Import guidance

What is origin and why is it important for international trade?

Customs origin is a way to determine where a product is from: where it was made. While this may sound simple, with complex supply chains determining where the product has actually been manufactured, it can be quite complex.

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What is origin?

Origin allows for various policy measures to be implemented and for duties to be calculated.

There are two types of origin, which are subject to different rules and are used for different purposes.

Non-preferential rules of origin

Non-preferential rules of origin are used to determine the country of origin of goods for the application of the most-favoured nation (MFN) treatment, but also for the implementation of a number of commercial policy measures such as anti-dumping and countervailing duties, trade embargoes, safeguard measures and quantitative restrictions or non-preferential tariff quotas.

They are also used for trade statistics, public tenders and origin marking.

The UK applies its own set of non-preferential rules of origin provisions. These have been based on the EU's rules, but they may be different from those of any other third country.

Preferential rules of origin

Preferential rules of origin, such as those in the used in the UK / EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement, determine whether goods qualify as originating from certain countries, for which special arrangements and agreements apply.

Where all the rules are met, goods with preferential origin are eligible to be imported under the preferential tariff. Goods claiming the preferential tariff must have proof of origin.

Preferential rules of origin are determined and negotiated separately under each trade agreement. This means that when importing goods to the UK from, for example, European Union member states, South Korea or Canada, rules of origin would likely differ.

Are rules of origin used internationally?

Yes, each product declared to customs needs to have an origin. Rules of origin, both preferential and non-preferential are an internationally recognised mechanism under the terms of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the WTO's Agreement on Rules of Origin.

How to determine non-preferential origin?

In general, non-preferential rules of origin are based on two criteria:

• Are the goods wholly obtained: similarly to preferential rules, wholly obtained products are goods obtained entirely in the territory of one country without the addition of any non-originating materials.
• What was the last substantial transformation: in a case where more than one country was involved in the production of the good, the country where the last substantial transformation took place determines the origin of the good.

Find more information about non-preferential rules of origin.

How to determine preferential rules of origin?

Preferential rules of origin are determined on a product-by-product basis. In addition, there are some high-level rules around transport, certification and processing that need to be met as well as some tolerances and simplifications that may be available.

Preferential rules of origin are based on the same main principles as non-preferential rules - wholly obtained (for goods obtained in one country, i.e. mineral products or animals) and substantial transformation (for goods produced or manufactured in more than one country). However, with preferential rules of origin, substantial transformation is further divided into product-specific rules of origin based on various criteria.

If there is a preferential trade agreement in place, use the online tariff tool to see if your goods meet the preferential rules of origin rules by clicking on the origin tab after you have selected the commodity code and country you wish to trade with.

How is origin certified?

Certificates of origin are available for both preferential and non-preferential origin. A certificate of non-preferential origin for imports into the UK is generally not required to be presented.

Different ways to certify preferential origin are available. The specific method that should be used will depend on the text of the relevant agreement, e.g. Statement on origin.

View proofs of origin for all UK trade agreements.

Who is responsible for determining the origin of products?

The importer declares origin to customs authorities at the time of import and in the case of preferential rules, claims preferential tariffs.

However, since origin relates to how the goods were produced, the importer can only declare origin based on information provided by the exporter. Therefore, determining origin requires communication between the importer and exporter.

If HMRC has reasons to doubt the validity of a proof of origin, it can request further documents from the importer or verification from the customs authority in the country of export.

Using the Online Trade Tariff to work out origin

Once you have found the commodity code that you want to trade, you can click on the origin tab to work out if your goods can be classed as originating. For all countries, the non-preferential rules of origin are shown. You can download the non-preferential rules of origin to see how the rules apply to your trade.

To see the preferential rules of origin associated with a trading partner with which the UK has a trade agreement, select the country with which you are trading the goods. Once you have selected the country, you will see:

• the product-specific rules for trading that commodity with the selected country
• the proofs of origin that are accepted for that trade
• the rules of origin assessment tool, to help you to identify if your trade meets all of the requirements to be considered as originating according to the content of the relevant origin reference document.