For two days we now had surprise at the fact that Rules of origin become relevant in UK-EU trade. A surprise that, as @SamuelMarcLowe has eloquently pointed out, surprises trade people. So: a very very short thread on: WHY are there rules of origin?
And FTA is concluded between 2 (or more) parties. So it benefits those parties. Not others. What does that mean for goods? It benefits goods "from those parties". How do you know that the goods are from those parties? Well, that's what RoOs do.
Why can we not just get rid of this unnecessary red tape? Quite simple. Let's say the government says: there shall be no red tape.
From tomorrow on, China would export every single item it exports to the UK via the EU. And it would be tariff-free.
From tomorrow on, China would export every single item it exports to the UK via the EU. And it would be tariff-free.
And so we get RoOs. And because saying when a car is a UK product and when a flower is a UK product really are different exercises that are non-comparable, RoOs are different from product to product.
And if you like RoOs - these are the so-called "preferential" RoOs. We also have non-preferential RoOs. And the stuff you put on a product: made in the UK. Which, curiously, is technically not regulated by RoOs.
If you want to know everything about RoOs - @SamuelMarcLowe and @AnnaJerzewska have a LOT to say on that subject. And, importantly, they also know a lot about it. Which, nowadays, is probably worth mentioning.
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