"Rules of Origin" are a HIGHLY TECHNICAL aspect of
international trade & shipping between different countries.

At the moment, this page mainly comprises links I've collected that are likely to be useful to
those engaged in international shipping of goods in or out of the UK / EU / Rest of the world
i.e. Import, export and customs for businesses.
It is a "work in progress" and will become increasingly relevant to the art business.

It will also be developed further with the aim of making the rules simpler to understand.
However it's guaranteed to make my head hurt so this may not happen quickly!
​
Below you can find:
  • statements about what are "rules of origin" - everybody says it slightly differently
  • references to official documents produced by the UK government, EU Taxation and Customs Union and the World Trade Organisation.
  • an attempt to relate all these to the art business - hopefully this will become better / clearer over time!
​WARNING: The concepts and language are very complex - which is why it's taking me some time to find a way of trying to explain this simply!

What are "Rules of Origin"?
​

Rules of origin are the rules to attribute a country of origin to a product in order to determine its "economic nationality". Rules of Origin | Wikipedia 
Rules of origin are
  • a set of criteria
  • to determine the economic nationality ("the country of origin")
  • of a good (i.e. tangible object)
  • which is being exported or imported
  • across the national boundaries of different economic entities; and are
  • determined by various trade agreements
Origin in "Rules of Origin" relates to
  • where goods were made or produced
  • NOT where they have been shipped from. 

Origin determines
  • whether or not you can ship a good; and/or
  • if a customs tariff / quota / trade remedy is applicable 

Various trade bodies determine the rules of trade and rules of origin for their area - and those they trade with. i.e. there is no one set of universal rules - AND they can change at any time!​​

Rules of Origin and the Art Business
​

If an artwork created or the art goods or art products made are to be shipped across national borders to customers / distributors, it may well be ESSENTIAL (put VERY simply) to:
  • KNOW where every component comes from (i.e. checked out all your suppliers)
  • RECORD this on any/all relevant customs documentation
  • RETAIN that documentation for some years
  • UNLESS it has been agreed that such items can move without tariff in a free trade area
​​
The main problem for artists and any art businesses is an almost complete LACK of:
  • information and advice for sole traders and micro businesses
  • recognition that many artists use ecommerce platforms in relation to the export of art

Virtually all the documentation and training assume
  • EITHER you are a medium/large size business (with staff) or belong to a government or trade association
  • OR you employ customs agents to handle all such matters! 

​HOWEVER one good thing coming out of recent events is that governments now recognise much more clearly how dependent they are on small/micro businesses for supply of goods - so this situation may change
EXAMPLES: I'm trying to think of ways of explain the practical impact and have come up with these examples to date:
  • If you frame your artwork prior to export, you may need to be able to certify where that wood comes from.
  • If the paint brush you make includes animal hair you may well need a certificate of origin for that hair - because some countries you may export to will require one (see Kolinsky Sable Brush Availability | Artist Network - which explains how after CITES agreed to monitor Kolinsky Sables (because their ID was being misappropriated) this led to difficulty in obtaining sable brushes in all those countries (e.g. the USA) which required a certificate of origin/export)
  • manufactured art goods (e.g. crafts)  need to note that manufactured food goods ran into problems crossing between countries with a free trade agreement if one component came from outside the free trade area - as happened in relation to UK/EU trade post Brexit after 1 January 2021.

Preferential rules of origin
​

Preferential origin is used solely to provide duty benefits through a Free Trade Agreement and is optional.

This means:
  • two countries agree to a free trade agreement (FTA)
  • this will remove tariffs for each other's goods
  • this grants a preference not provided to others.
Preferential rules of origin determine whether goods qualify as originating from certain countries, for which special arrangements and agreements apply.
Rules of Origin | EU
In late December 2021, the UK and the European Union (EU) signed a Trade & Cooperation Agreement which brought to an end the transition period - and now allows free trade of goods across borders - so long as those goods do not involve components from a third country. 

