Before filling out the NAFTA Certificate of Origin, it is important to establish whether a particular product qualifies as being of NAFTA origin. Here are some recommended methods for doing so.

      It is advisable to use a licensed customs broker. For shipments of $2,000 or more, by law you must contract a licensed customs broker to aid in the shipment process.

      Before the product is exported from the United States, customs brokers gather all needed information to receive preferential tariff treatment. They place the Certificate of Origin and all other important documents together into a report titled the Export Manifesto. This report must be given to the exporter. When the goods are in transport, the Export Manifesto must then be given to Mexican Customs.

      It is important to verify that the Mexican importer is registered with the Importers Registry in Mexico. The registry is filed with the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, Hacienda.

      The exporter must know the inputs that make up a product. If the exporter’s products contain material not from a NAFTA country, the exporter must determine if those items are transformed in a NAFTA country and thus might be considered of NAFTA origin.

      Example: An orange grove farmer in Florida, who grows and sells his own oranges, knows that his goods are wholly produced in a NAFTA country. The seeds are from the...

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