Rules of origin under free trade agreements: compliance vs usability

Meet customs experts from around the world! Authors who contribute content to the CustomsClear platform are invited to meet in bi-monthly Authors’ Meetings and exchange views on a specific topic.

During the meetings, participants are invited to give 5-minute presentations on the topic. Discussions and questions are welcome at any time. After the meeting, an overview is published in the Customs Compliance & Risk Management journal.

Upcoming meeting

The EU is continuously expanding its free trade agreement framework, creating more opportunities for businesses to benefit from preferential treatment. However, in practice, many companies struggle to use these benefits due to the complexity of rules of origin. This raises an important question: are these agreements truly usable in everyday operations, or do compliance requirements limit their practical value?

This Authors’ Meeting aims to contribute to this discussion by offering expert insights.
The meeting will take place on 28th May 2026, 15:00 CEST.

Topics discussed in previous meetings

• Work smarter: tools and techniques to boost productivity (32nd)

• Customs function in the organisation - a future-proof set up (31st)

• Criminal or administrative? How countries decide on customs violations (30th)

• Customs law and international trade contracts (29th)

• Non-preferential origin: theory and practice (28th)

• Tariffs – pros and cons (27th)

• Insights into the data in the customs declaration (26th)

• Trusted traders (e.g. AEO): new trends and developments in the EU (25th)
  AEO trends and challenges: non-EU perspective (25th)

• International sanctions and export control – the latest developments (24th)

• Customs compliance and awareness amongst traders (23rd)

• Tariff classification of goods in the light of the latest technological developments (22nd)

• Law and case law news: what shouldn’t a customs professional miss? (21st)

• Origin of goods – the trends (20th)

• Customs brokers & their management: current challenges and the future (19th)

• Non-tariff measures: the biggest challenges in 2023 (18th)

• Management of import taxes other than duties (VAT, excise, etc.) – pitfalls and opportunities (17th)

• Customs valuation – the particularities of different countries (16th)

• Best practices/ tips of managing customs knowledge in companies (15th)

• Customs procedures – possibilities not to be missed and worth knowing about (14th)

• Interpretation of customs law: the most challenging aspects for business (13th)

• The biggest challenges in ensuring customs compliance in a company (12th)

• Case-law: most interesting/ relevant insights from judgements of the courts (11th)

• War: How does it highlight the role of a customs specialist, and related challenges? (10th)

• Digitisation of customs processes in business: best practices, challenges and the future (9th)

• The most unexpected customs risk that business faced (8th)

• Favourite article on customs and tips for writing an article (7th) 10 TIPS pdf

• A customs topic or not? What is the most complex customs topic? (6th)

• Customs news in our countries (5th)

• Customs related databases (4th)

• Books on Customs (3rd)

• Customs knowledge in our countries: Is it sufficient? What is ‘sufficient’? (2nd)

• Some thoughts on current important issues (1st, 18 August 2020)

Contact us

If you need further information or have any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@customsclear.net