Form P is the preferential certificate of origin under the China–Pakistan Free Trade Agreement. It is filed as code 07 on the export declaration, issued by China Customs or CCPIT, and accepted by Pakistan Customs at the port of entry. This guide covers who can file, the 15-day issue window, the separate submission deadline that follows it, how the 40% value test is run, and the mistakes that turn a routine preferential entry into an origin verification.
Form P — printed on the form as Certificate of Origin China–Pakistan FTA, and called Form P because the certificate number begins with a P — 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–Pakistan origin rule so the importer in Pakistan can declare the agreement rate instead of the MFN rate.
It is not a discount coupon. What your buyer actually pays depends on the 8-digit line in the Pakistan Customs Tariff 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 sales tax at import, regulatory duty or anti-dumping duty; those are assessed on a separate footing.
Who files: the exporter or the manufacturer, or an agent holding a signed power of attorney. When: before shipment, at shipment, or within 15 days after the shipment date; a year from the shipment date if it has to be issued retroactively. Cost: the issuing office charges nothing; you pay the agent’s service fee.
Two dates explain which version of the rules you are filing under today: the agreement was signed on November 24, 2006 and took effect on July 1, 2007, with an early harvest program already cutting duties from January 1, 2006. The second phase protocol took effect on December 1, 2019, and its cuts started on January 1, 2020 — that schedule is where your buyer’s rate comes from.
China and Pakistan signed the free trade agreement on November 24, 2006; it entered into force on July 1, 2007, and an early harvest program had been reducing duties on selected products since January 1, 2006. The second phase protocol, signed in 2019, entered into force on December 1, 2019 and applied its tariff cuts from January 1, 2020: the share of lines at zero duty moved from 35% toward 75%, with another 5% of lines receiving a 20% concession rather than full elimination.
The filing rules sit in two layers. The origin tests and the certificate come from the agreement’s Rules of Origin and its Operational Procedures for the Visa of Origin Certificates — the second document is where the 15-day and one-year windows live. On the Chinese side, 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. For Pakistani goods moving the other way into China, the check runs under the Measures on the Administration of Origin of Import Goods under the China–Pakistan FTA (GACC Order No. 162, in force July 1, 2007, amended by Order No. 198 in 2010). On the export declaration, the certificate is code 07.
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 Pakistani 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 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. It is (FOB value − value of non-originating materials) ÷ FOB value × 100, it has to be built on the books you keep, and Chinese and Pakistani originating material can be cumulated on both sides. On top of that come the exclusions: simple assembly, labeling, repacking, diluting, sorting and similar minimal operations never confer origin, however much paperwork surrounds them, and the goods must move directly — a third country may only handle unloading, storage or splitting, with no entry into trade or consumption and no processing.
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 clearing agent files the goods declaration with Pakistan Customs, 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 a preferential claim filed without support gets amended, held, or recovered later with a demand notice.
With a valid Form P the entry goes in at the agreement rate. Without it, the same tariff line is assessed at MFN, and the difference lands in your landed cost — usually discovered after the goods are already in the warehouse.
After the second phase protocol, zero duty now covers 75% of tariff lines and another 5% get a 20% cut. Machinery, chemicals, textiles and consumer goods are where the spread between MFN and the agreement rate pays for the paperwork several times over.
Pakistan Customs can call for the original certificate on a preferential declaration. If the certificate number, the description or the value does not line up with the invoice and the bill of lading, the declaration stops and the agent has to amend it.
Pakistani banks open credits that list “Certificate of Origin China–Pakistan FTA 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.
Pakistan Customs can run a post-entry origin check and ask China Customs to verify the certificate. During the check the goods may be released against a security, or assessed at the MFN rate first and adjusted later.
Pakistan runs anti-dumping investigations on Chinese goods, and the origin certificate is one of the first documents pulled when a case file is opened. A correct certificate keeps the duty question separate from the trade-remedy question.
Inside China, Form P 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 Pakistan. 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 | Pick 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–Pakistan FTA | Your buyer or the credit wants a government-issued certificate, or you want the certificate tied to the export 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 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 still be collected at the counter, but in practice hardly anyone does.
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 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. Pakistani goods entering China at the agreement rate need a certificate from Pakistan’s designated issuing agency, checked against GACC Order No. 162. The certificate is submitted within 6 months of its issue date, extended to 8 months where the goods moved through one or more non-party countries, and consignments with an FOB value of USD 200 or less are exempt.
