{"id":3027,"date":"2026-10-08T23:57:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T21:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/example.invalid\/?p=3027"},"modified":"2026-11-13T16:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T15:10:48","slug":"origine-preferentielle-certificat-preuve-controle-douanier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/origine-preferentielle-certificat-preuve-controle-douanier\/","title":{"rendered":"Preferential origin: is a certificate enough during a customs audit?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Reduced or zero customs duties require the goods to satisfy the rules of origin under the applicable preferential agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Holding a certificate or statement of origin is not always enough to secure the operation.<\/p>\n<h2>Evidence can be checked after importation<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/eli\/reg\/2013\/952\/oj\/fra\">Article 64 of the Union Customs Code<\/a> provides that tariff preferences depend on compliance with the rules of origin under the relevant agreement.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.douane.gouv.fr\/fiche\/origine-preferentielle-dune-marchandise\">French Customs<\/a> notes that evidence takes different forms depending on the agreement: EUR.1 certificate, statement or declaration of origin, the REX system or importer\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>During an audit, the authorities may nevertheless seek to verify that this evidence reflects the actual manufacturing process.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/eli\/reg\/2013\/952\/oj\/fra\">Article 61 of the UCC<\/a> allows customs authorities, in particular, to require additional supporting evidence where the declared origin is in doubt.<\/p>\n<h2>The product\u2019s origin must be traceable<\/h2>\n<p>For significant or recurring trade flows, retaining only the document presented at customs clearance is therefore insufficient.<\/p>\n<p>The evidence supporting preferential origin must be retrievable:<\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li>the identity and origin of suppliers;<\/li>\n<li>the materials or components used;<\/li>\n<li>the tariff classification of products and components;<\/li>\n<li>manufacturing stages and locations;<\/li>\n<li>the values needed for calculations where the origin rule uses a threshold;<\/li>\n<li>supplier declarations and other traceability records.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The assessment depends on the agreement and product: a change of tariff heading, a maximum percentage of non-originating materials, a specific processing operation or a combination of criteria.<\/p>\n<h2>What happens if the evidence is challenged?<\/h2>\n<p>Evidence of origin may undergo <strong>post-release verification<\/strong>. Some agreements provide for cooperation between the authorities of the importing and exporting countries.<\/p>\n<p>If originating status cannot ultimately be established, preferential treatment may be refused and the corresponding customs duties claimed.<\/p>\n<p>The risk is especially significant where a business relies entirely on a supplier\u2019s statement without the evidence needed to assess its consistency.<\/p>\n<p>Where the origin of a product or manufacturing arrangement raises particular difficulty, <strong>Binding Origin Information (BOI)<\/strong> can also help establish the operator\u2019s position in advance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If audited today, could the business demonstrate why each product actually qualifies for the preferential origin claimed?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Would you like to secure the preferential origin of your goods, or are you facing a challenge to your evidence of origin? <strong>Contact the firm.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Proof of origin is essential, but an audit may lead the authorities to examine the entire manufacturing and traceability chain.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-droit-douanier"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3027"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3286,"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions\/3286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abdennour-avocat.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}