, and it has to be built on the books you keep. The agreement also gives you bilateral cumulation (Chinese material used in Chile counts as Chilean, and the reverse), a de minimis allowance of 10% of the FOB value where a tariff shift is missed, a 15% allowance for sets, and a list of seventeen minimal operations — simple assembly, repacking, labeling, simple mixing, sharpening, grinding — that never confer origin no matter how much paperwork surrounds them.
Simple assembly of imported parts, repacking and relabeling are on the minimal-operations list. They do not earn origin, and the certificate cannot fix that.
Your broker — the agente de aduanas — files the entry with the Servicio Nacional de Aduanas, and the origin document is what decides which duty column the goods land in. Without it, the same cargo is assessed at the MFN rate, and an entry filed at the agreement rate without support gets amended, held or liquidated at the higher rate.
With a valid Form F the entry goes in at the agreement rate. Without it, the same HS line is assessed at MFN — and because Chile's MFN rates are already moderate on many industrial goods, the mistake is easy to miss until the liquidation notice arrives.
After the upgrade protocol, roughly 98% of the two-way tariff lines carry no duty. Chile eliminated duties immediately on 24 product groups, including textiles and apparel, home appliances and sugar; China phases out duties on some wood products over three years. Those are the categories where the certificate pays for itself.
Chilean customs can call for the original certificate on a preferential entry. If the certificate number, the description or the value does not line up with the invoice and the bill of lading, the entry stops, the container goes to inspection, and the broker amends the declaration.
Chilean banks open credits that list “Certificate of Origin Form F in 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 sits until it is waived.
Chilean customs runs post-entry origin checks and can send a verification request to China. Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures are decided on origin as well, so the certificate is the first document pulled when a case file is opened.
Every preferential entry leaves a trace in both systems. A certificate that had to be amended or a claim that was disallowed follows the importer, and it shows up in how often later shipments get pulled.
Inside China, Form F comes from one of two offices — China Customs at the port of export, or CCPIT and its local branches. Both are legally valid and both are accepted in Chile. Which one you use is usually decided by 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 → China–Chile FTA | 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 |
Issuance is electronic end to end. You file in one of the systems above, the authority reviews it online, and once it clears you print it yourself on A4 in color, with the electronic seal and signature — the same legal effect as a pre-printed certificate. A paper original can also be collected at the counter, but in practice the counter visit count is zero.
There is no residency requirement. Any customs house or local CCPIT branch accepts an online filing. Cargo out of Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta is usually filed with Shenzhen Customs or CCPIT Shenzhen, which keeps follow-up simple; cargo moving through Guangzhou, Nansha, Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao, Tianjin or Xiamen is filed with the office that matches the port of export.
The traffic runs both ways. Chilean goods entering China at the agreement rate need a certificate from Chile's authorized issuing agency, checked against the same rules. If the certificate is not in hand at the time of entry, the Chinese importer can file an origin declaration, post a security and produce the certificate within one year of that declaration — but a claim made after release does not reopen the assessment. Consignments valued at USD 1,000 or less are exempt from the certificate requirement, unless the goods were split up to stay under that line.
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 registers, 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 registration yet, a thin documents desk, or cargo spread across several ports.
Before the first filing, the company profile has to exist in the system: unified social credit code, Chinese and English name and address, contacts. A company already registered with customs as an importer or exporter can sync that record instead of re-entering it. Self-printing requires uploading the company seal and the declarant's signature and having them authorized. When an agent files, the entrustment is also recorded in the e-port system and the power of attorney uploaded there.
The agreement is specific: the certificate is issued before or at the time of shipment, and it is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. That is not a formality. The form carries a box for means of transport and route — departure date, vessel and voyage or flight number, port of discharge — none of which is fixed until the booking is confirmed.
Departure date, vessel or flight and discharge port are locked. Pull the invoice, packing list, HS codes and the origin support for the goods.
Check whether the heading has a product-specific rule. If it does, run that rule; if not, build the 40% value calculation and keep the bill of materials behind it.