The rule is short. The certificate is issued on the application of the exporter or the manufacturer, and either 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 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 recorded in the e-port system and the power of attorney uploaded there.
This agreement gives a wider window than most Chinese FTAs: the certificate is issued before shipment, at the time of shipment, or within 15 days after the shipment date. That is not a formality. Box 4 carries the 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 and voyage or flight number and discharge port are fixed. 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 clearing agent for pre-filing, the original with the shipping documents or by courier. Certificate number matches the declaration.
It can still be issued. Where the certificate was not issued before shipment, at shipment or within 15 days after, it may be issued retroactively within one year of the shipment date, carries the remark that it was issued retrospectively, and is flagged ISSUED RETROACTIVELY in the system. Retroactive issuance is not an automatic waiver: an issue date later than the on-board date is exactly what a Pakistani bank and the clearing agent read against the credit and the declaration.
Not every credit takes it. Some letters of credit exclude retroactive certificates outright, and some importers are asked to explain the filing gap. If it can be filed on time, file on time.
The submission deadline is a separate clock. A certificate can be perfectly valid and still arrive too late. It has to be submitted to Pakistan Customs within 6 months of the issue date, extended to 8 months where the goods moved through one or more non-party countries. Where force majeure or another cause outside the exporter’s control prevented submission, Pakistan Customs should still accept it, and the same applies where the goods were actually imported inside the period. Late without a reason is a refused preferential claim.
A replacement is not a new certificate. Where the original is stolen, lost or damaged and has not been used, a certified true copy can be requested within one year of the original issue date, marked CERTIFIED TRUE COPY and showing the original issue date. Content errors are corrected by the issuing office, never by erasing or overprinting, and empty boxes are struck through. A copy or a correction is not a fresh application.
Box 4 has to match the booking you actually made. Ocean freight usually discharges at Karachi Port or Port Qasim; air freight lands at Karachi (KHI), Lahore (LHE) or Islamabad (ISB); road freight leaves China through the Khunjerab Pass in Xinjiang, the only land border crossing between the two countries, which switched from seasonal operation (April to November) to year-round operation on December 1, 2024.
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 P carries one extra step a plain CO does not: settling the origin criterion before anything is typed.
Destination is Pakistan, and the goods sit in the agreement’s tariff schedule. There is no second bilateral route into Pakistan, so this check is quick.
Is there a product-specific rule for the heading? Run it. If not, calculate the regional value content, cumulating Chinese and Pakistani material. Keep the bill of materials behind the number.
Commercial invoice, packing list, and bill of lading or air waybill. Reconcile invoice number, date, value, package count, gross and net weight, and marks.
Pakistan declares at 8 digits; China exports at 10. The first six have to agree, and the Pakistani suffix has to be the one your clearing agent 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 on A4 in color, one original and two copies.
PDF first so the clearing agent can pre-file, original with the shipping documents or by courier. Ask the agent to check the certificate number against the declaration.
Certificate, application and origin support are kept together. That is the file you produce when a verification request lands, and it is often years later.
The list is short, and one item on it is heavier than the rest: the origin support. That is where Form P 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 Pakistan for Chinese-origin goods. The confusion usually comes from regional deals China belongs to, which people read as a second door. They are not, because Pakistan is not a party to them.
| Certificate | Code | Covers | Works for a Pakistan entry? |
|---|---|---|---|
| China–Pakistan FTA — Form P | 07 | Pakistan | Yes, at the agreement rate |
| Certificate of origin — CO | — | Any destination, no agreement needed | No preference; proof of origin only, MFN rate |
| RCEP | RC | ASEAN ten plus China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand | No; Pakistan is not an RCEP party |
| Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement — Form B | B | Bangladesh, India, Laos, Korea, Sri Lanka, Mongolia | No; Pakistan is not a member |
| China–ASEAN — Form E | E | ASEAN ten | No; unrelated to a Pakistan shipment |
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. Pakistan is neither an RCEP party nor an APTA member, so no Chinese office can issue a certificate that Pakistan Customs would give preference against. RCEP, Form B and Form E do not work here, and choosing one of them instead does not add safety — it adds duty.
