Goods wholly obtained

To determine the origin of your product, the rules of origin distinguish between goods wholly obtained and goods sufficiently transformed.

Wholly obtained goods are exclusively produced or processed in the EU or a partner country without using materials from another country.

This includes, for example, plants, minerals or live animals.

For these products it is understood that:

• vegetables originate in a country if they have been harvested there;
• animals originate in a country if they were born and raised there;

For fish products, the EU rules of origin distinction between:

• fish caught within the territorial waters of a trading partner country – these are considered as originating without any additional conditions;
• fish caught beyond the territorial waters of the trading partner country – these are only considered as originating only if they were caught by a vessel that is:
  • flying the flag of the EU or the partner country ;
  • registered in the EU or in the partner country;
  • owned by an EU or partner country national or by a company which has its main place of business in the EU or the partner country and is at least 50% owned by EU or partner country nationals;

In some cases, it is also required that at least 50% of the crew are also nationals of the EU or the trading partner country.

For full details see the protocol on rules of origin of the relevant preferential trade agreement.