UK–Japan CEPA rules of origin

The UK–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (UK–Japan CEPA) is a trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Japan.

Inferred runs your bill of materials through these rules, input by input, and checks your suppliers' declarations against them. You approve every result.

The rules, one by one. Each with the article it comes from.

How a product originates

The ways it can qualify, and how value is measured.

Allowances and limits

What helps a product qualify, and what doesn't count.

  • Bilateral cumulation

    Materials from the other party count as your own.

    Article 3.5

  • Full cumulation

    Work done in the other party counts too, not just its materials.

    Article 3.5

  • De minimis

    A small share of materials can miss the rule and the product still qualifies.

    Article 3.6 · called general tolerance in the agreement

  • Textile tolerance

    For textiles the allowance is worked out by weight.

    Annex 3A, Note 7

  • Insufficient processing

    Simple work like repacking or labelling doesn't count, even if the code changes.

    Article 3.4 · called insufficient working or processing in the agreement

  • Sets

    How products sold together as a set qualify.

    Article 3.9

  • Accessories, spare parts and tools

    Spare parts and tools shipped with the product are treated as part of it.

    Article 3.12

  • Retail packaging

    The packaging it's sold in goes with the product.

    Article 3.15

  • Shipping packing

    Boxes and containers used only for shipping are ignored.

    Article 3.14

  • Indirect materials

    Fuel, tools and other things used up in production are ignored.

    Article 3.13 · called neutral elements in the agreement

  • Fungible materials

    Identical materials from different sources can be tracked by inventory method.

    Article 3.8 · called accounting segregation in the agreement

  • Intermediate materials

    Parts you make yourself, and that qualify, count as originating.

    Article 3.2

Shipping and claiming

Where the work happens, how the goods travel and how you claim.