In recent years, the EC sees a need to create a common definition of origin for making purposes, of making rules and of rules on control. The purpose is to reduce fraudulent or misleading origin marking, increase competitiveness, establish a level playing field as many trading partners of the EU require origin marking as well, and enhance consumer protection. At present, the EU does not have any legislative requirement for compulsory origin marking (“made in”) of industrial products. Rules on the voluntary use of origin marks also differ amount its Member States (MSS).

The recent concerns on the safety of consumer goods have prompted the European Parliament to adopt a resolution urging the European Commission (EC) to take necessary measures to ensure product safety in the EU. These measures include, among other things, to adopt a Council Regulation (Regulation) prepared by the EC on compulsory origin marking requirement on selected sectors of imported industrial goods. The EC has drawn up a proposal for a Council Regulation on the indication of the country of origin of certain products imported from third countries. The proposed Regulation can be accessed through the link: com2005_0661en01.pdf.

The exact scope of the Regulation will not be known until its final text is available. Under the current version, compulsory origin marking is required for imports of selected sectors of industrial products, namely leather, textiles and clothing, footwear, ceramics, glassware, jewellery, furniture and brushes.

Given the recent concerns on product safety, it is likely that some other products, such as toys, will be included in the final text.