Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

Rules of Origin

The final product must meet the RCEP rules of origin in order to qualify for the preferential tariff treatment under RCEP. The exported product must be either:

(a) wholly obtained or produced in one of the RCEP Parties;

or

(b) produced in the territory of an RCEP Party exclusively from materials originating materials from one or more of the RCEP Parties (including New Zealand);

or

(c) if it contains any imported materials that are not originating in the RCEP Parties (including New Zealand), it must meet the Product-Specific Rule of Origin (PSR) listed for the good.

Explanations

(i) Wholly Obtained or Produced Goods (WO) means goods that have been produced without any imported materials in them;

(ii) Goods produced entirely (PE) means goods that are produced entirely from materials that originate either in New Zealand or the other Parties to the RCEP.

(iii) The Product-Specific Rule of Origin (PSR) is expressed using the following key terminology:

(a) Wholly Obtained (WO) in the PSR schedule means goods that have been produced without any imported materials or are produced entirely from materials that originate either in New Zealand or the other Parties to the RCEP.

(b) Change of Chapter (CC) means that all non-originating materials used directly in the production of the final good must be classified in a different chapter from the final good. If materials classified in the same chapter are used, then they must have been produced in New Zealand or by the other Parties to the RCEP:

(c) Change of Tariff Heading (CTH) means that all non-originating materials used directly in the production of the final good must be classified in a different heading from the final good. If materials classified in the same heading are used, then they must have been produced in New Zealand or by the other Parties to the RCEP;

(d) Change of Tariff Subheading (CTSH) means that all non-originating materials used directly in the production of the final good must be classified in a different subheading from the final good. If materials classified in the same subheading are used, then they must have been produced in New Zealand or by the other Parties to the RCEP;

(d) RVC(x) means that the good must have a Regional Value Content of not less than x% (e.g. 40%).  This is calculated according to either of the two formulas set out in Chapter 3 (Rules of Origin), Article 3.5 (Calculation of Regional Value Content).

  1. ‘Indirect / Build-down Formula means that the      RVC must be calculated based on the value of non-originating goods;
  2. ‘Direct / Build-up Formula means that the RVC      must be calculated based on the value of originating materials

NOTE: If a rule has exclusions, e.g. 'Change of chapter excluding Chapter XX', this means that the goods excluded (i.e. in this example those goods classified in the same chapter, as well as those in the excluded Chapter) must have been produced either in New Zealand or in the other RCEP Parties.

De Minimis

If a good fails to meet a change in tariff classification requirement contained in the PSR schedule [PDF, 1.9 MB], it can still be considered as an originating good if:

  1. it is classified in chapters 1-97 in the HS Code, and the value of the materials that do not achieve the required change in tariff classification does not exceed 10% of the Free-on-Board value of the good;

 

  1. it is classified in chapters 50-63 in the HS Code, and the weight of the materials that do not achieve the required change in tariff classification does not exceed 10% of the total weight of the good.