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Certificates

What certificates are

The import of some goods is conditional. It is only allowed if certain conditions are met.

The certificates tables in TARIC-based applications store all of the conditions that are referenced via measure conditions in order to make the import (or export) of a good conditional on the provision of some entity.

These entities may be a physical or digital copy of:

  • an official certificate
  • a licence
  • a declaration
  • an exemption

Some conditions may ask for a ‘non-paper condition’. This means a condition must be met, but the condition is not related to an accompanying document.

‘Non-paper conditions’ are rare. They are usually linked to measures using the measure condition code ‘Y’.

The following example shows the import control conditions for the commodity code 0101210000.

Import conditions - CITES - commodity code 0101210000

Read more about measure conditions.

The sole purpose of certificates in this system is to associate them to measures via measure conditions – on their own, they no value and are not exposed to traders via any other means.

How certificates are structured

Like footnotes and additional codes, certificates consist of the following: a type code a specific certificate code When joined together these form the unique code of the certificate.

For example, the footnote C656 is made up of type code C and a specific certificate code 656.

Within the tariff data structure, the ‘certificates’ record lists the specific certificate code, the certificate type id (for joining to the relevant certificate type record), and the validity start and end dates.

The ‘certificate_types’ record lists the type code, type description and the validity start and end dates.

The ‘certificate_descriptions’ record lists the certificate description id (for joining to the relevant certificate record), the id of the associated certificate and the description itself. Read more about descriptions and how they are structured.

Entity-Relationship Diagram for Certificates

Database Certificates Certificates Certificate Id int pk Certificate Type Id int Validity Start Date date not null Validity End Date date null Certifcate Types Certifcate Types Certificate Type Id int pk Description varchar(255) not null Validity Start Date date not null Validity End Date [null] Certificates:e->Certifcate Types:w Certificate Descriptions Certificate Descriptions Certificate Description Id int pk Described Certificate Id int Description varchar(255) not null Validity Start Date date not null Certificate Descriptions:e->Certificates:w

Type codes

Type codes are always one uppercase letter or number in length.

Historically, the alphabetical certificate type codes were used for EU-wide certificates. The numeric certificate type codes were used for national measures.

Specific certificate codes

Certificate codes must be 3 digits in length.

Certificate codes use numeric IDs from 001 to 999. These can be re-used with many type codes.

Certificate type codes

CodeDescriptionUsage count
9National Document102
ACertificate of authenticity27
COther certificates211
DAnti-dumping/countervailing document21
EExport certificate/licence/document from country of origin19
HHANDI, LOOMS certificate2
ISurveillance certificate/licence/ document issued by one of the Member States5
KTariff quota18
LImport certificate/licence/document124
NUN/EDIFACT certificates47
PIngredients7
RExport refunds3
TT-Document1
UProofs of origin112
XExport licence7
YParticular provisions225
ZMore certificates54
Last updated 18 Apr 2024
See the SQL query that generated this table

This table was automatically generated from the open SQLite database providing the UK Tariff.

The following query was used to generate the table:

SELECT certificate_types.sid AS "Code",
       certificate_types.description AS "Description",
       COUNT(version_group_id) AS "Usage count"
FROM certificates
    INNER JOIN common_tracked_models ON certificates.trackedmodel_ptr_id = common_tracked_models.id
    INNER JOIN certificate_types ON certificates.certificate_type_id = certificate_types.trackedmodel_ptr_id
GROUP BY certificate_types.sid, description
ORDER BY certificate_types.sid

Two of the most used code types are C (other certificates) and Y (particular provisions).

Source of data

Certificates are set by UK government trade policy, as are certificate types. Most certificates and certificate types were set by the EU and have remained in place following the UK’s departure. Certificate types are typically unchanging (all the current types were established in 1970). New certificates are relatively often introduced, typically between 10-30 a year, with existing certificates coming to an end at a slightly slower rate. Certificate descriptions may also change over time, most commonly being updated to reflect minor changes in policy or wording (with a date from which the new description is in effect), and on occasion new versions of descriptions may be issued to correct errors.

Validation rules

Below are the validation rules that apply to certificates.

Certificates

Code Description
CE2 Uniqueness rule for fields certificate_type and code.
CE4 Validity contained rule requiring certificate validity to contain measure validity via associated measure conditions.
CE5 Deletion while in use rule for references from a measure condition.
CE6 Mandatory subrecord rule for certificate descriptions.
CE7 Validity contained rule requiring certificate type validity to contain certificate validity.

Certificate types

Code Description
CET1 Uniqueness rule for field certificate_type.
CET2 Deletion while in use rule for references from a certificate.