Taiwan Rep / Notes

A Taiwan certificate of origin says "Taiwan". What does that prove about your bolts?

A Taiwan certificate of origin shows that an authorized Taiwan issuing body certified the goods as Taiwan origin under Taiwan's own rules. For a bolt formed in Taiwan from imported wire rod, those rules will usually say Taiwan. On their own they don't establish where the steel was melted and poured, which plant made the parts, or how the EU will decide origin. Here's what the rules say and what to ask for alongside the certificate.

Updated October 11, 2026. Rules quoted from Taiwan's Regulations Governing Issuance of Certificates of Origin and Certificates of Processing as amended December 25, 2024, and the Foreign Trade Act.

When duties depend on where goods come from, a certificate of origin starts to feel like the document that settles it. For fasteners bought from Taiwan that matters twice: EU anti-dumping duty applies to specified non-stainless steel fasteners originating in China, as our EU note explains, and US Section 232 entries ask a separate question: where the steel was first melted and poured. But a certificate is only as strong as the rule behind it. This note covers what Taiwan's rule actually tests, who signs the certificate and when, what it proves for a typical bolt, and what it leaves open.

Taiwan's origin test

The rules are in the Regulations Governing Issuance of Certificates of Origin and Certificates of Processing (原產地證明書及加工證明書管理辦法), issued under the Foreign Trade Act. Article 3 says exported goods are of Taiwan origin if they were wholly obtained in Taiwan, or, where more than one country took part, if the final substantial transformation took place in Taiwan.

Article 5 defines substantial transformation as either of these, unless the International Trade Administration sets a different rule to meet an importing country's requirements, for a type of product or for a particular region:

• the product's first six digits of Taiwan's import tariff code are different from those of the materials it was made from; or
• the code doesn't change, but the value added is more than 35%, or the product has gone through an "important process" the International Trade Administration has announced for that product.

Value added is calculated as (FOB export price − CIF price of directly and indirectly imported materials and parts) ÷ FOB export price. Locally bought materials count as Taiwan input only if they weren't themselves imported.

The same article says that goods that have been through only the following operations are not substantially transformed: preservation during transport or storage; sorting, grading, repacking, packaging, marking or relabeling for sale or shipment; combining or mixing that doesn't make a significant difference to the product's characteristics; simple cutting, joining or assembly; and testing, simple drying, diluting or concentrating that doesn't change the goods' nature.

What that means for a bolt

Take three hypothetical shipments of hex bolts exported from Taiwan.

• Headed and threaded in Taiwan from imported wire rod. For non-stainless steel, the rod is classified in heading 7213 (iron or non-alloy steel) or 7227 (other alloy steel), and drawn wire in 7217 or 7229. The bolts are in 7318. The six-digit code changes, so under the general rule the bolts are Taiwan origin, wherever the rod came from, unless the Administration has set a different rule for that product or destination.
• Finished bolts imported, then only sorted and repacked in Taiwan. Sorting and repacking alone don't confer Taiwan origin.
• Finished bolts imported, then plated in Taiwan. Plating doesn't change the six-digit code. They would need another Article 5 route, in practice value added above 35% of the export price, unless the Administration has announced a process or special rule for the product. The exporter would have to back that up.

The first case leads straight to the limit discussed below: the bolt's country of origin and the steel's country of melt and pour can be different.

Who issues it, and when

Under Article 20-2 of the Foreign Trade Act, the International Trade Administration (國際貿易署) may issue certificates of origin itself and may entrust other bodies to do it. Industry and commercial associations may also issue them, subject to the Regulations. The Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei (台北市進出口商業同業公會), for example, runs a certificate office. Applications go through the Administration's online system (Article 12).