​Non-Preferential rules of origin
​

Non-preferential rules of origin apply when countries wish to
  • identify the origin of goods
  • for statistical, trade control or political purposes,
  • has national legal basis
  • and is mandatory for products on import and export.

Non-preferential rules of origin are those
  • primarily designated in order to sustain the most-favored-treatment (MFN) within the World Trade Organization (WTO)
  • which apply in the absence of any trade preference
Outside a customs union, all UK exporters will still have to declare the origin of their goods when trading with the EU. This is used by importing countries to protect their producers and for other monitoring purposes.
​Trade: rules of origin | Institute of Government
REFERENCE:
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The use of bold in the quotations below is determined by me.

Rules of Origin according to World Trade Organisation
​

Determining where a product comes from is no longer easy when raw materials and parts criss-cross the globe to be used as inputs in scattered manufacturing plants. Rules of origin are therefore needed to attribute one country of origin to each product. They are the criteria used to define where a product was made and are important for implementing other trade policy measures, including trade preferences (preferential rules of origin), quotas, anti-dumping measures and countervailing duties (non-preferential rules of origin).
REFERENCE
World Trade Organisation

Rules of Origin according to the European Taxation and Customs Union
​

Rules of origin determine where goods originate, i.e. not where they have been shipped from, but where they have been produced or manufactured.

As such, the ‘origin’ is the 'economic nationality' of goods traded in commerce. The tariff classification, value and origin of a good are determining factors based on which the customs tariff treatment is applied.

​For customs matters, there is a distinction between two types of origins, notably non-preferential origin and preferential origin.
REFERENCE: European Union
​I am an EU exporter, exporting to the UK
10 STEPS TO TAKE
  1. VERIFY that you are an exporter as defined by the TCA (a producer or a trader) and you are located in the EU. An exporter for the purpose of the TCA does not necessarily need to be the person lodging the export declaration.
  2. VERIFY that your products are subject to an import duty when importing in the UK
  3. DETERMINE whether the products you export have EU originating status in accordance with the requirements laid down in the TCA[1] .
  4. BE REGISTERED in the EU Registered Exporters (REX) System and HAVE a REX number (if you export consignments whose value exceeds EUR 6 000)
  5. GATHER adequate information from your production process or your suppliers, demonstrating that the product is originating. (more details)
  6. ARRANGE contractually with the importer in the UK whether (s)he will claim preferential tariff treatment on the basis of a statement on origin made out by you or on the basis of importer’s knowledge (which may imply that you provide that importer with sufficient information to acquire that knowledge). (more details)
  7. MAKE OUT a statement on origin (if it is the chosen basis for the claim, see pt. 6) on an invoice or another document, which allows precisely identifying the originating products, for a single shipment or for multiple shipments of identical products, using the text in Annex 4 of the TCA. PROVIDE in the statement all the information required. There is no need to sign the statement.
  8. KEEP a copy of the statement on origin and all other relevant records (for example supplier’s declarations) for a minimum of 4 years, to respond to any subsequent verification
  9. ASSURE that your products, between their exportation from the EU and their declaration for importation in the UK, are not altered or transformed i.e. that the products respect the ‘nonalteration’ rule.
  10. PROVIDE the importer in the UK with the statement on origin (if it is the chosen basis for the claim) and BE READY for a possible subsequent verification, upon request from the customs authority of the UK, by the competent customs authority of the Member State in which you registered in REX, of the EU originating status of the product
I am an EU importer, importing from the UK
10 STEPS TO TAKE
  1. VERIFY that your products are subject to an import duty when importing in the EU.
  2. DECIDE if you want to claim the preference (meaning: paying 0% customs duties) based on a statement on origin provided by the UK exporter, or instead, you will claim the preference based on your own knowledge that the product is originating. (more details)
  3. CHECK that the statement on origin provided by the UK exporter contains an exporter reference number (a GB EORI number).
  4. ASSURE that the products, between their exportation from the UK and their declaration for importation in the EU, are not altered or transformed, i.e. that the products respect the ‘nonalteration’ rule.
  5. CLAIM the preference by INTRODUCING in your import declaration the code relating to preferential import and the code ‘GB’ for the preferential country of origin. (more details for more forms)
  6. KEEP your claims for a minimum of three years (more details)
  7. If you are importing small consignments of products originating in the UK from a private person to a private person of less than EUR 500 or in traveller’s luggage of less than EUR 1200, in both cases not by way of trade (thus excluding ‘on-line shopping’), you do not need to base your claim on a statement on origin or on your own knowledge. However, by claiming the preference for those consignments, you declare that they are actually originating to the customs authority of the Member State of importation
  8. BE READY for a possible verification of the origin by the customs authority at the time the import declaration is submitted and the claim for preference made, or after the importation of the products and the granting of the preference.
  9. PROVIDE to the customs authority of the Member State of importation, upon its request in case of verification: a) if the claim was based on a statement on origin, the statement on origin. (more details) 
  10. COMPLY with the appropriate precautionary measures including guarantees if the customs authority decides to suspend the granting of preferential tariff treatment to the product concerned while awaiting the results of the verification.
The above is based on ​PART TWO: TRADE, TRANSPORT, FISHERIES AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS , HEADING ONE: TRADE TITLE I: TRADE IN GOODS, Chapter 2: Rules of origin, Section 2: Origin procedures
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Rules of Origin according to the UK Government - after 1st January 2021 
​

