EU-Singapore FTA Contains Important Rules of Origin Provisions, KPMG Says

The European Union-Singapore free trade agreement contains several significant rules of origin that may impact companies’ ability to benefit from the deal, KPMG said in a Nov. 13 post. The deal, which will take effect Nov. 21, is expected to eliminate Singapore tariffs on EU goods and remove all EU tariffs within a few years (see 1911080069). The deal’s rules of origin will be used to determine whether goods are eligible for preferential treatment and are product-specific, meaning the criteria that determines whether an item qualifies for a preferential tariff varies from product to product, KPMG said.

The deal allows certain materials sourced from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to be incorporated into final products and can be deemed as originating from Singapore, the post said. The agreement also contains “co-equal rules,” whereby exporters have the option of meeting “either a RVC (regional value content) or CTC (change in tariff classification) rule,” according to KPMG. “All these instruments will provide companies with greater flexibility in establishing origin and thus help them to further optimize their supply chain operations.”