Exporter information needed to fill out CAROTAR Form I
Form I is an origin information form that an Indian importer must hold when claiming the preferential rate under the Korea-India CEPA. Most fields ask about the production process and the origin of materials, so they are filled with the Korean exporter's information.
The Korean exporter organizes the production process, the origin criterion, the list of originating materials, and the HS numbers of non-originating materials, consistent with the origin explanatory statement submitted when the certificate of origin was issued, and gives them to the importer.
Form I has no field for raw material unit prices or cost breakdowns, so do not hand them over to the buyer.
Form I is a form attached to India's Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR). The importer holds the information in Form I and keeps the related supporting documents for at least 5 years from the date of the import declaration, and submits them if an Indian customs officer requests (CAROTAR Rule 4). It is not a document submitted with every import declaration, and when requested it is submitted within 10 working days (Rule 5).
The 2025 amendment and the structure of Form I
On March 18, 2025, India replaced "certificate of origin" with "proof of origin" in CAROTAR by Notification No. 14/2025-Customs (N.T.).
In Form I, only the "CoO" in field g of Section III, Part B, item 2 changed to "proof of origin", and the other fields are the same as the 2020 form. The Korea-India CEPA provides only for certificates of origin issued by an authority, so the proof of origin for Korean goods is the certificate of origin issued by customs or the chamber of commerce.
Form I consists of 3 Sections.
- Section I (Guidance for filing up this Form): Explanations of terms and a flowchart for determining origin. There are no fields to fill in.
- Section II (To be filled after filing of Bill of Entry): The importer fills it in after the import declaration.
- Section III (This information should be possessed before import of goods): Origin information that must be held before import, divided into Part A and Part B.
Section II: fields the importer fills in
- (a) Name of the importer: The business name of the Indian importer.
- (b) Bill of Entry (B/E) No. and Date: The Indian import declaration number and declaration date.
- (c) Customs Station where B/E was filed: The customs office where the import declaration was filed.
- (d) Goods on which preferential rate of duty has been claimed: Enter the goods for which the preferential rate is claimed in the S.no., Description, and Classification (8 digit) fields. Classification is the 8-digit number in the Indian customs tariff.
The Korean exporter does not need to provide information for these fields, but should confirm with the importer that the product name and the 6-digit HS match the certificate of origin.
Section III, Part A: production process and origin criterion
Field 1 is "Briefly describe the production process undertaken in country of origin with respect to production of the imported good". Briefly describe the production process carried out in Korea and state which origin criterion was applied. The column names in the table are Description of goods, Production process, and Originating Criterion.
For Originating Criterion, enter the same criterion as Box 10 of the certificate of origin. If the general rule of the Korea-India CEPA was applied, enter "CTSH + RVC 35%"; if the product-specific rule was applied, enter that rule; for wholly obtained goods, enter "WO".
The Indian customs guide explains that the production process does not need to be written in technical detail, and it is enough to describe it briefly so that it shows by which process the criterion was met (assembly, press working, cutting, etc.).
Section III, Part B: originating materials and the criteria applied
Complete Part B separately for each good that is not wholly obtained. In table 1, for each originating material or component used in production (Description of the originating Materials or Component), answer Yes or No in the following 3 columns.
If no originating material was used, enter "None".
- Whether manufactured by producer of final good: whether the producer of the final good made the material itself
- Whether procured by producer locally from a third party: whether the producer bought it from another company in Korea
- In case procured from third party, did producer of final good seek conformation and documentary proof of origin of these component?: if it was bought from another company, whether the producer received a document confirming the origin of the material
Form I provides that a material whose origin cannot be confirmed is treated as a non-originating material. To enter a domestically purchased material as an originating material, you must obtain a Declaration of Origin or a domestic manufacturing confirmation from the supplier.
Item 2 has 8 questions, a through h, to answer Yes or No, with an explanation attached if the answer is Yes.
- a. Whether the de minimis rule was used: If it was, enter the material and its value ratio. Under the Korea-India CEPA, goods are treated as originating if non-originating materials that did not undergo a change in tariff classification are 10% or less of the FOB price and all other requirements are met.
- b. Whether accumulation/cumulation was applied: If originating materials from India were used, enter the method and scope.
- c. Whether another criterion was used, such as for indirect materials or packing materials: If so, enter the criterion and the materials. The Korea-India CEPA does not consider the origin of indirect materials.
- d. Whether it is a value-added criterion: In (i) percentage of local value content, enter the regional value content ratio, and in (ii) components which constitute value addition, enter the elements that make up the value addition (materials, profit, labor cost, overhead, etc.).
- e. Whether the change in tariff classification criterion was used: Enter the HS numbers of the non-originating materials and components used in production.
- f. Whether the process criterion was used: Enter the criterion applied.
- g. Whether the proof of origin was issued retroactively: If it was, enter the reason.
- h. Whether the goods were shipped directly from the country of origin: If they passed through a third country, enter how the direct consignment requirement of the agreement was verified.
Scope of information the exporter hands to the buyer
The information the exporter hands to the Indian importer is the production process and origin criterion in Part A; the list of originating materials and the Yes or No answers, the HS numbers of non-originating materials, the regional value content ratio and the names of its components, whether the certificate was issued retroactively and the reason, and the transport route in Part B. Match these values to the origin explanatory statement the exporter submitted when applying for the certificate of origin.
Form I has no field for raw material unit prices or cost breakdowns.
The Indian customs guide explains that CAROTAR does not require a cost breakdown, and that d(ii) needs only the names of the main elements that make up the value addition, not exact amounts. The same guide tells the importer to submit cost data if it has any, so cost data handed to the buyer may be submitted to Indian customs.
If Indian customs cannot decide from the information the importer provided alone, it requests origin verification from Korea. Under the Korea-India CEPA, this verification is carried out by the Korean customs authority, and the Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service or the head of a customs office may conduct a written investigation or an on-site investigation of the exporter and the producer (Agreement Article 4.11, Act on Special Cases of the Customs Act for the Implementation of Free Trade Agreements, Article 18).
For this reason, the exporter does not hand unit prices and cost data to the buyer, and submits them to Korean customs if India requests verification. If you keep exporting the same goods through the same process, the Form I information can be used as it is until the process changes.
Some Indian customs offices keep demanding a cost breakdown from the importer. In that case, the importer can respond by submitting the Indian customs guide stating that a cost breakdown is not required, and if the demand continues, the exporter can ask for help from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in India, the Korea Customs Service, or a customs office.
Source: Act on Special Cases of the Customs Act for the Implementation of Free Trade Agreements Article 18 (Origin Investigation at the Request of the Contracting Party), Enforcement Rule of the same Act, Article 15 (Form of Certificate of Origin under Agreements with Contracting Parties), India Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (Notification No. 81/2020-Customs (N.T.), G.S.R. 521(E), August 21, 2020) rule 4, rule 5, rule 6, Form I, the amendment to the same Rules, Notification No. 14/2025-Customs (N.T.) (G.S.R. 178(E), March 18, 2025), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) CAROTAR, 2020 guide (October 2020) 9.3, Q:2, Q:5, Q:6, Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of India Article 3.5 (Indirect Materials), Article 3.7 (Accumulation), Article 3.8 (De Minimis), Article 4.11 (Verification by the Competent Authority of the Exporting Party). Confirmed on October 16, 2026.