What are product-specific rules of origin?
Every trade agreement has a long list of rules, one for each kind of product, keyed to its tariff code. To claim the lower rate, your product has to meet the rule for its code.
What a rule looks like
Most rules ask for one of three things. The imported materials have to change tariff code when you make the product. Or the imported materials can only be worth so much of the product's price. Or a particular step has to happen in the country, like weaving the fabric or a chemical reaction.
Plenty of rules give you a choice of two, and you only need to meet one. A product that is wholly obtained, or made entirely from originating materials, doesn't need its rule at all.
Why the code matters so much
The rule is looked up by the product's code, so a wrong code means you're checking against the wrong rule. And the same product can have a different rule under each agreement, so it can qualify under one and not another.
Where you'll find it. The article it's in, agreement by agreement.
- USMCAProduct-specific rules, Article 4.2
- CAFTA-DRProduct-specific rules, Article 4.1
- CPTPPProduct-specific rules, Article 3.2
- RCEPProduct-specific rules, Article 3.2
- ATIGAProduct-specific rules, Article 28
- ACFTAProduct-specific rules, Article 4
- PEM ConventionProduct-specific rules, Article 4
- CETAProduct-specific rules, Article 5
- EU–Japan EPAProduct-specific rules, Article 3.2
- EU–Korea FTAProduct-specific rules, Article 5
- EU–Mercosur iTAProduct-specific rules, Article 3.2
- EU–SADC EPAProduct-specific rules, Article 8
- EU–UK TCAProduct-specific rules, Article 39
- EU–Vietnam FTAProduct-specific rules, Article 5
- UK–Canada TCAProduct-specific rules, Article 5
- UK–Japan CEPAProduct-specific rules, Article 3.2
- UK–SACUM EPAProduct-specific rules, Article 8
- UK–Vietnam FTAProduct-specific rules, Article 5
- US–Australia FTAProduct-specific rules, Article 5.1
- KORUSProduct-specific rules, Article 6.1
- US–Singapore FTAProduct-specific rules, Article 3.1
- Canada–Colombia FTAProduct-specific rules, Article 301
- Canada–Indonesia CEPAProduct-specific rules, Article 3.2
- Canada–Korea FTAProduct-specific rules, Article 3.3
- Canada–Ukraine FTAProduct-specific rules, Article 3.5
- EU GSPProduct-specific rules, Article 45
- UK DCTSProduct-specific rules, Regulation 8
- Canada GPTProduct-specific rules, Section 3(1)