On the basis of Information Note No. 1 contained in document TAXUD/2109264/20 of 31.03.2020, the Commission recommended that customs authorities of MS accept certificates of movement of goods for preferential origin purposes issued by electronic means with a digital signature or stamp of the competent authorities, or a copy in paper or electronic format, given the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This flexibility ended on May 1, 2024, and from that moment on, certificates of origin issued electronically by third countries are no longer accepted.
However, within the framework of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention, the revision of which will enter into force in January 2025, and on the basis of Recommendation No. 1/2023 of the Joint Committee of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Regional Convention on Preferential Rules of Origin of 7 December 2023 on the use of certificates of movement of goods issued by electronic means, the Contracting Parties to the Convention recommend the acceptance of certificates of movement of goods issued by electronic means under the Convention when presented at the time of import and on the basis of the flexibility provided for in Article 24 of Appendix I to the Convention, provided that the following conditions are met:

• Certificates of movement of goods issued by electronic means have a format similar to the models described in Annexes III a and III b of Appendix I of the Convention
• the customs authorities of the exporting Contracting Party have a secure internet-based system for checking the authenticity of certificates of movement of goods issued by electronic means when the printing instructions described in Annexes III a and III b are not met (for example, absence of green embossed background print, wet ink stamp, handwritten signature)
• Certificates of circulation of goods issued by electronic means must have a unique serial number and, if available, security elements that allow their identification.
• the date from which a Contracting Party starts issuing electronic movement certificates is specified in notices published in the Official Journal of the European Union (cumulation matrix published periodically in OJEU series C) and in accordance with the Contracting Parties' own procedures.

In this way, as of May 1, 2024, code 9020 can be declared in box 44 of the DUA of importation only when the proof of preferential origin presented has been issued by electronic means by customs authorities, for the moment, of Morocco, Turkey, Israel and Norway.