Updates: EU

    The origin of your goods

    The origin of goods from third countries is determined according to EU customs legislation, the Union Customs Code (UCC). This regulation contains several concepts we would like to clarify so you can apply them correctly.

    • The concept of “country of origin” was clarified with the introduction of this UCC in the UCC (1), the UCC DA (2), and the UCC IA (3) and should not be confused with the concepts of “country of provenance” and “country of dispatch.”
    • If a product is not entirely obtained in one country, the rules for enjoying origin may be linked to the country or territory where production occurred.
    • On the other hand, the country of provenance refers to the country where the product was in free circulation before being exported to the EU.
    • The country of dispatch is the last country where the product was before being exported to the EU. (4)

    The legislation distinguishes between preferential and non-preferential origin. For goods with preferential origin, a bilateral or unilateral arrangement may apply. For goods of non-preferential origin, there is a link with trade policy measures that may apply.

    • A binding origin information (BOI) can always be requested to support the proofs of origin. (5)
    • The various codes for preferential origin certificates mentioned in box 44 of the single document can be found via the following link: 017.340 Overview of preferential agreements and customs unions (in Dutch—not available in English).
    • Box 36 of the document refers to the preference or any trade measure. The explanation of these codes can be found in 6.9_Bijlage.

    Any questions? More info?

    Please contact us