Where you're shipping from and where the item was actually made are two different questions on a customs form — and only one of them can unlock a lower duty rate.
A commercial invoice for a non-EU shipment asks for a country of origin, and it's a common mistake to fill it in with wherever the parcel is being sent from — Portugal, if that's where you're shipping — regardless of where the item was actually manufactured. Customs authorities worldwide, following the general framework set out by the World Customs Organization, use country of origin to mean where the goods were produced, manufactured or substantially transformed — not the country of export or dispatch, which is simply the last country the shipment left from.
This distinction exists because trade agreements grant reduced or zero duty based on where something was made, not where it was mailed from. A product manufactured in China but shipped from a Portuguese warehouse doesn't become 'Portuguese-origin' by passing through Portugal — and declaring it as such, even unintentionally, is a customs misrepresentation, not a shipping detail.
| Question | Country of Origin | Country of Dispatch |
|---|---|---|
| What it means | Where the goods were made, produced, or last substantially transformed | Where the physical shipment is sent from |
| Who sets the rule for what counts | The destination country's customs authority, generally following World Customs Organization (WCO) rules-of-origin frameworks | Simply the sender's location |
| Affects duty rate? | Yes — this is what a trade agreement's preferential rate is actually based on | No — dispatch location by itself doesn't unlock a lower rate |
| Needs proof? | Often yes, for a preferential rate — commonly a certificate or statement of origin | No special proof — it's just the sender's address |
Writing the sender's country as 'country of origin' by default, regardless of where the item was actually made.
Assuming a product qualifies for a trade agreement's preferential rate just because it was shipped from a country that has that agreement — origin, not dispatch location, is what the agreement actually tests.
Not realizing that re-exporting something (sending on a product you didn't make yourself) doesn't change its country of origin.
No — that's the country of dispatch. Country of origin specifically means where the item was made, produced, or last substantially transformed, following the general framework used by customs authorities worldwide (the World Customs Organization sets the underlying rules-of-origin concepts most countries build on).
Not by itself. Preferential duty rates under trade agreements are based on country of origin, not where the parcel was physically sent from.
The country of origin is still where it was originally manufactured, not where you're sending it from. Re-exporting doesn't change a product's origin.
For a general commercial shipment, usually a clear statement on the commercial invoice is enough, but claiming a preferential rate under a specific trade agreement often needs additional formal proof — check the destination's requirements, since this varies by agreement and country.
Get the origin and description right on the invoice before you book.
Read the Customs Description Guide →