On November 7, the "Convention Abolition of the Requirements for Authentication of Foreign Public documents" (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention") came into effect in our country.The Municipal Council for the Promotion of International Trade attaches great importance to it and actively organizes and studies the policies related to the certification of Hague Additional Certificates, compiles and publishes service guidelines, makes good business connections, and guides enterprises to prepare for the transition between old and new business models.Recently, our association has handled 7 Hague Additional Certificate certifications for four companies: Shandong Yongfeng Tire Co., Ltd., Shandong Longcott Enzyme Preparation Co., Ltd., Junan County Dupont Cereals, Oils and Food Co., Ltd., and Linyi Xuer International Trade Co., Ltd. The countries involved include Turkey, Mexico, and Argentina, and the types of documents include sales contracts, exporter registration forms, phytosanitary certificates, and authorization letters, which greatly saves enterprises the time and economic cost of applying for certificates.
Currently, there are 125 parties to the Convention. It is the international treaty with the widest scope of application and the largest number of contracting parties under the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It aims to simplify the procedures for the cross-border circulation of public documents.China Council for the Promotion of International Trade commercial certificates and certificates of origin have been included in the scope of documents recognized by additional certificates.Its core content can be summarized as "cancellation" and "attachment"."Cancellation" refers to the mutual cancellation of consular authentication procedures by embassies and consulates between contracting states."Additional" refers to using an "additional certificate" issued by the competent authority of the document-issuing country instead of consular authentication to verify the authenticity of the seal and signature on the document.Data shows that the new model can shorten the time required for traditional consular authentication from more than 20 working days to a few working days. The time for document transfer procedures between contracting countries is reduced by about 90% on average, and the cost of the whole process is reduced by about 70% on average.At the same time, consular legalization of documents from countries that are not parties to the Convention will not be affected and can be applied for normally.In the next step, the Municipal Council for the Promotion of International Trade will continue to optimize business processes and increase business publicity in accordance with relevant legal provisions and international trade practices and the requirements of the Convention, so that the city’s foreign trade enterprises can promptly enjoy the significant benefits brought by the efficient cross-border circulation of additional certificates. It is beneficial to help enterprises develop international markets with high efficiency and low cost, and further serve the city's open economic development.
