Is the country of origin of goods determined by the bar code?

It is generally accepted that the country code of origingoods is indicated in the first digits of its bar-coding. This is only partly true. Improving production technologies, reducing transportation costs, globalization processes lead to the movement of production or its individual parts to foreign regions, which undoubtedly complicates the identification of the country of manufacture. So, how is the country of origin determined? Let's try to understand.

If the technology of product productionis limited to one phase, or the whole process chain is produced within the same country, the definition of the country of origin of the goods does not cause difficulties. This category includes agricultural products and goods that do not contain imported components.

If the production of goods involvedcomponents made in two or more countries, the term of sufficient, or substantial processing, is used. Sufficient processing is considered to be a process that gives the product its main property.

In some cases, the country of origin may be the customs union, a group of countries, as well as part of the country or its separate region.

According to the International Customs Convention, the country of origin of goods can be determined by one of three methods.

The first method is to change the code.The product will be considered produced in the given country if its classification code is different from the codes of imported materials used in its production (two hundred countries of the world maintain a unified harmonized system of goods classification).

The second method is to determine the ad valorem proportion.If in the price of the final product a significant part (fixed percentage) is made up of materials or value added in a particular country, it is the country of origin of the goods.

The third method is some productionoperation. There is a regulated list of technological operations; if they are carried out in a given country, it will be considered the birthplace of the goods produced (the so-called "positive criterion"). Conversely, a number of technological operations do not allow us to consider the country the birthplace of goods (a negative criterion). This method also applies to materials. For example, only yarn is used as a raw material for clothing production in the EU countries. Clothing made from cloth can not be considered produced in the EU.

The first digits in the bar code definenational organization GS1. The manufacturer has the right to join the national organization of another state and indicate his code when marking his goods. For example, if an Italian furniture manufacturer exports it to Russia, Germany, and sells it on the domestic market, it is a member of the GS1 of Russia, Germany and Italy and, accordingly, labels its products with three different prefixes.

Country of origin of goods is largevalue in carrying out foreign trade operations to regulate tariffs, determine the amount of customs duties, as well as fulfill the requirements applied to the marking of goods.