Origin definition

 The legal basis for origin of goods is Articles 32 to 37 of the Customs Law and Articles 41 to 97 of the Regulation on customs-approved treatment of goods.

Regulation on Harmonization of the Custom Tariff Nomenclature for the year 2018 also includes preferential tariff rates, which are prescribed by Free Trade Agreements and are applied to goods imported into the Republic of Serbia in 2018.

The Customs Law prescribes rules for determining preferential and non-preferential origin of goods.

 

ORIGIN OF GOODS

Generally speaking, rules of origin can be divided into two categories: preferential and non-preferential rules of origin.


NON-PREFERENTIAL ORIGIN OF GOODS

Unlike preferential rules of origin where all goods that meet the requirements qualify for preferential treatment when they are imported,non-preferential rules do not allow for preferential treatment and instead they confer an "economic" nationality on goods and are used for all kinds of commercial policy measures (eg. anti-dumping measures and countervailing duty, export incentives under the common agricultural policy, trade embargoes and other restrictions, etc.).

Economic policy measures are also used for other purposes, such as „Made in…“ marking, public procurement, financial support for various projects etc.

However, the harmonization of non-preferential rules of origin is not yet completed within the World Trade Organization (WTO), thus each country may set its own rules for acquiring non-preferential origin.


PREFERENTIAL ORIGIN OF GOODS

Rules on preferential origin of goods that provide a more favourable treatment to the goods in the customs procedure are specified in international agreements covering such goods, and which Serbia has concluded with the countries that are practically the most important trade partners of Serbia. Preferential origin under such agreements provides for reduction or exemption from the payment of import duties for specific goods imported from the signatories of such agreements. Preferential rules of origin may also be prescribed by the Serbian Government for the goods entitled to preferences based on preferential tariff measures that were unilaterally adopted by the Republic of Serbia towards other countries, groups of countries, or territories.

To date the Republic of Serbia has concluded several international agreements on free trade (CEFTA 2006, agreements with the EU, Turkey, EFTA countries, Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan), thus encouraging broadening and development of current trade relations, and at the same time also creating prerequisites for expanding the free trade zone through the system of diagonal cumulation of origin. 

AGREEMENTS BASED ON PAN-EUROPEAN RULES ON ORIGIN OF GOODS

At present, all free trade agreements concluded by the Republic of Serbia provide for full trade liberalization for industrial goods during import and mostly for agricultural products (except in the part of protection of certain agricultural products depending on specific products listed in annexes, which applies to both imports to signatory countries and exports from it). Part of agricultural products is imported under quota preferential regime (the European Union, Turkey, and Switzerland).

Free Trade Agreements implemented by the Republic of Serbia are:

  1. The Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Serbia, of the other part ("Official Gazette of RS-International Treaties", no. 83/2008) and the Protocol to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the Republic of Serbia, of the one part, and the European Communities and their Member States, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union ("Off. Gazette of RS - International agreements", No. 12/2014);

 

http://www.upravacarina.rs/lat/Medjunarodni%20sporazumi/SporazumOstabilizacijiIPridruzivanju.pdf

2. Agreement on Amendments of and Accession to the Central European Free Trade Agreement-CEFTA 2006 (“Official Gazette of the RS – International agreements”, No 88/07).

Additional Protocol to the Agreement on Amendment of and Accession to the Central European Free Trade Agreement (“Official Gazette of the RS – International agreements”, No 88/11);

http://www.upravacarina.rs/lat/Medjunarodni%20sporazumi/SporazumOSlobodnojTrgoviniUCentralnojEvropiCEFTA2006.pdf

3. Free Trade Agreement Between the Republic of Serbia and the EFTA States (“Official Gazette of the RS- International agreements”, No. 6/2010);

http://www.upravacarina.rs/lat/Medjunarodni%20sporazumi/efta%20lat.pdf

4. Free Trade Agreement Between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Turkey (“Official Gazette of the RS - International agreements”, No.105/2009);

http://www.upravacarina.rs/lat/Medjunarodni%20sporazumi/turska%20latinica.pdf

5. Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (“Official Gazette of the RS- International agreements”, No. 7/2013);

http://www.upravacarina.rs/lat/Medjunarodni%20sporazumi/PEM%20Konvencija.pdf

Informationregardingtherulesoforiginin accordance with free trade agreements can be found on the following website:

http://www.upravacarina.rs/lat/PoslovnaZajednica/PorekloRobe/Stranice/PorekloRobe.aspx

 

Agreements with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan

In preferential trade relations of Serbia with the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan, bilateral cumulation of origin of goods is allowed, as well as cumulation of origin within the Customs Union Russia – Belarus – Kazakhstan.

Proof of origin and documents

 

CRITERIA FOR ACQUIRING ORIGINATING STATUS

Whollyobtained products(mineral products extracted from their soil or from their seabed; plant products picked or harvested etc.)

 

II Sufficientlyworkedorprocessedproductsaccording to the list of working or processing

Annexed to each FTA is a list of working or processing where the conditions are laid down for every tariff heading of the finished product. A product will acquire preferential origin provided that the non-originating materials have undergone sufficient working or processing.

Non-originating materials which, according to the conditions set out in the list, should not be used in the manufacture of a product may nevertheless be used, provided that their total value does not exceed 10 % of the ex-works price of the product and if any of the percentages given in the list for the maximum value of non-originating materials are not exceeded. However, this rule shall not apply to textile products falling within Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonized System.