A plain CO is still useful, just for a different job: it proves the goods are Chinese, supports the MFN rate and trade statistics, and sits in anti-dumping and countervailing files. Buyers who only need the MFN rate can work with a CO. Buyers who want the agreement rate need Form P. A shipment that carries both is normal; file each for its own purpose instead of stacking them “just in case”.
Issuance is the easy half. Pakistan Customs examines preferential declarations 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 Pakistani schedule runs 8 digits; the Chinese declaration runs 10. The first six should match and the Pakistani suffix must be the one your agent 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 a hub port has to stay under customs control, stay out of processing beyond the permitted operations, and stay out of trade or consumption in that country. An itinerary decided at booking decides this, not the paperwork afterwards.
A certificate issued after the on-board date without being marked retroactive, a missing submission inside the 6-month window, or a form with visible erasure or overprinting invites a question about authenticity. Corrections on Form P have to be made by the issuing office.
Pakistan 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, and the importer’s preferential history gets worse.
For the shipper 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 fourteen questions that come up most often from Pakistani buyers and their clearing agents, answered with the rule rather than the sales pitch.
Form P is the preferential certificate under the China–Pakistan Free Trade Agreement, printed as Certificate of Origin China–Pakistan FTA and filed as code 07 on the export declaration. It is known as Form P because the certificate number starts with a P. 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 clearing agent needs for the goods declaration, and whether the goods sit in Pakistan’s tariff schedule for the agreement. If your buyer is content with the MFN rate, a plain CO can be enough. To declare the agreement rate, Form P is the only document that works. Consignments with an FOB value of USD 200 or less are exempt from the certificate, provided the goods were not split to stay under that line.
Not automatically. Under the second phase protocol, the share of tariff lines carrying zero duty rose from 35% to 75%, and another 5% of lines get a 20% cut rather than full elimination. What your buyer actually pays depends on the 8-digit Pakistan Customs Tariff line and on whether the goods pass the origin rule. Sales tax at import, regulatory duty, additional customs duty and anti-dumping duties are assessed separately and are 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 clear 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 for origin work, rush handling, amendments, extra originals and any chamber attestation 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. A company already registered with customs as an importer or exporter can sync that record. Self-printing also requires uploading the company seal and the declarant’s signature and having them authorized.
Three routes: wholly obtained in China; produced entirely from Chinese or Pakistani 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, and Chinese and Pakistani material can be counted together. Simple assembly, repacking, labeling, diluting and sorting are minimal operations and do not confer origin.
Yes, within limits. The certificate is normally issued before shipment, at shipment, or within 15 days after the shipment date. Past that, it can be issued retroactively within one year of the shipment date, marked as issued retrospectively, and the system flags it ISSUED RETROACTIVELY. Some letters of credit refuse a retroactive certificate, so treat the 15 days as the real deadline.
Two separate clocks. The certificate is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. It has to be submitted to Pakistan Customs within 6 months of the issue date, extended to 8 months where the goods moved through one or more non-party countries. Where force majeure or another cause outside the exporter’s control made that impossible, Pakistan Customs should still accept it, as it should where the goods were already imported inside the period.
No. Pakistan is not an RCEP party and not a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, so Form P is the only preferential route for Chinese-origin goods entering Pakistan. RCEP, Form B and Form E certificates do not apply, and a plain CO only supports the MFN rate. Choosing the wrong certificate does not add safety; it adds duty.
It still qualifies if the third country did no more than unloading, reloading, storing or splitting the consignment, if the goods did not enter trade or consumption there, and if they were not processed beyond those operations. Keep the through bill of lading and any customs evidence from the transit country. Decide the routing at booking, not after the certificate is filed.
Yes. Where the FOB value of a consignment is USD 200 or less, no certificate is required and the exporter’s brief declaration is accepted instead; postal consignments follow the same rule. The exemption is for small values, not for splitting one shipment into several to stay under the threshold.
No. Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duties are decided on their own investigations, and an origin certificate does not exempt them. The certificate supports the agreement rate on customs duty; trade remedy duties, regulatory duty and sales tax at import are assessed on a separate basis.
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 P can be issued up to 15 days after shipment, but our filing slot still sits after the booking is confirmed and before the vessel loads — because a retroactive certificate is a question at the bank, not a convenience.
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 clearing agent can pre-file. The original travels with the bill of lading or by courier, and the file is archived with the origin support behind it.
Tell us what the goods are made of and when the vessel or truck leaves. 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.