A few rules shape what you receive:

• The applicant is the exporter on the export declaration, unless the Administration approves otherwise (Article 11). If the certificate's exporter field names a third party other than the applicant or the buyer on the export declaration, the applicant has to file documents showing the transaction with that party, or get special approval.
• It normally comes after the goods clear export customs (Article 16), and the application is due within 180 days of release; later than that needs special approval (Article 23). It can be issued before release only in listed cases, for example when the importing country requires it for clearance, when it has to travel with the goods, or when transit takes three days or less. The applicant then has to close the file with the export declaration details within 180 days of issue or another period the Administration announces (Article 21).
• It can't be altered. A certificate with alterations is void (Article 25), and it takes effect only with the issuing office's seal and the signer's signature (Article 15).
• The fee is NT$250 per issue, plus NT$50 for each sheet beyond three originals and six copies (Article 29).

The Administration can also ask the applicant for documents showing where the goods came from, and the applicant has to keep them for five years from issue (Article 28). Under the Foreign Trade Act, false origin marking and using false documents to obtain trade certificates are prohibited (Article 17), with fines of NT$60,000 to NT$3 million or suspension of exporting for one month to a year (Article 28).

What the certificate doesn't prove

So far, the certificate looks solid. A valid one tells you that an authorized body certified the goods as Taiwan origin under the rules above, on the exporter's application. It leaves three questions open.

1. Where the steel was melted. Because wire rod to bolt changes the tariff code, a certificate can correctly say "Taiwan" for bolts made from rod melted in another country. The general certificate form has no field for the melt country, and the certificate isn't evidence of it. For US Section 232 entries you report the country of melt and pour separately, and the evidence for that is the steel mill's certificate, as our Section 232 note explains.
2. Which plant made the parts. The applicant is the exporter, which can be a trading company. The general form has no manufacturing plant field, and even where a maker is mentioned, the certificate doesn't verify where your lot was made. Our registry note shows how to check what plants a supplier has registered.
3. How the importing country will decide. The EU applies its own non-preferential rule: goods made in more than one country originate where they underwent their last substantial, economically justified processing or working, in an undertaking equipped for that purpose, resulting in a new product or an important stage of manufacture (Union Customs Code, Article 60). Customs can ask the declarant to prove the declared origin, and, where proof has been provided but reasonable doubt remains, ask for more evidence (Article 61). A Taiwan certificate is evidence, not a ruling that binds EU customs.

What to ask for alongside it

If origin matters to your duty, collect the papers that let you show the transformation, not just the certificate that asserts it:

• the certificate of origin, with an explanation of any difference between its exporter field, the export declaration and your invoice;
• the manufacturer's factory registration, matching the plant that made your lot (small plants below the thresholds may not have one);
• the wire rod purchase invoice and the steel mill's certificate, showing the heat number and the country where the steel was melted and poured;
• the production or lot record linking that heat to your parts and cartons;
• if anything was outsourced (heat treatment, plating), which company did it and where.

To confirm that a certificate you've been sent is genuine, ask the issuing office named on it. The general certificate form published by the Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei also names the Administration's online certificate system, cocp.trade.gov.tw, as its verification website.

Much of that list overlaps with the set the Section 232 note asks for, which is convenient. One set of papers from the plant can support a US melt-and-pour declaration and an origin claim under EU rules at once. The certificate of origin then does what it's good at: it records an issuing body's certification of Taiwan origin under Taiwan's rules. The rest of the set supports that certification.

This is a plain-English summary for buyers, not legal or customs advice. Preferential certificates under trade agreements follow their own rules, which can differ from those described here (Article 30 of the Regulations).

Sources

• Regulations Governing Issuance of Certificates of Origin and Certificates of Processing (原產地證明書及加工證明書管理辦法), Articles 3, 5, 11, 12, 15, 16, 21, 23, 25, 28, 29 and 30, amended December 25, 2024
• Foreign Trade Act (貿易法), Articles 17, 20-2 and 28
• Certificate of origin office, Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei
• General certificate of origin form (Issued in Taiwan), Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei
• Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, Union Customs Code, Articles 60 and 61
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/191, anti-dumping duty on certain iron or steel fasteners originating in China