Certificates of origin support preferential duty claims and satisfy import requirements in many markets. What they cannot do is convert transit into origin. Goods that merely pass through a territory do not acquire its origin, and the substantial-transformation tests that determine when they do are specific to the product and the arrangement being claimed.
Where preferential treatment is claimed, the supporting evidence has to survive examination — the production process, the inputs and their origins, and the working actually performed. We would rather establish that before a pricing model depends on it than argue it during an audit, when duties and penalties apply retrospectively.
Harbour Strategies (HK) Limited · 16 April 2024
Editorial commentary by Harbour Strategies. Figures and regulatory details should be verified against primary sources before being relied upon.
