Customs
Rules of Origin
The criteria that determine which country a product is deemed to originate from, deciding whether it qualifies for preferential duty rates under a trade agreement.
In depth
Origin is not simply where the goods were shipped from. Under most trade agreements a product originates where it was wholly obtained, or where the last substantial transformation took place — commonly tested by a change in HS heading, a minimum regional value content, or a specific processing rule for that product. Getting this right is what unlocks preferential duty, and getting it wrong is a customs liability that surfaces years later at audit, with duty and penalties applied retroactively. Origin rules differ between agreements, so the same product can originate under one FTA and not another.
Key points
- Determines eligibility for preferential duty, not just where goods shipped from
- Tested by tariff shift, regional value content, or specific process rules
- Rules differ between trade agreements for the same product
- Errors are recoverable by customs retroactively, with penalties