The purpose of country-of-origin marking is to inform the ultimate purchaser of the goods where the goods were made. The country of origin is the nation that manufactured, produced, or grown and the ultimate purchaser is the last person to receive the commodity in the form in which it was imported.
Some key points of marking are:
- Marking must be legible, and an adequate size to be read by a person with normal vision.
- Marking should be in a conspicuous place and must be where it can be seen with a casual handling of the article.
- The marking should be indelibly and permanently as the nature of the product will permit. Marking that will not remain on the article during handling or for any other reason except deliberate removal is not a proper marking.
Improper marking of merchandise will be subject to additional duties, exported, or destroyed under US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) supervision. Additionally, any person who removes, destroys, alters, covers, or obliterates with the intent of concealing the country of origin marking on an imported article could be subject to prosecution and criminal penalties.
The CBP website has a page dedicated to marking and an informed compliance publication. Please note that these resources may not be considered ‘reasonable care’ as it contains general information. CBP does issue rulings on Country of origin marking that can be found on the Customs Ruling Online Search System (CROSS).
Willson International does provide ruling request services for country of origin marking, classification, valuation, and a myriad of other topics.
If your company would like to pursue a ruling, please contact transitionteamus@willsonintl.com and that team will assist in the process.