Rules of Origin

Rules of origin (ROO) are defined as the specific provisions applied by a country to determine the origin of goods and using principles established by national legislation or international agreements.

For the purposes of Singapore’s permit application, the “Country/Region of Origin” of a good refers to the country/region in which the goods were wholly obtained or substantially transformed to their final form.  When declaring the “Country/Region of Origin”, the good must meet the prevailing rules of origin of the country/region where the goods are produced or manufactured.

Non-Preferential Rules of Origin

To qualify as goods of Singapore origin for non-preferential purposes (i.e. for goods that are not seeking preferential tariff treatment), the following origin criteria apply:

a) Be wholly obtained (i.e. wholly grown or produced entirely in Singapore); or

b) Have undergone substantial transformation in Singapore by meeting any of the following criteria:

• Manufactured in Singapore with minimum 25% of Local Content based on the ex- factory price of the finished goods;

• Attained a Change in Tariff Classification at the 6-digit level (i.e. Change in Tariff Sub-Heading); or

• Undergone a Chemical Reaction (only for products under HS Chapters 27 to 40).

Goods which have only undergone minimal processing in Singapore, would not qualify as Singapore-originating.

Simple/Minimal processes:

• Operations to ensure the preservation of products in good condition during transport and storage (ventilation, spreading out, drying, chilling, placing in salt, sulphur dioxide or other aqueous solutions, removal of damaged parts, and like operations);

• Simple operations consisting of removal of dust, sifting or screening, sorting, classifying, matching (including the making up of sets of articles), washing, painting, cutting up;

• Changes of packing and breaking up and assembly of consignments, and simple placing in bottles, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards, and all other simple packing operations;

• The affixing of marks, labels or other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;

• Simple mixing of products, whether or not of different kinds;

• Simple assembly of parts of products to constitute a complete product;

• A combination of two or more operations specified in (a) to (f);

• Slaughter of animals.

You may refer to this handbook for more information on Singapore’s non-preferential ROO. They also apply to the issuance of ordinary (non-preferential) Certificates of Origin, which you may wish to obtain for commercial reasons.

For the purposes of Singapore’s import, export and transhipment permit applications, the “Country/Region of Origin” of a good refers to the country/region in which the goods were wholly obtained or substantially transformed to their final form. To declare “Singapore” as the “Country/Region of Origin” for goods that are not seeking preferential tariff treatment, the goods must meet the above criteria. For more resources on permit applications, you may refer to the e-Learning Resources on “Important Permit Fields”.

Preferential Rules of Origin

To qualify as Singapore-originating goods and be eligible for preferential tariff treatment when goods are exported from Singapore to an FTA partner country/region, your goods must meet the specific origin criteria set out in the relevant FTA that is in force. You may use the EnterpriseSG FTA search engine to identify the applicable origin criteria for your goods. There are three types of preferential proof of origin.