Preferential origins: the use of electronic evidence materializes

The European Economic Area (EEA), of which the EU, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland form part, gives concrete expression to the acceptance of using proofs of preferential origin issued electronically in the publication in the Official Journal OJEU No 2025/574 of 24 April 2025.

Not to be confused with evidence dematerialised through Invoice Declarations of Origin (DOF) which require specific statutes such as the Approved Exporter, such as EUR1 documents which no longer need to be physically targeted for proof of preferential origin at the time of customs clearance at the importer.

Article 2 of the Decision of the EEA Committee lays down the following conditions:

• Certificates must be submitted in the same format as the original EUR1,
• The customs authorities of the Contracting Party to the EEA Export Agreement shall provide for a secure online system for verifying the authenticity of certificates (e.g. QR code),
• Movement certificates issued electronically must bear a single serial number.

With regard to the PANEUROMED Convention, which entered into its modernised phase since 1 January 2025, one must remain cautious: the modernised Convention also provides for the possibility of establishing a system for issuing and/or submitting the original evidence electronically.

In this context, the European customs authorities accept movement certificates issued electronically and presented for import but for export, The EU does not yet have a system for issuing certificates in this way.

In other words, it is currently not possible to validate an electronic EUR1 from the EU. On the other hand, it is possible to apply an import tariff preference on presentation of a EUR1 established electronically if the exporting country provides for an electronic delivery system. This is the case today, for example, for Morocco, Israel and Turkey.