Origin and Destination

Many of these documents relate to a commodity's country of origin and destination.

“Origin” refers to the country where a commodity enters international trade. Typically, it's the country where the commodity was made, but not always.

For example, if an item was processed or assembled in a foreign trade zone, its country of origin is the country from which its raw materials or components came. Raw materials or component parts may move to a foreign trade zone on U.S. soil for processing or assembly without having “entered” the U.S., and the resulting products shipped elsewhere don't have the U.S. as their country of origin.

Thus, a product's country of origin may not be the same as the country from which it is being shipped – and the destination where a consignee receives a shipment of goods may not be the ultimate destination for those goods.

What an item is, where it entered international trade, and its destination determine the item's documentation requirements.

For further details, contact your local Amerijet office or representative.

Important Numbers

Many of these documents require numbers that the U.S. government uses to monitor and regulate international commerce:

• The Schedule B Number is a 10-digit export code that the Census Bureau uses to collect trade statistics.

• The Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) is an import code used for Customs and tariff purposes. It has a minimum of six digits, though some commodities include extra digits for more precise detail.

• The Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) is an alphanumeric code assigned by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security to control the export and reexport of commodities, technology, and software with both civilian and military uses.