Origin Management
Preferential and non-preferential origin management for finished goods, trading materials and components across multiple Free Trade Agreements.
At a glance
| Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Calculates, manages and documents product origin based on bills of material, component origin, HS codes, prices, rules of origin and supplier declarations. The module supports multi-FTA calculation, supplier declaration collection and customer-facing origin evidence. |
| Typical inputs | BOM, component HS codes, Made In, prices, supplier declarations, production location, finished good price, FTA configuration and ROO rules. |
| Typical outputs | Preferential origin status, origin type, Made In, calculation status, OP details, customer declarations, supplier declaration requests and audit exports. |
| Business value | Maximizes duty savings from FTAs, focuses data collection on origin-critical components, improves supplier declaration governance and creates a defensible audit trail for origin decisions. |
Core capabilities
- Origin workspaces for finished goods, trading materials, raw materials and suppliers
- BOM-based preferential origin calculation for produced articles
- Non-BOM origin management for purchased or trading materials
- Support for value rules, weight rules, tariff shift and processing rules
- Multi-FTA calculation and configurable country groups
- Rules of Origin configuration by FTA and HS code range
- Supplier Long-Term Declaration lifecycle and electronic signature integration
- Data quality monitoring and origin calculation audit details
Business challenges addressed
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Need to benefit from Free Trade Agreements while proving compliance with rules of origin.
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Complex bills of materials, supplier data, prices and HS codes are difficult to maintain manually.
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Supplier and customer long-term declarations require collection, tracking and auditability.
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Missing data blocks origin calculations and creates manual follow-up workload.
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Multiple markets and FTAs require consistent publication of origin results.
Functional description
The determination and management of product origin is required to benefit as far as possible from opportunities to reduce customs duties. The MyTower GTM Origin Module provides end-to-end documentation of component origins, the calculation based on product composition and the origin information provided to customers, required to prove compliance with the regulations stipulated in free trade agreements. The MyTower GTM Origin Module also manages the determination of non-preferential origin (Made In) according to common law, like the EU Customs Code. The origin determination serves also as an input for the license determination for some of the export regulations (notably US-Reexport regulations)
Preferential Origin
The Origin Module determines the preferential origin of a product according to the Rules of Origin of the selected Free Trade Agreements
The preferential origin determination analyses the product composition based on the Bill-of-Material and applies the Rules-Of-Origin, typically expressed as requirements for sufficient transformation (Tariff Shift), Regional Value Content or Specific Processing. Input parameters are the prices, HS classification and origin status of all product components, the bill or material, the finished good production location, its HS Code and its price (EXW or FOB depending on the Agreement). In many cases the Rules of Origin give a tolerance for non-regional value content or components without sufficient transformation. In these cases, the system provides a minimum threshold for the finished goods price, at which preferential origin is obtained.
Tolerance for Missing Data
The system can determine the origin even if certain data elements on the components are missing. The calculation can be carried out in “best-case” and “worst-case” mode and shows for which components it is required to obtain the missing data to achieve a preferential origin of the finished product.
With this functionality it is possible to largely minimize the effort to maintain the origin status and classification of components and raw materials, and to focus the efforts on those materials which really make a difference for the finished goods preferential origin status.
Simulation Mode
The system allows to change certain parameters of the components and to evaluate the impact on the finished good preferential Origin. These simulations can be carried out at any time and can be saved and compared to the result obtained with standard set of parameters.
Cumulation
When determining the origin status, the system takes into account the standard cumulation rules as presented in the Free Trade Agreements. In case of Triangular Cumulation the origin determination requires cumulation information for the critical components and will typically depend on the particular country of destination.
Calculation in campaigns or per transaction
The preferential origin determination can be carried out for the entire product portfolio at certain intervals, can be triggered by a change in the input parameters (e.g., origin status of a component) or can be carried out per sales transaction or per production batch. The integration and synchronization of the material master data from the ERP system to MyTower GTM is set up accordingly to ensure that the origin determination is always carried out with the latest set of product master data.
Accounting Segregation / Fungible Products
Some Free Trade Agreements allow, after special authorization, to account for cases where raw materials cannot be easily separated in originating and non-originating. In this case the MyTower Origin Module can carry out an origin calculation by taking the current balance of originating and non-originating material. To allow such a calculation the ERP system needs to transmit the current stock balance to be taken into account for the calculation.
Archiving
Each origin determination result is archived together with all input parameters used for the calculation. This allows to retrieve at any time all documentation and parameters used and supports audit processes.
Integration of origin results to the ERP system
The results of the origin determination are fed back to other system either in batch mode or on demand (e.g. for the creation of a commercial invoice or any other commercial document such as packing list)
Non-Preferential Origin – (Made In)
The system supports the determination of non-preferential origin according to origin legislation of the different trade countries or trade zones, as long as these regulations follow the general principles as laid out by the World Trade Organization, i.e., that the rule are based on the level of transformation, the regional value content, special processing rules and the origin of the components and raw materials.
