Rules of Origin - CBEC's Customs Manual 2023 - Customs

2. Rules of Origin 2.1 Rules of origin are the criteria used to define where a product was made/obtained. They are an essential part of trade rules because a number of policies discriminate between exporting countries: quotas, preferential tariffs, anti-dumping actions, countervailing duty (charged to counter export subsidies), and more. Rules of origin are, also, used to compile trade statistics, and for made in.. labels that are attached to products. 2.2 GATT has no specific rules governing the determination of the country of origin of goods in international commerce. Before the Uruguay round, each contracting party was free to determine its own origin rules, and could even maintain several different rules of origin depending on the purpose of the particular regulation.