Trade Agreements & Origin, the savings worth defending.
The right origin can cut your duty to a lower rate, or to zero, but only if you can prove it. Gaston Schul works out where your goods originate, proves it to the standard customs expects, and keeps the proof current.
TRADE AGREEMENTS & ORIGIN
Trade agreements can cut your duty. Origin decides if you qualify.
The European Union has trade agreements with dozens of countries, and many let you import or export at a reduced or zero duty rate, but only if your goods qualify on origin and you can prove it. Origin is not where the goods shipped from; it is where they are deemed to have been made under the rules of the specific agreement. Get the determination right, hold the evidence behind it, and the lower rate is yours.
OUR SERVICES
From qualification to proof you can stand behind.
One independent partner, the full set of origin and trade-agreement work, applied to your products and run under one operating model across Europe.
We assess your products against the rules of origin in each agreement and tell you what genuinely qualifies, and what does not, before you claim it.
Wholly obtained, sufficient processing, tariff-shift or value rules, cumulation: we work out which rule applies to your goods and how to meet it.
We prepare and issue the proof, EUR.1, EUR-MED, A.TR and Certificates of Origin, so your claim is documented correctly the first time.
We run your supplier declarations as a managed, tracked process, requesting, chasing, checking and renewing them, so a structured request from your customs partner gets the responses an internal email rarely does
Where certainty matters, we apply for a BOI decision, a ruling from customs that fixes your product's origin and is binding across the EU.
Origin is decided at component level, so for a multi-tiered supply chain it is a forensic exercise, working through your Bill of Materials, costs and processing to establish where each product truly originates.
Sometimes a small change to sourcing or processing turns a near-miss into a qualifying product. We find those, and quantify the saving before you act.
WHY IT MATTERS
Origin is your risk to carry, not your supplier's.
The risk with preferential origin is not claiming too little. It is claiming a rate your goods do not actually qualify for, and not being able to prove it later. Unproven preference is not just an operational loose end; it is a contingent liability on your balance sheet, the kind that surfaces in an audit, or in due diligence when the business is being bought or sold.
- The claim is yours, so the risk is yours. When a preference claim is challenged, customs comes back to the business that made it, not the supplier who provided the part. Whatever your supplier told you, it is your name on the declaration.
- A supplier declaration can be confidently wrong. Suppliers often declare on where they bought a part, not where it was actually made, because they do not know the origin rules either. A signed declaration that was never checked against the rules is where the expensive surprises hide, so we check the logic, not just the paperwork.
- A wrong claim is repaid with interest. Preference claimed but not substantiated means the duty you saved is reclaimed, often across years of shipments, usually with interest, and sometimes with a penalty on top.
- Origin is not where it shipped from. Goods that pass through, or are even lightly worked in, a partner country do not automatically gain its origin. The rules are specific, and assuming otherwise is where qualifying and non-qualifying goods get mixed up.
- Declarations expire quietly. A Long-Term Supplier Declaration covers a fixed period and a fixed product. When sourcing changes or the period lapses, the proof behind your claims lapses with it, and nobody notices until an audit does.
RELATED SERVICES
Where origin connects.
Duty Optimisation
Preferential origin is one duty-saving lever. See the rest, applied to your goods under one partner.
Tariff Classification
Origin rules are written against commodity codes. The right classification is where qualification starts.
Trade Compliance
Keep every preference claim documented and audit-ready, so a saving never becomes an exposure.
Authorisations & Licensing
The approved-exporter and REX status that let you self-certify origin, set up and maintained.
Customs Clearance
The EUR.1, A.TR and Certificates of Origin issued and filed alongside your declarations, by the same team.
Customs Technology
Your origin data, declarations and supplier declarations in one place, so the proof is there when you need it.
RELATED NEWS
Customs & Trade. Controlled.
Gaston Schul does more than issue a certificate. We connect it all and run it as one. That is what one full-service operating model gives you, across all your customs and trade in Europe: the clarity to see, the control to govern, and the confidence to decide.
GET IN TOUCH
From origin questions to clear answers.
Tell us what you make or move and where it is sourced, and an advisor will tell you what qualifies and what it is worth. No obligation, just a clear answer from someone who knows customs.
Trade Agreements & Origin FAQs
Trade agreements and origin: frequently asked questions
They answer different questions. Country of origin (non-preferential origin) is where a product is considered to be made for general purposes, labelling, trade statistics, anti-dumping duty. Preferential origin is a stricter test set by a specific trade agreement, and meeting it is what unlocks a reduced or zero duty rate. A product can have one country of origin and still fail to qualify for preference under an agreement. We determine both, and tell you which rate you can actually claim.
It depends on the agreement and the product. Each agreement sets its own rules of origin, wholly obtained, a tariff shift, a maximum share of non-originating value, or sufficient processing, and your goods have to meet the rule that applies to their commodity code. We assess your Bill of Materials and processing against the relevant rule and tell you what qualifies before you claim it, not after.
A supplier declaration is your supplier's written confirmation of the origin of the parts or materials they sell you, and it is the evidence that supports your own preference claim. A Long-Term Supplier Declaration (LTSD) covers repeated deliveries over a set period. They matter because in an audit it is you, the exporter or importer who claimed the preference, that customs holds responsible, and a claim without a valid declaration behind it is a claim you cannot defend. We request, validate, manage and renew them, so the proof behind every claim is always current.
The duty you saved is reclaimed, usually across every affected shipment customs can look back over, normally with interest and sometimes a penalty. Done properly, preference is one of the safest savings in customs; the exposure comes from claiming on assumption rather than evidence. We make sure every claim is determined correctly and documented to survive a challenge.
More than most buyers expect. When you acquire a business you inherit its customs history, and unproven preference claims are a contingent liability that can quietly erode the return on the deal. Customs can look back years, and "the previous owner claimed it" is no defence. We run origin due diligence the same way we defend an audit: determine what actually qualified, test the evidence behind past claims, and quantify the exposure before it becomes your problem.
A BOI is a formal decision from a customs authority confirming the preferential or non-preferential origin of your product, and it is binding on customs across the EU for a set period. Where a product's origin is high-value or finely balanced, a BOI removes the uncertainty and gives you a ruling you can rely on. We assess whether one is worthwhile and handle the application.
No. We can run an origin review and manage your preference claims alongside your existing clearance arrangements, or as part of taking on your customs end to end. Either way you keep trading while we find and prove the savings.
Yes. Our own teams cover 14 European markets, with an alliance network reaching further, all under one operating model. So the same determination, the same evidence standard and the same controls apply wherever you import or export, with one partner accountable for the result. If consolidating that across markets is the bigger question, that is our One partner across Europe solution.
Customs consultancy on origin is expert advice on whether your goods qualify for preferential treatment and how to prove it. The difference is that we advise and execute. An accountancy or law firm can tell you a preference may exist; we determine it, prepare the EUR.1 or supplier declarations, apply for the BOI and run the renewals. And we are independent, privately owned, with no parent company over us and no outside shareholders, so the advice serves your duty bill, not a sales target.