The determination of the non-preferential origin is based in principle on the same input parameters as the determination of preferential origin. Several additional input parameters may be required, depending on the regulation to be applied. (e.g. confirmation of the type of transformation carried out and its economic justification)
The result of the non-preferential origin calculation is the country of origin. Similarly, to the preferential origin calculation, all results and input parameters of the non-preferential origin calculation are archived for auditing purposes.
Origin Certificates and Long-Term Vendor Declarations
For most Free Trade Agreements, the origin of the components and raw materials used on the determination of the finished good origin needs to be documented through origin certificates or long-term declarations provided by the supplier. The Origin Module allows the generation, collection, management and archiving of these origin certificates in a collaborative way.
Similarly, origin certificate and long-term vendor declaration need to be provided to customers or for inter-company exchanges to justify the eligibility for free trade. The system allows the generation, distribution and archiving of these declarations and provides the origin information to upstream system producing documents with origin statements (like customs invoices or packing lists). The system can provide the relevant language to be included on the customs document or prepare the origin certificates according to the terms and templates set out in the Free Trade Agreements.
Per shipment Origin certificates
The Origin Module takes into account any origin information received on a per shipment basis. The information is stored with a date validity (valid-from, valid-to) and is updated, once a new shipment information with changed origin is transmitted from the ERP system.
Long term Vendor Declarations from suppliers
The Origin Module supports a collaborative workflow to maintain component and raw material origin with and by suppliers. The system presents the origin status of each component or raw material and allows a user to maintain its status. Subsequently the data can be exported into a vendor declaration form (based on the format prescribed by the free trade agreement). The form can be printed, signed and uploaded into the Origin Module. The view on the origin status can be shared with the supplier, who can maintain the status directly in the system. Alternatively, data can be uploaded from an excel sheet.
A change in the origin status of a component triggers a re-determination of all products which use this component.
Long term Vendor Declarations for Customers
Once a preferential origin for a finished product is determined the system provides the possibility to create vendor declarations for customers. The system provides end-to-end visibility, which supplier declarations were used for the origin determination, which in turn was used for a customer declaration.
Reference Data
MyTower maintains its own set of reference data for free trade agreements. Where this is not sufficient, we also offer the possibility to integrate data from established data providers like Mendel Verlag, Descartes or Thomson Reuters. See the list of supported Free Trade Agreements. Additional Free trade Agreements can be made available on request.
Feature reference
Origin Management Views
The central workspace for compliance teams, built on a powerful AG Grid interface with multiple specialized views:
| View | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Finished Goods | Manage OP status for finished products with full BOM decomposition |
| Trading Materials | Manage OP for purchased articles without BOM, based on supplier declarations |
| Global View | Consolidated cross-view of all origin data per season |
| Related Components | Drill into component-level origin data feeding the calculation |
| RAW View | Raw material origin tracking |
| Supplier View | View by supplier with declaration status |
Each view supports:
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Customizable columns — Made In, OP status, calculation status, ALE, season, color, composition, price, and more
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Advanced filtering & bookmarks — save and share complex filter combinations
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Mass update — update OP status, computation, DLT status, and comments in bulk
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Excel export — with CSV fallback for large datasets (5,000+ rows)
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Product images — visual identification directly in the grid
Preferential Origin Calculation Engine
The core computation engine that automatically determines whether a product qualifies for preferential origin under each applicable FTA:
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BOM-based calculation — for Finished Goods: decomposes the product into its components, checks each component's origin and HS code, and applies the relevant rules of origin
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Non-BOM calculation — for Trading Materials: determines origin based on supplier declarations (DLT)
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Multiple calculation types — supports WC (Working/Cumulation) criteria simultaneously
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Value-based rules — compares component/material prices against FTA thresholds
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Weight-based rules — calculates origin based on weight thresholds per component category
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Tariff Shift logic — checks whether sufficient transformation occurred based on HS code changes
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Batch / mass calculation — launch calculations across hundreds of references in one action
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Real-time progress tracking — progress bar during calculation runs
Calculation output per material:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Preferential Origin (OP) | YES / NO |
| OP Type | C1, E, SP1, etc. — based on the applicable rule |
| Made In | Country of origin from NPO calculation |
| Calculation Status | Computed / Not Computed / Error |
| Calculation Date | Timestamp of last calculation |
| Data Complete? | Indicates if all required data is present |
Rules of Origin (ROO) Configuration
Build and maintain the complete ruleset governing preferential origin per FTA:
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Configurable per FTA — each Free Trade Agreement has its own set of rules
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HS code-based rules — rules attached to specific customs codes or code ranges
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Multiple exception support — up to 5 value exceptions (PEX1–PEX5) and 5 weight exceptions (EX1–EX5) per rule, each targeting specific HS code subsets
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Rule coverage analysis — visualize which HS codes are covered by configured rules
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Editable in-app — modify rules directly from the ROO view with a structured pop-up editor
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Export — full rule documentation for audit purposes
Free Trade Agreement (FTA / ALE) Management
Manage origin determination simultaneously across all required Free Trade Agreements:
| FTA Example | Description |
|---|---|
| EU–GB | Post-Brexit UK trade agreement |
| EU–JP | EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement |
| EU–KR | EU-South Korea FTA |
| EU–CH | EU-Switzerland bilateral agreements |
| EU–MX | EU-Mexico FTA |
| Custom FTAs | Fully configurable per customer |
Key features:
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Configurable Country Groups — Group A and Group B can be any country or group (not limited to EU)
