Free trade agreements

The «ex works price» is the price of the goods including the value of all utilised primary materials paid to the manufacturer in whose company the final processing was performed. Not included in the “ex works price” are all internal duties which are reimbursed once the goods are delivered (e.g. VAT) as well as all costs incurred once the goods have left the factory such as, for example, for transport and insurance.

An authorised exporter can issue country of origin declarations on the invoice in all agreements, irrespective of the value of the consignment. These do not have to be signed by hand. The exporter requires a permit from the responsible district customs bureau; this permit will be issued provided that the applicant guarantees that he will adhere to the country of origin provisions, and has produced correct country of origin declarations in the past. Further information: SCA – Authorised exporters. 

Cumulation makes it possible to use country of origin products of a signatory country, insofar as these have already been imported with country of origin certificates from the respective countries of origin. This consequently means that primary materials which are already country of origin products of another signatory country do not have to be adequately processed once again in Switzerland.

Types of cumulation:
Bilateral cumulation: only with primary materials of both (bilateral) free trade partners (e.g. Switzerland-Japan or EFTA-Columbia).
Diagonal cumulation: possible with primary materials from several free trade partners, insofar as all apply the same country of origin rules (e.g. EU-EFTA-Turkey).
Euro-Med cumulation: this is also possible with primary materials from Mediterranean states, insofar as all of the free trade partners involved apply the same country of origin rules and insofar as agreements exist between them. Participating countries: Egypt, Algeria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, West Jordan and the Gaza Strip as well as the Faroe Islands.
With effect from 1 January 2012 the following West Balkan countries have also been included in the Euro-Med cumulation zone: Albania, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia. Cumulation is not yet possible in respect of trade with the EU, and it is moreover not applicable to the agricultural products set out in Chapters 1 – 24.
Pan-European cumulation: with primary materials from the EFTA, the EU or Turkey.
Full cumulation: the adequate processing does not have to be performed within the customs territory of an individual country, but may be performed within the overall territorial territory of a free trade agreement. Provision has only been made for full cumulation within the EFTA-Tunisia free trade agreement.

When manufacturing products with a Swiss country of origin, no primary materials may be used, which do not meet the country of origin criteria, which are the subject of a reimbursement or non-imposition of customs duties (e.g. goods imported and re-exported in the finishing business). This rule is not applicable to the agreements with Singapore, South Korea, SACU, Canada, Japan, Columbia and Peru.

Most (but not all) Swiss free trade agreements contain a rule of this nature. This means that when determining the country of origin of goods, primary materials which originate from a third country are not taken into account, provided their value does not exceed 10 per cent of the ex works price. However, if a percentage rule is stipulated in the list, this may not be exceeded by the application of the general value tolerance. For this reason, this tolerance is of relevance above all to those goods for which the list makes provision for a jump in position.
The general value tolerance cannot be applied to goods listed in Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonised System, and also does not apply to products which have received only minimal processing in Switzerland.

The following treatment constitutes minimal treatment (not definitive):
Compilation of pack units, washing, cleaning, ironing, painting, polishing, shelling, colouring sugar, grinding, sieving, sorting, filling, printing, simple mixing, butchering of animals.
Third-country goods which only receive the aforementioned treatments in Switzerland are never deemed to be country of origin goods, even if the listed conditions are fulfilled.

Position jump means that all utilised primary materials which do not meet the country of origin criteria must be included under other numbers than the final product. For this purpose, the numbers of the primary products as well as that of the final product must first be known. The numbers are the first four digits of the customs tariff numbers of the harmonised system (HS).

The purpose of preferential origin is to make goods customs-exempt or subject to reduced customs when exported to a free trade agreement country. This is documented with a movement certificate or country of origin declaration on the invoice.
Fulfilment of the non-preferential country of origin regulations does not exempt the goods from customs when these are imported to a third country – these country of origin rules are only applicable, if the country of destination demands a country of origin certificate for the import.
This should not be confused with the question of Swissness («Made in Switzerland»), which is subject to a different set of rules.

The signatories to a free trade agreement form a free trade zone (e.g. Switzerland-EU). This does not constitute a customs union, meaning that the signatories to the agreement retain their own external customs duties.
In the case of a customs union, by contrast, only common external customs duties exist. Once goods have passed this border and reached the market, they may circulate freely between the individual countries – without further customs duties being incurred.
Examples of customs unions: European Union or Switzerland-Liechtenstein.