The rules of origin requirements are some of the most important provisions that your business needs to understand and comply with, under the UK's deal with the EU.
​GOV.UK  Rules of origin for goods moving between the UK and EU
GENERAL REFERENCE: GOV.UK website
Re. BREXIT
OTHER SOURCES:
Despite the UK and the EU agreeing a zero tariff Trade & Cooperation Agreement (a deal), you will still be required to submit the correct declarations. 
​EU Checklist JAN 2021  | MAKE
Picture
extract from EU Checklist JAN 2021 (pdf, 2474KB) - click the image to go to the document

​In relation to Brexit......​
The UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (“TCA”) provides businesses with the benefit of tariff free and quota free trade in goods between the two trading blocs.
Many may not realise, however, that these benefits can only be reaped with effort on the part of importers and exporters. One task to be fulfilled is proving that the goods to be imported or exported have “originated” in the EU or UK.

Rules of origin relating to art - and trade between the UK and EU
​

I have found NOTHING in the articles I've searched online which refers specifically to art / artworks / art materials etc
EXCEPT for this question asked in the House of Lords - see below
This seems to say that artwork (at least) is not subject to any export tariff in trade between the EU and UK

​A question was asked in the House of Lords with respect to the trade of art between the UK and the EU
QUESTION:
​To ask Her Majesty's Government how artworks created in the UK but from materials originating elsewhere will be treated by the EU under the region of origin rules as set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement reached between the United Kingdom and the European Union, published on 24 December 2020.

Art Works: Trade Agreements
Question for Department for Business, Energy and Industrial StrategyUIN HL11915, tabled on 8 January 2021
ANSWER: (22 January 2021) Artworks classified in Chapter 97 of the Harmonised System (Works of art, collectors’ pieces and antiques) are currently eligible for import at zero tariffs under both the UK Global Tariff and the EU Common External Tariff. This means that businesses who trade artwork between the UK and EU do not need to comply with Rules of Origin under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to export or import under zero tariffs.
Traders should refer to the UK Global Tariff: (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tariffs-on-goods-imported-into-the-uk(opens in a new tab))
and to the EU Common External Tariff: (https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/trade-non-eu-countries/import-eu_en(opens in a new tab))
If in the future the EU Common External Tariff changed to make artwork subject to tariffs, artwork produced in the UK would have to comply with Rules of Origin to export zero tariff to the EU under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. In that scenario, UK producers should refer to the full Rules of Origin requirements set out in the text of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Detailed guidance is available on GOV.UK:
 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-of-origin-for-goods-moving-between-the-uk-and-eu

Other sources of information
​

REFERENCE:
Banner image: Photo by Andrew Stutesman on Unsplash
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