General

In today's era, the degree of economic interdependence between countries is increasing day by day. Improving the efficiency of international trade import and export customs clearance, reducing obstacles to cross-border movement of personnel, goods, and documents, and promoting the rapid development of foreign trade are the common goals pursued by all countries. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China's economic strength has achieved a historic leap and has long remained the world's second largest economy and the world's largest trading country in goods. With closer exchanges and deeper integration of interests between China and other countries, the demand for cross-border circulation of documents has also significantly increased. Promoting the establishment of a new model of cross-border circulation of documents that is in line with China's status as an economic powerhouse and serving the development of foreign trade has always been a key task for the consular certification authority - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - to promote.

After years of unremitting efforts, on March 8, 2023, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the Convention on the Cancellation of Certification Requirements for Foreign Official Documents (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention"), marking China's official accession to the Convention. This is an important measure for China to expand institutional openness in the field of foreign-related document circulation, which has positive significance for promoting personnel and international trade and economic exchanges between China and foreign countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking this opportunity to accelerate the establishment of a more secure, convenient, and efficient system of consular documents related to foreign affairs.

1、 Introduction to the Convention on the Cancellation of the Certification Requirements for Foreign Official Documents

The Convention on the Cancellation of Certification Requirements for Foreign Official Documents is an 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, aiming at simplifying the procedures for the circulation of transnational official documents. In October 1961, the Hague Conference on Private International Law adopted the draft Convention at its ninth session, and the Convention officially entered into force in 1965. In recent years, the number of new members of the Convention has increased rapidly, reaching 124 at present, accounting for about three fifths of the total number of countries and regions in the world, including China's major trade partners such as EU countries, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Australia, Russia, and most of the countries participating in the the Belt and Road Initiative.

The core content of the Convention can be summarized as "merging into one", which means that the two consular verifications (commonly known as "double verifications") before the exit of the combined document are a one-step proof based on an additional certificate (Apostille). Specifically, it includes two aspects:

One is to cancel the consular authentication process between contracting states. Before joining the Convention, official documents are sent abroad for use and usually require consular authentication. Consular authentication is the activity of a consular authentication agency to confirm the authenticity of the last seal or signature on domestic and foreign notarized documents, other proof documents, or foreign related official documents based on the application of natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations. For notarized certificates or other supporting documents issued by mainland China that need to be sent abroad for use, consular authentication from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China or its authorized local people's government foreign affairs office should be processed first, and then consular authentication from the embassy or consulate of the country where the documents are to be used. Correspondingly, for documents issued abroad and intended to be sent to mainland China for use, notarization and authentication must be processed locally before consular authentication can be processed at Chinese embassies and consulates abroad. After joining the Convention, it is no longer necessary for China to handle consular authentication with other contracting countries. The "dual authentication" will be simplified to a one-step proof procedure using additional certificates, which will greatly reduce the time and economic costs of cross-border circulation of official documents. It should be noted that traditional consular authentication procedures are still used between China and non contracting parties to the Convention.

The second is to replace traditional consular authentication with additional certificates to verify the authenticity of seals and signatures on documents. An additional certificate is a verification certificate issued by the "competent authority" designated by the issuing country for the official document, which has a fixed format required by the Convention. Its content generally includes 1. the issuing country of the document, 2. the signatory, 3. the identity of the signatory, 4. the name of the seal (the first four items are relevant information of the document), 5. the issuing place, 6. the issuing date, 7. the issuer, 8. the additional certificate number, 9. the seal of the issuing authority 10. Signature (the last 6 items are proof information) and other 10 elements. To facilitate the use of official documents abroad, additional certificates are generally used in two or three languages, including English, French, and the domestic language, to increase their acceptance. After attaching an additional certificate to the official document, it can be directly sent to the contracting countries of the Convention for use, without the need for traditional consular authentication. Each additional certificate has a publicly registered number, which can be verified through verification channels provided by the country where the document is issued.

The additional certificate has the same effect as the consular authentication certificate. Like the traditional consular authentication, the additional certificate only proves the authenticity of the last seal and signature on the official document, and is not responsible for the authenticity and legitimacy of the contents of the official document itself. The authenticity of the content of the official document still follows the principle of "whoever issues it is responsible". The recognition and effectiveness of official documents with additional certificates shall be determined by the law of the place where the documents are used.

2、 Entering the Treaty Brings Three Major Dividends to China's Foreign Trade

One is to save enterprise certification time and economic costs. After entering the contract, the procedures required for enterprise documents to be "shipped" are more convenient. Commercial documents can be used in all contracting countries of the Convention with one additional certificate, without the need for separate consular authentication from relevant embassies and consulates in China. The processing time for the certificate can be shortened from about 20 working days for traditional consular authentication to a few working days, and the average time for processing document circulation procedures between contracting countries is reduced by about 90%. After the simplification of the certification process, the fee items have also been correspondingly reduced. It is estimated that after joining the contract, it can save more than 300 million yuan in certification fees for Chinese and foreign personnel and enterprises each year. At the same time, canceling consular authentication at consulates can also avoid individual countries charging high consular authentication fees for certain commercial documents, significantly reducing the cost of foreign trade for enterprises.

The second is to reduce business risks. Enterprises participating in foreign economic and trade activities may sometimes encounter situations where they urgently provide written materials in response to anti-dumping and other foreign-related cases. If the embassy or consulate of the user country in China fails to handle the consular authentication of relevant documents in a timely manner, resulting in the submission of documents exceeding the response time limit, it may cause huge economic losses to the enterprise. After entering the contract, this situation may be avoided, and Chinese enterprises will respond more calmly overseas.

The third is to improve the business environment in China. Most of the contracting parties to the Convention maintain close trade relations with China. In 2021, among China's top ten trading partners, 8 countries or regions were members of the Convention, and their international trade exports accounted for nearly 50% of China's total international trade exports that year. Adding other members of the Convention means that after accession, a total of over 82% of international trade exports will be exempt from consular authentication for commercial documents. At the same time, foreign enterprises interested in investing or exporting to China do not need to apply for consular authentication for commercial documents.

3、 Ensure the timely entry into force and implementation of the Convention in China

Joining the Convention is a concrete manifestation of deepening the reform of "streamlining administration and serving the people" and continuously optimizing the business environment. It is also an important measure for diplomatic and consular work to benefit enterprises and the people. The Convention will enter into force and implement in China in early November 2023. At present, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is coordinating and promoting the revision of relevant domestic laws and regulations, the construction of an additional certificate issuance system and information verification mechanism, publicity and training, and other related work to ensure the smooth and timely implementation of the Convention in China, so that our enterprises and citizens can enjoy the benefits brought by this cross national document circulation facilitation arrangement in a timely manner. In the near future, Chinese citizens will experience more convenient and efficient cross-border document circulation services brought about by China's accession to the Treaty, and Chinese enterprises will also take advantage of the East Wind of China's accession to the Treaty and accelerate their foreign trade.