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.

The electronic customs declaration consists of data elements that should be harmonised worldwide so that customs can verify the data flow from the exporting country to the importing country. … The World Customs Organisation has developed the WCO data model, which provides a universal language for cross-border data exchange. The EU has adopted this model for its own purposes and for trans-European use.

Electronic customs (‘e-customs’) is a major development for the EU's Customs Union. The project aims to replace paper-format customs procedures with EU-wide electronic procedures to create a … more efficient and modern customs environment. Each year the European Commission releases a report on progress in developing electronic systems. The latest report was published in February 2023.

EU Regulation provides a new legal framework to improve information sharing and digital cooperation between customs administrations and other government authorities in charge of enforcing non-customs … formalities at the EU border. What are these non-customs formalities?

The ‘single window’ is a trade facilitation measure, allowing parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfil all import, … export, and transit-related regulatory requirements, thus reducing duplication, time, and costs.

The European Maritime Single Window environment (EMSWe) aims to improve administrative procedures in maritime transport by introducing a single window for reporting formalities for ships to harmonise … processes and data exchange with economic operators. Legal acts establish that the latest date for the system to be operational is no later than 15.08.2025.

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.

Learn about and find links to customs-related databases in the EU: TARIC, customs offices information, validation of EORI and REX numbers, AEO, CLASS, ECICS, EBTI, SAMANCTA, Export and Transit … MRN follow-up and databases of quotas, suspensions, surveillances.

‘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.

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).