Update on preferential origin

In this round table, Enrika Naujokė (Director, CustomsClear) gives an update on preferential origin developments in 2025, with a focus on the PEM convention, and explains why free trade agreements are so often underused in practice.

Topics covered:

• Why free trade agreements (FTAs) take years to negotiate but are frequently underutilised by traders
• Main barriers to FTA utilisation: lack of knowledge, complex rules of origin, restrictive rules, and the trust gap between exporter and importer over compliance risk
• A real case where an importer paid duties after an exporter could not provide proof of origin
• The EU-South Korea agreement as a high-utilisation success story, and the role of national customs administrations
• March 2025 European Commission guidance updates on preferential rules of origin, including verification of proof of origin and importer's knowledge
• An ongoing EU-UK court case on origin verification and the resulting risk to importers
• A CJEU clarification on "manifest error" and Article 32 of the PEM Convention
• Transitional rules under the PEM convention (2023 rules vs new rules) and their practical complexity for traders
• The EU-Chile interim trade agreement, its tariff and safeguard implications, and the gap between potential and actual duty savings
• New-generation digital trade agreements with Singapore and the Republic of Korea
• Wider context: US tariffs and new trade talks, including with the United Arab Emirates, and Tonga's accession to the Pacific States Interim Partnership Agreement

For a broader overview of the topic, please watch the full recording. The slides are available in the Resources section.

Please note that this summary was generated using AI, based on the recording and available slides.