In this issue, SITPRO’s Helpdesk Manager, Aileen Prendergast, explains the use of apostilles.
Q. Our customer in Turkey has asked us to provide a distributor certificate which must be notarised and accompanied by an apostille. What is an apostille?
A. An apostille is a certificate confirming that the notary’s signature and seal on the document are authentic. In the UK apostilles are issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) legalisation office, www.fco.gov.uk (Link to an external site - Disclaimer 
).
In the first instance you need to take the document to a public notary who will witness the signature and authenticate it by adding their signature and seal. The document then needs to go to the FCO for the apostille. The FCO maintains a register of signatures of people such as notaries, solicitors and officials against which documents are checked. A fee is charged for this service and that of the notary. Some notaries will send the document to the FCO on your behalf but otherwise you will need to post it or take it to the public counter at the FCO legalisation office in London.
If you need help with a trade procedures query, call Aileen at the SITPRO Helpdesk on
020 7215 8150 or email aileen.prendergast@sitpro.org.uk 
.
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 55, Winter 2005/2006