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FTA Status management — track active/inactive agreements per material
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Multi-FTA calculation — launch origin determination for multiple agreements in parallel
Supplier Declarations (DLT — Déclaration à Long Terme)
End-to-end management of supplier long-term declarations:
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DLT creation — create declarations for suppliers with automatic pre-population from master data
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DLT entry management — each declaration contains individual entries per material with Made In, OP status, and validity dates
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Automatic DLT creation — system generates DLTs automatically from order and master data
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DLT validity management — validity period with entry-level date ranges, cross-checked against actual orders
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DLT lifecycle — Draft → Sent → Signed → Obsolete, with full audit trail
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Customer DLT generation — auto-generate customer-facing declarations from computed OP results
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Download declarations — export signed declarations as PDF
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Comments on declarations — trace status changes, cancellations, and replacements with audit-ready comments
Electronic Signature
Integrated electronic signature for supplier declarations:
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Signaturit / Universign integration — eIDAS-compliant electronic signature
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French Signaturit API — compliant with French regulatory standards
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Pre-signature information fields — signatories fill in name, title, company, date, and location before signing
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Configurable placement — pre-set locations for signature and text fields per customer template
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Email-based workflow — supplier receives link, fills required info, signs, document is automatically uploaded to GTM
Collaboration Module Integration
Seamless workflow between Origin and Collaboration modules:
| Request Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Request for Information | Ask internal teams or markets for clarification |
| Request for Supplier Declaration | Send DLT request to external suppliers with bilingual emails (FR/EN) |
| Request for Correction | Flag and track corrections on origin data |
| Nomenclature Request | Request HS code review |
Features:
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Create requests directly from Origin views — select materials, click "Create Request"
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Rich email notifications — include market name, requester, priority level
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Internal & external assignments — route to internal teams or external suppliers
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Request tracking — status and response management within GTM
Data Quality Monitoring (DQM)
Built-in tools to ensure data consistency across the platform:
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Master Data ↔ DLT consistency check — daily automated comparison ensuring Made In in automatic DLTs matches Master Data
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Origin calculation ↔ DLT consistency check — validates that each calculation uses the correct Made In from the most recent valid DLT entry
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Daily DQM reports — automated extraction loaded to SharePoint for cross-system comparison (GTM vs. customer PLM/ERP)
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Discrepancy detection — flags KO entries with specific fields: product code, GTM value, PLM value, result
Seasonal Master File (OP Master File)
Publish origin results to downstream markets with controlled governance:
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Consolidated vision — Finished Goods and Trading Materials for a given season
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Market-restricted access — each market sees only its own articles
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Publication governance — customs team controls exactly when the master file becomes visible to markets
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Multi-language support — harmonized vocabulary translated into English for non-francophone markets
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Mass comments — annotate multiple articles in one action to communicate OP status changes to markets
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Consultation only — markets can view and extract but cannot modify
OP Details View
Detailed drill-down into each origin calculation:
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Component decomposition — see each component's Made In, OP status, HS code, price, and exclusion flag
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Exception results — view PEX/EX rule application results with threshold comparisons
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Tariff Shift information — detailed display of tariff shift analysis
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Exclusion management — mark components as excluded from calculation with audit justification
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Export — export OP details for audit documentation
Typical workflow
- Synchronize materials, BOMs, prices, suppliers, purchased articles and classifications from ERP/PLM/master data.
- Collect or generate supplier declarations with validity dates and origin attributes.
- Configure or maintain the applicable Free Trade Agreements and Rules of Origin.
- Run mass origin calculations for finished goods and trading materials.
- Analyze calculation details, missing data, exceptions and tariff shift results.
- Publish origin results and generate customer declarations or invoice statement data.
Integrations
| Module | Integration |
|---|---|
| Classification | Classification provides HS codes that feed origin rules; classification status gates origin computation |
| Master Data | Materials, BOM, compositions, suppliers, orders — all synchronized and used as calculation inputs |
| Collaboration | Create and track origin-related requests (information, correction, supplier declaration) |
| Dashboard | Visual KPIs on origin computation progress and data quality |
| Admin | Role and permission management for origin-specific access |
ERP and API integration
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Inbound — receive material, BOM, composition, supplier, and order data from SAP and other ERPs
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Outbound — export OP status (YES/NO, OP type, Made In) back to ERP via automated interfaces
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Origin API — REST API to query origin status per material programmatically
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Daily automated extractions — scheduled data exports to SharePoint or other destinations
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Error monitoring — automated alerts on interface issues and data discrepancies
Access control
Granular, configurable permissions per user role:
| Capability | Configurable |
|---|---|
| Access to specific views only | ✅ |
| Access to specific action buttons | ✅ |
| Access to specific columns only | ✅ |
| Access to specific data lines (by FTA, status) | ✅ |
| Region-specific roles (EU vs. US customs teams) | ✅ |
| Easy role duplication | ✅ |
| Detail tab visibility | ✅ |