Origin of goods is another factor which impacts on the customs duty payable in the country of importation:
- Many agreements (e.g. FTAs) between the EU and other countries offering a favourable duty rate on imports.
- Duty-free trade between partner countries is possible
- FTAs have complex systems of determining preferential origin (rules of origin)
- Failure to comply with these rules of origin on the exporting side could lead to costly problems on the importing side – leading to reputational issues for exporters
- “Non-preferential origin” is often ignored to the detriment of exporters – rules to establish origin for purposes unrelated to preferential duty rates e.g. anti-dumping.
- The EU and US have made extensive use of such measures for retaliatory purposes or domestic manufacturers are becoming more aggressive
- Exporters should be familiar with potential problems in the importing country & have risk management strategies in place.
- Importers may ask for EU-wide binding rulings on the origin of their products
For further information please contact us.