Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued Instruction No. 24/2025-Customs regarding the acceptance of electronic Certificates of Origin (e-CoO) issued under the India–Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA). Effective from 1st June 2025, the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA), Customs Department, has commenced issuing e-CoOs, which are now valid for claiming preferential tariff treatment under the agreement. The e-CoO must be in the prescribed format, carry authorized seals and signatures, and comply with the conditions outlined in Notification No. 38/2021-Customs (N.T.) dated 31.03.2021.
Verification of authenticity can be done using pre-circulated specimen seals and signatures, QR code on the e-CoO, or through the Mauritius Revenue Authority’s online portal. Any doubts in verification should be referred to the FTA Cell under the Directorate of International Customs. Importers or their Customs Brokers are required to upload the e-CoO on the e-Sanchit platform and ensure accurate entry of details like reference number, date, and origin criteria when filing the bill of entry.
For defacement, a printed copy of the e-CoO must be submitted to the Customs officer, who will verify the details with the bill of entry. This replaces the traditional method of defacing a hard copy certificate. The ICES system already includes a check to prevent reuse of the same CoO reference number across multiple bills of entry. Customs offices are directed to implement this updated procedure effectively.
F. No. 15020/2/2017-0/o Dir(ICD)-CBEC-Part-I
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
International Customs Division
Room No. 227 A, North Block, New Delhi
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Instruction No. 24/2025-Customs Dated the 22nd July, 2025
To
All Principal Chief Commissioners / Chief Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Preventive) / Customs and Central Tax
All Principal Commissioners / Commissioner of Customs / Customs (Preventive)
All Principal Directors General / Directors General under CBIC
Madam / Sir,
Subject: Acceptance of electronic Certificate of Origin (e-CoO) issued under India-Mauritius CECPA – regarding.
It is informed that, with effect from 1st June 2025, the Issuing Authority of Mauritius i.e. MRA, Customs Department has started issuing electronic Certificates of Origin (e-Co0s) under the India—Mauritius CECPA. An electronic Certificate of Origin (e-CoO), issued electronically by the Issuing Authority of Mauritius, is a valid document for the purpose of claiming preferential tariff treatment under India—Mauritius CECPA, provided that the e-Co0 has been issued in the prescribed format, bears seal and signatures of the authorized signatory of the Issuing Authority, and fulfills all other requirements stated in Notification No. 38/2021-Customs (N.T.) dated 31.03.2021.
2. The specimen seals and signatures, circulated in advance, shall continue to be used to verify the genuineness/authenticity of e-CoO. Additionally, as informed by Mauritius Revenue Authority, the integrity of e-CoO may be further verified using the QR code on the e-Co0 or use of online verification portal (https://www.mra.mu/index.php/eservicesl/customs). In case of any doubt, the matter shall be referred to the FTA Cell (under the Directorate of International Customs) for initiating the verification process with the Issuing Authority of the exporting party.
3. The e-CoO shall be mandatorily uploaded on e-Sanchit by the importer/Customs Broker for availing preferential tariff treatment, and the e-Co0 particulars such as unique reference number and date, originating criteria etc. shall be carefully entered while filing the bill of entry.
4. For defacement purposes, a printed copy of e-CoO shall be presented to the Customs officer, who shall cross-check the unique reference number and other particulars entered in the bill of entry with the printed copy of e-CoO. This procedure will be in lieu of defacing the original hard copy of a certificate of origin. In this regard, it may be recalled that a check has already been introduced in the ICES to disallow use of same CoO reference number in more than one bill of entry.
5. Customs formations may take note of the above and ensure proper implementation of the procedure for acceptance of e-Co0 under the India—Mauritius CECPA.
Yours sincerely.
(Rashmi Shakrawal)
OSD (ICD)