III Insufficient working or processing

The following operations shall be considered as insufficient working or processing to confer the status of originating products:

a)  operations to ensure the preservation of goods in good condition during transportation or storage;

b)  disassembling and assembling of consignments;

c)  washing, cleaning, removing dust, oxide, oil, paints and other coverings;

d)  ironing or pressing of textiles;

e) simple painting, polishing;

f) husking, partial or total bleaching, polishing, and glazing of cereals and rice;

g) operations to color sugar or form sugar lumps;

h) peeling, stoning and shelling of fruits, nuts and vegetables;

i) sharpening, simple grinding or cutting;

j) sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading, matching (including making up sets of articles);

k) bottling, canning, bagging, casing, boxing, fixing on cards or boards, and other similar packaging operations;

l) affixing or printing marks, labels, logos or other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;

m) simple mixing of products, whether they are different or not; mixing of sugar with any other material;

n) simple assembling of parts for the purpose of creating a complete article or disassembly of products into parts;

o) combination of two or more of the above operations specified in (a) to (n).;

p) slaughter of animals.

2. All operations carried out within a Party on a given product shall be considered together when determining whether the working or processing undergone by that product is to be regarded as insufficient within the meaning of paragraph 1.

IV Cumulation of origin (use of materials with preferential origin)

Cumulation/accumulation makes it possible that a product originating in Serbia, containing materials originating in another Party with which cumulation is applicable and having undergoing successive working and processing which is considered insufficient working or processing, is treated as a product obtained in Serbia.

Cumulation of origin may be applied only when a preferential trade agreement in accordance with Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is applicable between the Parties; the protocols on origin of FTAs are identical and notices indicating the fulfillment of the necessary requirements to apply cumulation have been published in national Official Journals.

 

There are two types of cumulation:

a)      bilateral cumulation – applied betweentwo Parties

b)      diagonal cumulation – applied between three or more Parties

 

OTHER CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE MET FOR AN APPLICATION OF PREFERENTIAL REGIME DURING IMPORT

Direct transport

Products constituting one single consignment may be transported through other territories provided that:

ü  The shipment status has been detained

ü  The consignment is under customs supervision

ü  Permitted actions are unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good condition

ü  As an evidence that the conditions of direct transport have been fulfilled shall be supplied to the customs authorities of the Party- importing Party - a certificate issued by the customs authorities of the country of transit.

Principle of Territoriality

The conditions for acquiring originating status must be fulfilled without interruption in the Parties. Except where originating goods exported from a Party to another country return, they shall be considered as non-originating, unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customs authorities that:

 

ü  The returning goods are the same as those exported;

and

ü  They have not undergone any operation beyond that necessary to preserve them ingood condition while in that country or while being exported.

 

The acquisition of originating status shall not be affected by working or processing done outside a Party, or outside a cumulative zone, provided:

ü  The product being exported is originating in a Party;

ü  It can be demonstrated that the re-imported goods have been obtained by working or processing the exported materials in a third country or territorry;

ü  The total added value, including all costs, acquired otside the Parties does not exceed 10 percent of the ex-works price of the end product for which originating status is claimed (not applied for textile products);

ü  Any working or processing in a third country shall be done under the outward processing arrangements.

ü

Prohibition of drawback of, or exemption from customs duties

Non-originating materials used in the manufacture of products originating in a Party shall not be subject in the Party to drawback of, or exemption from, customs duties of whatever kind when products obtained from the said materials are exported and not when they are retained for home use there.

ü  However, if a product which has acquired originating status by fulfilling the conditions set out in the list is used in the manufacture of another product, the conditions applicable to the product in which it is incorporated do not apply to it, and no account shall be taken of the non-originating materials which may have been used in its manufacture.

Proofs of origin

 

Proofs of origin shall be issued at the request of the exporter with all appropriate documents proving the originating status of goods submitted by exporter.               

 

The following shall be considered as proofs of origin:

ü  A movement certificate EUR.1/EUR-MED

ü  A declaration and an EUR-MED declaration given by the exporter on an invoice,or any othercommercial document:

            - by any exporter for a consignmentwith total value up to€6000

            - by an approved exporter regardless of the value of consignment

 

PROCEDURE FOR THE ISSUE OF A MOVEMENT CERTIFICATE EUR.1

A movement certificate EUR.1 or EUR-MED shall be issued on application having been made in writing by the exporter or, under the exporter's responsibility, by his authorised representative. The exporter shall be prepared to submit at any time, at the request of the customs authorities of the exporting country, all appropriate documents proving the originating status of the products concerned, as well as the fulfillment of the other requirements of the Agreement.

 

Contact

Customs Administration of the Republic of Serbia: 
Bulevar Zorana Đinđića 155a, 11070 Novi Beograd, Serbia

Sector for Customs Procedure:
Phone: +381 11 2690 822, fax: +381 11 2699 722

Origin of Goods Department:

Phone: +381 11 2015 921 

phone/fax 011/2606073        phone/fax 011/2671773

Website: http://www.upravacarina.rs/

E-mail: poreklo@carina.rs  

 

Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia:

Kneza Miloša 20, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

Phone: +381 11 3642 762, +381 11 3642 764, +381 11 3642 768, +381 3642 765

Fax: +381 11 3642 763

Website: www.mfin.gov.rs