The Origin Determination Module, targeted at electronics and medical device manufacturing companies, can collect country of origin data automatically from a company’s supply chain, apply rules of origin such as determining if the product was wholly produced in one country or if substantial transformation took place. This is said to be important as components can be sourced from several assembly and manufacturing locations and the information required may be several tiers down a supply chain.
“In the globalised business world, it’s not always as simple as one might hope to maintain the strictest ethical controls. Supply chain complexities, multisourcing and production of goods in multiple stages can make tracking the origin of items and raw materials tricky. Our Origin Determination Module solves this transparently, quickly and easily,” claimed Anthony Delengaigne, director of implementation services.
The company says establishing country of origin is important in order to benefit from free trade arrangements, adding the consequences of incorrectly assuming that a product qualifies under certain rules of origin can be substantial, such as supply interruptions, penalties and sanctions. If the country of origin is stated incorrectly, for example, goods may be seized by customs and fines imposed.
