Articles

The language of sustainable development legislation and the language of the legislation of origin are completely different; it is necessary to find a lingua franca for these areas to better understand … and implement the requirements. On the other hand, harmonisation of rules of origin at a global level is essential to address the challenges faced by importers - the need for harmonisation of these rules has never been greater. These and many other views were exchanged at the 20th Authors' Meeting. We invite you to read an overview.

The EU has concluded more than 40 free trade agreements (FTAs) with around 80 countries, which supposedly bring significant benefits for trade with partner countries. But is this really the case, … i.e. is the EU fully utilising these benefits? This article attempts to assess the application of EU FTAs by analysing the flow of goods in and out of the main trading partners. The author looks at how import and export volumes and geography depend on the existence of preferential agreements.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), approved in 2012 by the African Union’s (AU) 18th Ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government, is one of the Flagship Projects … of the AU’s Agenda 2063. The Action Plan for Boosting intra-African trade has a strong focus on accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market, in particular through implementation of trade facilitation standards and tools. We provide a brief overview of AfCFTA rules of origin.

Editors' note: The recent 20th Authors' Meeting dealt with issues of origin for customs purposes. At this meeting, the author presented two Israeli court cases - one concerning an unauthorised … person signing the certificate of preferential origin and the other concerning whether pistachios originated in Iran or Turkey (non-preferential origin for the application of prohibitions). The cases are not necessarily new, but they deal with relevant questions: What happens if the proof of preferential origin is signed by an unauthorised person? Can the authorisation be granted retrospectively? Is the 'statistical and reasonableness check' sufficient for customs to reject the declared non-preferential origin of the goods?

The World Customs Organization has published a comprehensive study on the digitalisation of the Certificate of Origin (CO). This article provides a short summary of the existing CO issues and … suggests some solutions that could help achieve the long-term digitalisation goals – such as the framework for trusted digital signatures currently used in the EU.

Global trade based on preferential treatment offers benefits to its participants. The main one is a reduction in financial costs due to the application of reduced tariff rates when the goods … have a preferential origin. In other words, if a product originates in one country and is sold to another country with which there is a preferential trade agreement, the product may be subject to a reduced or even zero duty rate. However, the mere fact that the goods originate in a particular country is not enough to qualify for such benefits. The preferential origin of the goods must be proven, so that the customs authorities do not suspect any manipulation or fraud on the part of importers. Each specific preferential trade agreement sets out acceptable ways of proving the preferential origin of goods. A supplier's declaration is one of the means of proof. Let us find out what it is and when it can be used.

Customs may carry out post-clearance verification of the preferential origin of goods. As a result, a letter from customs might appear on the importer's desk stating that the preferential tariff … treatment has been denied. In this article, we look at what is the process of post-clearance verification of preferential origin set out in some of the free trade agreements of Canada, the UK and the EU. Also, we provide practical examples and suggestions on how the preferential origin-related risk could be managed by importers.

The contracting parties to the PEM Convention have agreed on the application of the transitional rules pending the application of the modernized PEM Convention. This opens the possibility for … economic operators to choose between the rules of preferential origin set out in the PEM Convention and the transitional rules. The latter rules are in many cases more flexible and simpler. Let us look at this new possibility.

The article discusses the peculiarities of the practical application of European Union (EU) rules on customs origin in the EU Member State - the Republic of Lithuania and presents the current … practice of national authorities in this area (in tax disputes related to the origin of imported goods), emphasizes its peculiarities and differences from practices in other EU Member States. The analysis performed and described in the article substantiates that in the Republic of Lithuania the possible sources of proof of customs origin of goods are assessed and interpreted in a unique and rather formal way. Besides, the burden of proving the origin of imported goods and its distribution between customs and importer is understood specifically and can be considered as more favourable to importers than the usual practice at the EU level.

On July 7, 2021, Brazil disclosed its tariff elimination schedule embodied in the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement announced on June 28, 2019, in Brussels (Belgium). The official documents will … only be binding after the ratification in each Member-State. However, the disclosed Annex gives an idea to European traders and practitioners of the gains that can be obtained when the deal enters into force.