Certificates of Origin and other commercial documents
a) Requirements for legalisation of british certificates of origin:
Certificates must be presented in original
Certificates must have been legalised by the Chamber of Commerce in which the company operates. The signature of the Chamber´s representative must be registered at the Consulate General
The consignor must be based in the UK and the consignee based in Argentina
The origin of the goods must be within the European Community
Certificates must include invoice number
Payment of consular fees (please make cheques payable to Consulate General of the Argentine Republic)
Self-addressed and stamped envelope (1st class, special delivery, etc., as you prefer)
b) Requirements for legalisation of certificates of origin issued in other countries, related to goods re-exported to Argentina from the UK
Certificate must be presented in original, duplicate, triplicate or photocopy
On the reverse of this certificate, the british exporter to Argentina must declare the following, in the form of an affidavit, as follow:
Contact details of exporter in UK
Contact details of importer in Argentina
Date and number of invoice by which the british exporter to Argentina bought the goods from a supplier in the country of origin.
Amount of goods detailed in the certificate that are being re-exported to Argentina
The affidavit must be signed by a representative of the company and his/her signature must be certified by the local Chamber of Commerce.
When goods are being re-exported from the UK, Argentine Customs requires the Certificate of Origin to be provided with the invoice by which the exporter into Argentina purchased the goods from the country of origin. The invoice must be presented along the C/O at this Consulate General, in original or duplicate for its certification which is called "Visto and Registrado".
Payment of consular fee (please make cheques payable to Consulate General of the Argentine Republic and note that two fees are involved: legalisation of the C/O and stamp in the Invoice)
Self-addressed and stamped envelope (1st class, special delivery, etc., as you prefer)
Processing time is approximately 5 working days
c) Other commercial documents
What is the different between a Legalisation and a Visto and Registrado?
Certificates of Origin must be "legalised" and Invoices stamped with the "Visto y Registrado". However, these two procedures may also be applied to any other commercial documents (suchs as price lists, other certifications, etc.), taking into account the following differences in terms of requirements and legal effects in Argentina. It's the customer's responsability to find out which procedure is needed for the operation:
Legalisation (certifies signatures): - document must be presented in original - must have been legalised by the Chamber of Commerce in which the company operates. The signature of the Chamber's representative must be registered at the Consulate General – Payment, delivery and waiting time: see a) and b).
Visto y Registrado (does not consist of a signature's legalisation, it only states that the document has been presented on a certain date at the Consulate): - documents can be presented in original or copy – Payment, delivery and waiting time, same as in a) and b). - Please note that there's a different fee