Origin of imports

It is important to differentiate between regulations on origins that confer preferential treatment and regulations on origins that do not confer preferential treatment.

Origins that confer preferential treatment

Preferential treatment is based on the EU’s free trade agreement and decisions on unilateral benefits and confers duty relief or duty discounts. This means that products that originate from countries and areas included by these agreements may be fully exempt from customs duties, or eligible for reduced customs duties.

For customs union agreements (such as those between the EU, and Turkey, Andorra and San Marino) the goods’ eligibility for preferential treatment is not determined by their origin, but by whether they have entered free circulation.

To gain origin status, goods must either be obtained or sufficiently worked or processed in a treaty state (at the time of importation) or in the EU (at the time of exportation). Thus, it is not enough for a product to be exported from a treaty state to be considered as having its origin in that state.

More free trade concepts.

Origins eligible for free trade status – Guidelines from the European Commission.

Origins that do not confer preferential treatment

In cases where the EU has imposed provisions on licenses, anti-dumping duties, additional duties and countervailing duties, as well as quotas on imports from a specific country it is important to establish the product’s country of origin. The rules for establishing the origin in the context of these trade policy measures are known as rules of origin. These also apply in the context of sanctions and when producing trade statistics.

Rules of origin that do not confer preferential treatment (in Swedish)