Two lessons from case law on the origin of goods

Editors' note: The recent 20th Authors' Meeting dealt with issues of origin for customs purposes. At this meeting, the author presented two Israeli court cases - one concerning an unauthorised person signing the certificate of preferential origin and the other concerning whether pistachios originated in Iran or Turkey (non-preferential origin for the application of prohibitions). The cases are not necessarily new, but they deal with relevant questions: What happens if the proof of preferential origin is signed by an unauthorised person? Can the authorisation be granted retrospectively? Is the 'statistical and reasonableness check' sufficient for customs to reject the declared non-preferential origin of the goods?