Origin
The origin of goods means in which county the goods were mainly manufactured. It is important to separate the two different types of origin:
- Origin of the goods based on which customs preferential treatment i.e. reduced duty rates are granted for the goods. Read more about preferential treatment based on origin.
- Origin of the goods without preferential treatment. This is called a general origin of goods. Read more about the general origin of goods on this page.
General origin of goods
When the origin of the goods does not involve granting preferential treatment, the general rules of origin are used for determining the origin. These situations include the following
- application of general duty levels on import
- management of quantitative restrictions of import
- anti-dumping measures
- customs statistics and other commercial reasons
The country of origin of the goods is mandatory information in import declarations.
According to the general rules of origin, goods wholly produced or manufactured in a single country are regarded as having their origin in that country. Goods the production of which involves more than one country are deemed to originate in the country where they underwent their last, substantial processing or working. The general rules of origin of the Union may differ from the corresponding rules of other countries. Therefore, the same product may acquire different origins depending on which country’s rules of origin are applied. Upon import, the country of origin of a product is usually determined based on the rules of the country of import.
Indicating non-preferential origin
Importers are required to have proof of the country of origin of their products. Proof of the non-preferential origin of goods can be presented e.g. with manufacturing and processing documentation, certificates on materials, production descriptions, and other commercial documents.
Non-preferential certificates of origin are usually granted by chambers of commerce of different countries. Preferential treatment, i.e. a reduced duty rate, is never granted based on a non-preferential certificate of origin unless there are separate provisions on it concerning certain special products. Note that solely a non-preferential certificate of origin does not constitute sufficient proof of non-preferential origin.