Check Your Product Line
Concessions apply by tariff line, not across the board. Your HS code decides whether you benefit.
Confirm The Supplier Can Issue It
Not every supplier can produce a valid certificate of origin. Ask before you order.
Get The Correct Form
It has to be the right certificate, issued in China, matching your shipment.
File It With The Declaration
The certificate has to be presented at clearance. There is no retrospective fix.
What The Agreement Does
Pakistan and China have a free trade agreement that reduces or removes customs duty on a large number of product lines traded between them. A later phase widened the coverage considerably.
For an importer buying from China, that is a genuine cost advantage over sourcing the same goods from a country with no such agreement. It is one of the practical reasons Chinese goods land competitively in Pakistan even before you get to factory pricing.
What it does not do is remove your other obligations. Sales tax and the other import charges still apply. The concession is on the customs duty.
It Applies By Tariff Line
The agreement is not a blanket discount. It works line by line through the tariff schedule. Some products get a zero rate, some get a reduced rate, and some get nothing at all.
This is another reason your HS code is the most important number in the process. Two similar products can sit in different lines with different treatment. Before you assume a preferential rate in your costings, confirm that your specific code is covered.
The Certificate Of Origin Is The Whole Thing
The concession depends on proving the goods actually originated in China. That proof is the certificate of origin, issued in China, in the correct form for the agreement.
Three things go wrong. The supplier cannot issue one, which you find out too late. The certificate is issued but the details do not match the shipment, so customs rejects it. Or nobody asks for it at all and the goods clear at the standard rate.
There is no going back and claiming it afterwards. If the certificate is not presented at clearance, you pay the standard rate and that is the end of it. Ask for it when you place the order, and check it against your invoice and packing list before the goods sail.
What Origin Actually Means
Origin is not the same as the address on the invoice. Goods have to meet the agreement's origin rules to qualify, which broadly means they were produced in China rather than simply shipped from there.
This matters if your supplier is a trading company rather than a factory, or if the goods were assembled from components made elsewhere. A trading company can often still arrange a certificate, but it is worth understanding who is actually manufacturing your product.
It is one more reason to know which factory is making your order rather than only knowing who is selling it to you.
How To Use It Properly
Treat the certificate as a required document, at the same level as the invoice and the bill of lading. Put it in your purchase agreement. Make it a condition of payment if you can.
Have your clearing agent check it before the goods arrive, alongside the rest of the paperwork. A certificate with a wrong description or a mismatched quantity is the same as no certificate at the moment it counts.
Done properly, it is a straightforward saving on every shipment. Done carelessly, it is a saving you keep meaning to claim and never actually get.
Made In China, Documented In China
Free Trade Agreement Questions
What is the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement?
A trade agreement between the two countries that reduces or removes customs duty on a large number of product lines. A later phase expanded the coverage significantly.
Do all goods from China qualify for a lower duty?
No. Concessions apply line by line through the tariff schedule. Some codes get zero duty, some get a reduced rate, and some get no concession at all.
What is the certificate of origin and why does it matter?
It is the document issued in China that proves the goods originated there. Without a valid certificate presented at clearance, you pay the standard rate. There is no way to claim the concession retrospectively.
Can a trading company issue a certificate of origin?
Often yes, but the goods still have to meet the agreement's origin rules. It is worth knowing which factory actually manufactures your product, not just who invoices you.
Does the FTA remove sales tax too?
No. The concession applies to customs duty. The other import charges, including sales tax and withholding tax, still apply on top.
Related Pages
We Handle Origin Documentation
Buying through us means the certificate of origin and the rest of the paperwork are handled by people who do it every week.