Glossary

Non-manipulation certificate is a document required when goods of preferential origin are unloaded, stored and/or subjected to treatments necessary to maintain the goods in a third country while … being shipped from the country of dispatch to the country of destination.

‘Other legislation applied by the customs authorities’ means legislation other than customs legislation applicable to the goods entering, exiting, passing through the customs territory of the … Union, or to be placed in the Union market, in the implementation of which the customs authorities are involved.

Uniform customs laws apply in a customs territory and there are no internal customs duties or similar taxes. A customs territory comprises territories including their territorial waters, inland … waters and airspace.

Part of the EU’s trade rules enforcement arsenal, the Trade Barriers Regulation is a legal instrument that gives EU companies, industries, associations and Member States the right to lodge a … complaint with the Commission about trade barriers in third countries.

The rules of non-preferential origin are specific provisions, developed from principles established by national legislation or international agreements ('origin criteria'), applied by a country … to determine the origin of goods.

Rules of preferential origin are an essential element of preferential trade agreements. They define the conditions under which a product is regarded as originating and can benefit from lower … rates of duty upon importation in the country of destination.

Product-specific rules of preferential origin determine requirements of working or processing which must be done on non-originating materials in order for the product manufactured to obtain originating … status.

Transit manual, prepared by the European Commission, is a detailed description of the common and the Union transit procedures. It explains how these transit procedures work and the roles of the … various participants.

‘Importer’s knowledge’ allows the importer to claim preferential tariff treatment based on evidence they have obtained about the originating status of imported products. This evidence must be … in the importer’s possession, be in form of supporting documents or records which may be provided by the exporter or producer and provide evidence that the product qualifies as originating.

Product-specific rules (PSRs) of preferential origin are the requirements for a product, which incorporates non-originating materials, to be originating in a country. PSRs are created based on … origin criteria. One criterion is a change in tariff classification (examples of other criteria: a production process, a maximum value or weight of non-originating materials). It means that any non-originating material used in the production of the product must be classified in a chapter, heading or subheading1 other than that of the product.

EU customs legislation means the body of legislation made up of all of the following: the Union Customs Code and the provisions supplementing or implementing it adopted at Union or national level; … the Common Customs Tariff; the legislation setting up a Union system of reliefs from customs duty; international agreements containing customs provisions, insofar as they are applicable in the Union. Watch the video and learn more (practical examples provided)!

The Union Customs Code (UCC) is set out in the Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9.10.2013. UCC lays down the general rules and procedures applicable … to goods brought into or taken out of the customs territory of the EU.

Determination of preferential origin means a determination as to whether a product qualifies as an originating product in accordance with the Protocol on Rules of Origin to a Free Trade Agreement … or the provisions of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).