Filed in the Customs or CCPIT system, description taken from the commercial invoice. Review takes two business days; a clean file often clears the same day.
PDF goes to the Chilean broker for pre-filing, the original goes with the shipping documents or by courier. Certificate number matches the entry.
Retroactive issuance exists, but it is narrower here than under most Chinese FTAs. Under Article 23, where the certificate could not be issued in time because of force majeure, an inadvertent error, negligence or another reasonable cause, the issuing office may issue it retroactively within one year of the shipment date, and the certificate is marked as issued retrospectively. “We forgot” is not force majeure, and “we did not think it was needed” is not a reasonable cause. The rule used to allow issuance up to 30 days after export; since March 2019 it does not.
Expect the date to be questioned. A certificate issued after the on-board date is exactly what a Chilean bank reads against the credit, and some credits refuse retroactive certificates outright. If it can be filed on time, file on time.
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 F carries one extra step a plain CO does not: settling the origin criterion before anything is typed.
Destination is Chile, and the goods sit in the agreement's tariff schedule. There is no second bilateral route into Chile, so this check is quick.
Is there a product-specific rule for the heading? Run it. If not, calculate the regional value content. Keep the bill of materials that supports the number you type.
Commercial invoice, packing list, and bill of lading or air waybill. Reconcile invoice number, date, value, package count, gross and net weight, and marks.
Chile declares at 8 digits; China exports at 10. The first six have to agree, and the Chilean suffix has to be the one your broker will file.
Enter company and goods details. The description follows the invoice line by line — specification, quantity, HS code — and the origin criterion box states what you actually used.
The authority responds within two business days; corrections usually come back in one pass. Then self-print on A4 in color, or collect at the counter.
PDF first so the Chilean broker can pre-file, original with the shipping documents or by courier. Ask the broker to check the certificate number against the entry.
Certificate copy and application file are kept at least three years from issue — that is the file you produce when a verification request lands.
The list is short, and one item on it is heavier than the rest: the origin support. That is where Form F differs from a plain CO, and where review questions usually start.
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 publishes the same. Certificate stock, review and the electronic seal are not billed 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 and delivering, and reworking an error. One certificate, one price.
There is exactly one preferential route into Chile for Chinese-origin goods. The confusion usually comes from Chile's membership in the CPTPP, which people read as a second door. It is not, because China is not a party to it.
| Certificate | Code | Covers | Works for a Chile entry? |
|---|---|---|---|
| China–Chile FTA — Form F | F | Chile | Yes, at the agreement rate |
| Certificate of origin — CO | CO | Any destination, no agreement needed | No preference; proof of origin only, MFN rate |
| China–Peru, China–Costa Rica, China–Ecuador and similar | R / L / EC | Parties to those agreements | No; unrelated to a Chile shipment |
| RCEP | RC | ASEAN ten plus China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand | No; Chile is not an RCEP party |
| CPTPP | — | Chile is a party; China is not | No; China cannot issue a CPTPP origin certificate |
A preferential certificate is bilateral in practice: Chinese authorities issue it under an agreement China has signed, and the destination authority accepts it on that basis. China is not a CPTPP party, so no Chinese office issues a CPTPP origin certificate, and Chilean customs has nothing to grant preference against. Form K, Form E and Form B do not work either — Chile is not a party to those agreements.
The reverse direction runs the same way: Chilean goods entering China at the agreement rate need a certificate from Chile's authorized agency, and no other agreement applies. Cargo that moves through a third country also has to satisfy the direct shipment rule — only unloading, reloading, repacking, relabeling to meet the importer's requirements, splitting the consignment or preserving the goods in condition, all under customs control, with a stay of no more than 12 months, and with a certificate or other evidence from that country's customs.
Issuance is the easy half. Chilean 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 code and the production record.
Declared wholly obtained while using imported materials, or a value test claimed without a 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 code — and name the producer where the form asks for it.
The Chilean schedule runs 8 digits; the Chinese declaration runs 10. The first six should match and the Chilean suffix must be the one your broker files. A code that disagrees with the invoice takes the goods out of the schedule the certificate relied 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, Busan or another hub has to stay under customs control, stay out of processing beyond the permitted operations, and stay inside 12 months. An itinerary decided at booking decides this, not the paperwork afterwards.
