Customs – Help: Why do I need a supplier's declaration?
When applications/issuance of certificates of origin are required by customs
(EUR1, EUR-MED movement certificate or INF4 information sheet -
information sheet for verification by customs authorities)
When an official copy of a declaration of origin is required on the invoice
For the issuance of declarations by subsequent suppliers
As a basis for ascertaining the country of origin
Supplier's declarations can generally only be used for the movement of goods within
the EU. A supplier’s declaration from e.g. Switzerland is not valid!
A person is deemed to be a supplier (regardless of the invoicing) whenever he or
she has the actual power of disposal over the goods. There is no legal obligation to
issue a supplier's declaration.
However, we would like to point out that, as the issuer, you are responsible for the
correctness of the declaration, vis-à-vis your customers and the customs authority.
An incorrect or false issuance of a supplier's declaration may possibly lead to civil,
financial, or criminal penalties as well as administrative fines (deliberate acts can be
punished by fines of up to €40,000; while in cases of negligence, the issuer is liable
to receive a fine of up to €4,000, as per § 48a of the Austrian Fiscal Offences Act
(Finanzstrafgesetz, FinStrG).
If the designated State making the shipment has a trade agreement with the EU,
the consignee can import the merchandise duty-free, provided that the sender of
the goods has issued a preference certificate (EUR1, declaration of origin).
The wording of the supplier's declarations is binding and may be specified on an
invoice, a delivery note or any other appropriate commercial document.
This means the goods must be labelled in a manner that allows the reference to the
goods to be clearly visible.
Supplier declarations must have an original signature. This is waived only in cases
where the declaration has been digitally created and the person responsible for
rendering the declaration (signee) has been determined in the declaration, with the
supplier pledging in writing (to the purchaser) to take full responsibility for all
supplier declarations.
Therefore, the PERSON/SIGNEE is ALWAYS liable for all information in a
supplier's declaration, not the company (on behalf of, etc.)!
The signee should be able to ascertain from the supplier declarations and
certificates of origin those documents (product description – including stickers,
purchase invoices, shipping documents, customs clearance documents, and supplier
declarations), which accompany the goods, whether semi-finished goods or
commodities. This is part of the duty of care.
The following is meant by the term "certificate of origin" in the supplier
declaration:
1. the preferential good is covered by the respective treaty
2. the good displays a certificate of origin of a treaty country as defined by
the respective treaty
3. the originating status is to be proven by a special certificate of origin
(EUR1, declaration of origin)
4. the direct transport rule has been complied with
What is a Certificate of Origin?
On the one hand, goods can be 100% EU - originating goods without processing.
For this to be the case, the goods must be wholly obtained or produced in the EU.
Goods that do not meet these conditions, can still gain a preferential origin, if the
products are sufficiently worked or processed. However, in any case, this must be
beyond the so-called minimal operations! If this is the case, you must check by
means of processing lists whether there is sufficient working or processing.
This can be done by
• A so-called tariff shift (in import, e.g. PE in primary form, tariff code 3901,
finished in the EU processed toy tariff code 9503).
• Processing - "sufficient" processing according to processing lists that can be
found in the following link: see also
http://www.wup.zoll.de/wup_online/liste_synopse.php?
The term "preferential trade", in the supplier's declaration, means countries for
which EU products are given a preferential treatment. The basis for this is a
preferential agreement!
To see if there is a preferential agreement with your country of delivery, you can
check the following link:
http://www.wup.zoll.de/wup_online/laenderinformationen.php?radio_suche=lan&lan
dinfo
What does the term "cumulation" mean?
Here is an example based on an export to Switzerland with the tariff code 9503:
According to the processing list, it is given as 50 percent, i.e. 50% of the Ex-Works
price must be from the EU!
The supplier can prove on the basis of import documents (EUR1 and declaration of
origin), that 15% of primary materials come from Switzerland, 48% from China,
37% is achieved through self-production.
Cumulation means that "foreign" material (in this case Swiss material) may be used
as EU material as this fulfils the requirements according to the processing list!
The sum of Swiss material and EU material gives a value of 52 percent – which
means that the supplier's declaration for the delivery to Switzerland must be
marked as follows: cumulation applied with Switzerland!
In summary,
• Suppliers' declarations are voluntary
• The fact that at 12 midnight on December 31st a new year begins is meaningless
in the context of the supplier's declaration. It is only valid as long as the goods exist
(delivered in 2009, sold 2012). This also means that the time-limit is up to 10 years
for such a supplier's declaration!
• OUR TIP: therefore issue long-term suppliers only for one calendar/fiscal year and
only for those business partners where regular contact exists.
• Suppliers' declarations are EU documents!
