¹[21. Presentations of the Certificate of Origin.- (1) For the purposes of claiming preferential tariff treatment, the importer or its authorised representative shall submit to the Customs Administration of the importing Party, at the time of filing import declaration, an original copy of the Certificate of Origin including supporting documents as required, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the importing Party.

(2) If a claim for preferential treatment is made without producing the original copy of the Certificate of Origin as referred to in rule 15, the Customs Administration of the importing Party may deny preferential treatment and request a guarantee in any of its modalities or may take any action necessary in order to preserve fiscal interests, as a pre-condition for the completion of the importation operations subject to and in accordance with the laws andprocedures of the importing Party.

(3) Each Party shall, in accordance with its laws, provide that where a product would have qualified as an originating product when it was imported into the territory of that Party, the importer of the product may, within a period specified by the laws of the importing Party, apply for a refund of any excess duties paid as a result of the product not having been accorded preferential treatment.]

Notes:

1. Inserted by the Notification No. 39/2022-Customs (N.T.) dated 30.04.2022.