A certificate issued after the on-board date without being marked retroactive, or a form with visible erasure or overprinting, invites a question about authenticity. Corrections on Form F have to be struck through and stamped by the issuing office.
Chilean 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.
For the exporter there is one effective defense: settle the origin criterion, then 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 Chilean buyers and their brokers, answered with the rule rather than the sales pitch.
Form F is the preferential certificate under the China–Chile Free Trade Agreement, printed as Certificate of Origin Form F for China–Chile FTA and carried as code F on the export declaration. A plain CO is non-preferential: it proves the goods are Chinese, supports the MFN rate and trade statistics, and grants nothing under the agreement. Both come from the same offices, but the filing content, the origin test and the duty outcome are different.
No. It depends on your contract, the letter of credit, what your Chilean broker needs for the entry, and whether the goods sit in the agreement's tariff schedule. If the buyer is content with the MFN rate, a plain CO can be enough. To declare the agreement rate, Form F is the only document that works. Consignments valued at USD 1,000 or less are exempt from the certificate at entry, unless they were split to stay under the threshold.
Not automatically. Tariffs are phased by line: after the upgrade protocol roughly 98% of two-way lines carry no duty, but some products remain outside the schedule or still move through a transition. The rate depends on the 8-digit Chilean code, and eligibility depends on the origin rule. Chile's VAT (IVA, 19%) is assessed separately and is not reduced by the certificate.
The issuing office completes its review within two business days of accepting the filing. With a clean file and a settled origin criterion, most certificates are issued the same day or the next; a same-day request depends on that day's queue.
The issuing office charges no visa fee, and both China Customs and CCPIT publish a zero charge. What you pay is the agent's service fee, quoted per certificate and itemized by certificate type, rush handling, amendments, extra originals and any chamber stamp or legalization.
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. The company profile has to exist in the filing system: unified social credit code, Chinese and English name and address, contacts. Companies already registered with customs as importers or exporters can sync that record. Self-printing also requires uploading the company seal and the declarant's signature.
Three routes: wholly obtained in China; produced entirely from Chinese or Chilean originating materials; or, for goods not wholly obtained, meeting the product-specific rule for the heading, or a regional value content of at least 40% where no such rule applies. RVC is (FOB value minus non-originating material value) divided by FOB value. Simple assembly, repacking and relabeling are minimal operations and do not confer origin.
Only on the agreement's terms, which are tighter than most Chinese FTAs. The certificate is meant to be issued before or at shipment; where that failed because of force majeure, an inadvertent error, negligence or another reasonable cause, the issuing office can issue it retroactively within one year of the shipment date, marked as issued retrospectively. A missed deadline is not a reasonable cause, and some letters of credit refuse a retroactive certificate.
Twelve months from the date of issue. Amendments and certified true copies have to be requested inside that window. A retroactively issued certificate runs from the shipment date, not from the date it was printed.
It still qualifies 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, if the cargo stayed under that country's customs control for no more than 12 months, and if you can produce a certificate or other evidence from that customs authority. Decide the routing at booking, not after the certificate is filed.
No. China is not a CPTPP party, so no Chinese authority issues a CPTPP origin certificate and Chilean customs has nothing to grant preference against. Chile is also outside RCEP and the APTA, so Form K, Form E and Form B do not apply. The China–Chile FTA, Form F, is the only preferential route for Chinese-origin goods entering Chile.
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 product-specific rule is checked, or the value calculation is built, before the filing screen is opened. A wrong origin criterion is an amendment at best and a verification at worst.
Form F has to be issued before or at shipment, so our filing slot sits after the booking is confirmed and before the vessel loads — not after the on-board date, when the only option left is a retroactive certificate.
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 Chilean 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 what the goods are made of and when the vessel loads. You get an origin assessment, the issue date we can hold, the document checklist, and an itemized quote for the filing — from Shenzhen, for cargo out of any China port.
