Determining product origin

[Pelocho]

I would be grateful for any advice as to how to best approach determining the country of manufacture for a an IT product which is assembled in the UK.
Specifically the product comprises several parts of subassemblies which are imported in the UK for the final assembly and test. About 85% of the bill of materials costs is from non UK/EU parts.

Looking at the Department for Business and Trade, they suggest speaking with an International trade advisor or the local Chamber of Commerce. I think what would be the most helpful for me is for an expert advisor to go through the current manufacturing added-value operations and the current supply chain so a determination can be made based on UK rules of origin. What would be your advice?

Thank you

 

[MOIC]

Are the 85% BOM from more than 1 country?

 

[Pelocho]

Are the 85% BOM from more than 1 country?

Yes,
China
USA
Germany
Latvia
Lithuania

 

[MOIC]

Was the product designed in UK?

Was the majority of the BOM from one specific country?

 

[Pelocho]

Was the product designed in UK?

Was the majority of the BOM from one specific country?

Yes, designed in UK.
From the ~85% BoM cost being from imported parts, about 50-60% is from China.

 

[MOIC]

For product & packaging: Designed & Assembled in UK

Where authorities (may) require the component breakdown, keep records of all component suppliers and provide these if/when asked.

Ensure your product has been tested, passed and is compliant with UKCA certification. UKCA Certified should be printed on both the product and packaging.

I'm not a legal expert, but we have been supplying to high profile brands for the past 40+ years, including RNIB, John Lewis, British Wireless . . . . . so if it's good enough for them, it should be good for your product to.

 

[Pelocho]

For product & packaging: Designed & Assembled in UK

Where authorities (may) require the component breakdown, keep records of all component suppliers and provide these if/when asked.

Ensure your product has been tested, passed and is compliant with UKCA certification. UKCA Certified should be printed on both the product and packaging.

I'm not a legal expert, but we have been supplying to high profile brands for the past 40+ years, including RNIB, John Lewis, British Wireless . . . . . so if it's good enough for them, it should be good for your product to.

Thank you MOIC. In this particular case, it is desirable to ultimately conclude that the product is *not* manufactured in the UK. There is no desire to market the product as designed/manufactured/assembled in the UK, quite the opposite.

You seem to be making a distinction between manufacturing and assembly. I wonder is that based on the % of imported materials/parts? I would have thought that assembly is part of the manufacturing added value process.

 

[MOIC]

You seem to be making a distinction between manufacturing and assembly. I wonder is that based on the % of imported materials/parts?

If there is assembly which needs to take place in the UK to finalise the product, in order for it to be used for the purpose it's intended for, then I (personally) would use the term, Designed & Assembled in the UK.

A majority of products 'manufactured' in the UK, use components which are not from the UK. As an example, the majority of clothing manufactured in the UK, use fabrics, buttons, zips, cotton thread etc, which are imported from China, Turkey, Morocco, Bangladesh, as well as other places. The label on the garment will say (rightly) Made in UK. The same can be said for many other categories of goods manufactured in the UK, that use imported components.

Italy, as an example, specifically ensure that they add at least 1 component to a product, in order to legally say that the product is Made in Italy.

 

[WaveJumper]

Not to mention cars

 

[fisicx]

If you go further back you need to consider the source of the raw materials and even the machinery used in manufacture and assembly.

In aviation for example everything right back to the mines uses to extract the ores is documented.

And remember, china created a region called USA so they could stamp the products Made in the USA.

 

[MOIC]

Solution. . .

Made by Humans on Earth

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

For what purpose do you need to determine COO?

 

[Customs Geek]

As Paul Kelly has said you need to determine the purpose of COO.
For customs there are non preferential rules which are set in law but does vary by country so you would need to find out requirements in the destination country .

If you are looking for COO for purposes of trade agreements then these rules are set down in each specific trade agreement.

The rules are not the same for non preferential origin or each of the various trade agreements the UK has.

 

[Customs Geek]

As Paul Kelly has said you need to determine the purpose of COO.
For customs there are non preferential rules which are set in law but does vary by country so you would need to find out requirements in the destination country .

If you are looking for COO for purposes of trade agreements then these rules are set down in each specific trade agreement.

The rules are not the same for non preferential origin or each of the various trade agreements the UK

www.gov.uk/guidance/check-your-goods-meet-the-rules-of-origin

 

[Pelocho]

For what purpose do you need to determine COO?

Thank you for the insights everyone, they confirm the complexity of the matter.
The reason for the COO relates to managing IP exposure due to 'manufacturing' being in a patent-protected territory. It is highly undesirable at this point in time to 'simply' outsource assembly to a CM in a non-protected territory (eg China, Europe, GCC). Hence I am trying to understand the current position better as part of exploring less radical options than lifting and shifting to a different continent.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Is the product yours? What has IP got to do with anything?

 

[Pelocho]

Is the product yours?

Yes of course.

A competitor of ours (large MNC) has been threatening legal action against us due to IP they have in territories which include the UK. Our patent prosecutors and litigators have done the analysis, concluding we do not infringe. However, arguing that in court will be a significant cost which we would rather avoid. We have various reasons to believe this is a scare tactic from our competitor to maintain their market position, hence we believe that a defence strategy must encompass more elements than the purely rational grounds of infringement (or rather lack of).

Conscious this is an overseas trade forum, as part of our defence we have been advised that not 'making' the product in the UK would further strengthen our case should our competitor choose to escalate. The EU, China and the GCC are all territories that we could move 'making' the product to in order to avoid potential exposure due to the UK element. However, the cost and loss of productivity make us think twice about how to unlock the desired benefits if we were to move 'making' abroad. For example, since the product is designed and for the most partly assembled in the UK but with the majority of the BoM cost being from imported parts, it is unclear whether currently the product is 'Made in the UK' and whether moving several/all of the assembly to a different country would satisfy criteria that will allow us to positively say the product is not 'made' in the UK.

 

[MOIC]

If you do decide to move the full assembly abroad, feel free to contact me. As mentioned before, we work with large brands, so could be a fit.

We have our engineering teams in UK & China, with production facilities in both China & Vietnam.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

What has COO got to do with IP infringement?