CCPIT Commercial Certification Center organized an online training and coordination meeting on force majeure certificates. A total of 309 business leaders and key staff from 113 agencies from the national trade promotion system attended the meeting on February 20, among which 108 are authorized to issue commercial certificates and the other 5 non-authorized.

The meeting informed of the overall development of business operation concerning force majeure certificates of the entire system, identified the key direction and focus for the next stage of work, unified certification norms under different circumstances, and examined and explained the major and difficult issues encountered in the current work. The meeting also urged the staff of the whole system, especially those working at the frontline, to carefully protect themselves, strictly implement the prevention and control measures, and actively carry out their work on the basis of ensuring safety and health.

It was pointed out on the meeting that the work of issuing force majeure certificates was an important task for CCPIT as a national trade and investment promotion agency to assist enterprises to cope with impacts of the epidemic. In accordance with the unified deployment of the CCPIT headquarter, local authorized agencies responded quickly and positively despite of obstacles to serve enterprises to their need in time, fully demonstrating the cohesion and capacity of the commercial certification system of CCPIT. At present, with the joint efforts of local agencies, CCPIT’s work on force majeure certificates has been widely recognized by governments at all levels, vast number of enterprises and all sectors of society, and has also attracted extensive attention from relevant institutions both home and abroad.

It was stressed on the meeting that the national trade promotion system should stick to the norms and standards of issuing commercial certificates in a stringent manner for the next stage, considering it as the lifeline for the work on commercial certification of CCPIT. The system should ensure that each and every certificate could stand the test. Local agencies should fulfill strictly the requirement of the CCPIT headquarter concerning the work on force majeure certificates. While providing timely and convenient services on consultation and certification to enterprises, they were also required to actively guide enterprises to protect their legitimate rights and interests by invoking international commercial laws and regulations, so as to ensure the smooth and orderly conduct of work on force majeure certificates against the epidemic.

The working group of force majeure of CCPIT Commercial Certification Center specified on the norms and standards in detail during the meeting and made requests on six aspects, which were "to strictly guarantee the effectiveness of the certificate, to specify the subject and scope to which the certificate applies,  to clarify requirements for supporting materials, to promote the standard use of online system, to ensure the testimony is truthful and objective, and to keep smooth the channels for contact and consultation" .

Representatives from local authorized agencies, such as CCPIT municipal sub-council in Wuhan, Shenzhen, Ningbo, and CCPIT provincial sub-council in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, shared their experience and outcome in conducting work on force majeure certificates at the local level.