Verification is a process carried out in the importing country to confirm the originating status of goods which have already been imported. In this process, verifying the certificate of origin submitted to customs authorities is an important step. The customs officer may need to check the authenticity of the certificate at hand by comparing the reference number thereof and examining the signature and stamp on it surface. He also needs to check to make sure all the fields in the certificate have been duly filled and the information in the certificate is consistent with that in other trade documents (e.g., commercial invoice, bill of lading). Where the certificate of origin is found to contain some errors, the certificate may be rejected; however, minor and formal errors is usually not the basis for an automatic rejection of the validity of a certificate.