A SOFTWARE-BASED SYSTEM FOR SUPPLIER COMMUNICATION AND USMCA CERTIFICATE REQUEST AND CORRECTION PROCESS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has created extensive
documentation obligations necessary to establish qualification for preferential tariffs for trade within North America. Despite their criticality, many
organizations continue to utilize manual, email-based processes to manage their USMCA Certificates of Origin (COOs). This creates many challenges including
errors, delays, vulnerability of being audited, and failures to meet compliance. The goal of this study was to evaluate an organization’s current manual process
for managing USMCA certificates within a Global Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) Company (XYZ) and to analyze twelve actual examples that represent various forms of manufacturing, including automotive, retail,
aerospace, textile, and food. The descriptive research design used a combination of first-hand observation and secondary data to identify systemic inefficiencies
within XYZ’s USMCA certificate management systems; to propose an around-theclock, software-supported workflow for effective management of certificates; and
ultimately to achieve significant improvement in operational performance through application solutions. The research results indicate that automated,
centralized repositories for managing certificates, supplier portals for inputting
information directly into the system, and contemporaneous real time tracking of
compliance all provide significant reductions in errors, improve readiness for an
audit; and generate a quantifiable savings from duties. This study provides safety,
significant recommendations for logistics companies that want to update their
trade documentation to comply with recent requirements.