What is meant by country of origin?
We’ve put together this resource page to help you understand what is meant by country of origin and how it affects the shipping of your parcels.
What is meant by country of origin in shipping terms?
Anyone who imports a product must state the country of origin on their customs declaration. Wherever that item originated from will determine the duties and taxes your business must pay.
Generally speaking, the country of origin refers to the country where a product was made, produced or grown. Determining this is a crucial aspect in international trade, influencing factors like tariffs and customs regulations.
What is it not?
It is not necessarily the country where it shipped from or purchased. For example, if a shirt was made in Bangladesh, then Bangladesh is the country of origin, even if it was sold from an online store based in London.
Great, but why do I need to know the difference between volumetric and dead weights?
The country of origin determines which rules and regulations apply to the product, particularly in international trade, impacting factors like tariffs, quotas, and trade agreements.
For example, the U.S. requires imported goods to be marked with the country of origin before entering customs
What if I buy materials from China but make a product here in the UK?
With today’s global supply chains, the country of origin can be complex, as products may involve multiple countries in the production process. For example, a washing machine might be assembled in one country, but the screws might be from another, and the washing machine's origin would depend on the rules for that specific commodity, according to Customs Support.
How can I be sure that I have determined the correct country of origin?
As a general rule of thumb, where two or more countries take part in the production of goods, the country of origin of goods should be the country where the goods underwent final operations in processing or production. For more information on criteria for sufficient processing of goods see this article.
Unsure about the country of origin for a specific product you are importing?
Get in touch with SAMOS for a more personalised conversation and we’ll help to break it down for you.
