WCO, UN Release New 'Rules of Origin Facilitator' Tool

The World Customs Organization and the United Nations' International Trade Centre developed a new online tool meant to help smaller companies benefit from lower duties in free trade agreements, the ITC said in a news release. The Rules of Origin Facilitator will "increase transparency and knowledge in trade and make the subject of rules of origin more easily accessible for customs officers, companies, trade policymakers, and trade institutions," WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya said.

The tool "contains information on trade agreements and applicable tariff rates at the detailed product level" and "includes the product-specific rules of origin as well as provisions on origin certification," WCO and ITC said. "Necessary documentation, such as certificates of origin, is also provided." There's been some interest among customs lawyers on Twitter already about the new tool and whether use of the product "constitutes 'reasonable care.'" CBP said "the application is too new for CBP to comment on its utility for reasonable care purposes."

There are more than 400 regional trade agreements and preferential trade arrangements and "the intention is for the database to cover all of these agreements," the intergovernmental organizations said. "Currently, the initiative covers the destination markets of 85 countries including most of the developed economies. The online tool is comprehensive in its coverage providing information on all tradable goods, ranging from raw agricultural commodities to sophisticated machinery and electronics."