Rules of Origin
Origin of Goods and the Different Customs Treatments
Customs treatment on imported goods may differ depending on their country of origin. Knowledge on how to determine origin of goods is important to ensure correct assessment of duty, effective protection of the economy the society and trade facilitation.
What is the Legal Framework for Rules of Origin?
Rules of origin ware developed based on international principles under the World Trade Organization Agreement.
Types of Rules of Origin and Their Use
It is important to have basic knowledge on the two types of rule of Origin and how they are used. That is the preferential and the non-preferential rules of origin.
What are the criteria for origin?
Goods are considered as originating from a particular country based on two criteria.
- Wholly produced/obtained criterion and
- Substantial transformation/ working/ processing criterion
Preferential rules of origin.
Detailed knowledge on the EAC, SADC and AfCFTA Preferential Rules of Origin is necessary.
Customs Advance Ruling
The WTO Bali Agreement on trade facilitation require among others, Customs administrations to issue advance rulings regarding treatment which should be applied on a certain element of the Customs procedure including valuation, origin, tariff classification etc. prior to an import or export transaction, for a specified period of time
There is need for knowledge on how advance ruling is acquired, the requirements on application, validity and rights of the involved parties.
Dispute Resolution
Where two or more parties are involved in any activity, there is likelihood of having cases of disagreements in points of law or facts, which will call a need for resolution and restore harmony. Dispute resolution mechanism forms an important component in the administration of the customs laws.
In customs administrations disputes occur at international, regional, national and institution levels. Knowledge on the existing dispute resolution mechanisms at different levels is necessary, including the existing options for dispute resolution and the appeal systems.