The Registered Exporter (REX) system is a system that allows for the certification of the origin of goods, based on the self-certification principle.
As an exporter, you are required to declare the origin of goods yourself by producing ‘statements on origin’ (or in some preferential agreements ‘origin declarations’). To be allowed to make out a statement on origin / an origin declaration, the exporter must be registered in a database by their national competent authorities, i.e. they must be a ‘registered exporter’.
Once registered, the exporter will be assigned a registration number, the REX number.
Registering in REX
To become a ‘registered exporter’, you must fill in an application and submit it to your national competent authorities.
- REX Trader Portal – for EU exporters
- REX Pre Application – for non-EU exporters (in GSP beneficiary countries, in EU’s overseas countries and territories, in partner countries of some preferential agreements).
When registering, you can opt not to have your registration data published in full. If so, only an anonymous subset of your registered data (your REX number, validity date or revocation date, if applicable) is published.
Validating REX numbers
Other parties (businesses, public bodies, …) can check the validity of an exporter’s registration indicated on a statement on origin / an origin declaration.
Access to REX for customs authorities
The access to the REX system is limited to the competent authorities. As an exporter, you do not have access to the REX system.
REX for EU countries (via CCN)
Non-EU countries:
REX in the EU
In the EU, the REX system must be used:
- In preferential agreements, by EU companies exporting goods originating in the EU to non-EU countries with which the EU has a preferential agreement. Currently (April 2025), this means the following agreements:
- Canada-EU agreement (CETA)
- Japan-EU agreement
- Vietnam-EU agreement
- Singapore-EU agreement
- UK-EU agreement (EU-UK TCA)
Reconsignors in Northern Ireland must also be registered. These are exporters who reconsign goods to the EU and use statements on origin to replace proofs of origin that are issued or made out in non-EU countries. - Cote d’Ivoire-EU agreement
- Ghana-EU agreement
- Eastern and Southern Africa-EU interim agreement
- New Zealand-EU agreement
- Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)
EU exporters under the GSP, for bilateral cumulation. - Overseas Association Decision
EU exporters exporting goods originating in the EU to the EU’s overseas countries and territories (OCTs) under this decision. Either for purposes of bilateral cumulation of origin or to benefit from unilateral preferences granted by an OCT to the EU. - Internally in the EU
EU reconsignors replacing proofs of origin with statements on origin.
REX outside the EU
Outside the EU, the REX system must be used by exporters:
- Under the GSP (Standard GSP, GSP+ and Everything But Arms initiative):
- GSP beneficiary countries (under the GSP schemes of the EU, Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye) for their exports to the EU that benefit from GSP tariff preference*.
*GSP beneficiary countries that have not yet met the criteria to use REX and to export to the EU under the GSP: Chad, Djibouti, Somalia, South-Sudan and Syria. - Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye for bilateral cumulation with GSP beneficiary countries (GSP schemes of the EU, Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye)
- Norway and Switzerland, when replacing statements on origin towards the EU
- GSP beneficiary countries (under the GSP schemes of the EU, Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye) for their exports to the EU that benefit from GSP tariff preference*.
- Under the Overseas Association Decision:
By exporters in OCTs, under this decision. - Under preferential agreements with the EU:
Some countries have chosen to apply the REX system for declaring the origin of goods they export to the EU:- Côte d’Ivoire (Cote d’Ivoire-EU agreement)
- Madagascar (Eastern and Southern Africa-EU interim agreement)
- Zimbabwe (Eastern and Southern Africa-EU interim agreement)
- Seychelles (Eastern and Southern Africa-EU interim agreement)
- San Marino and Andorra for their preferential exports to countries with which the EU also has preferential agreements, where the REX system applies (see the list of these agreements in the section above).
Useful links
Guidance
Data protection
- Privacy statement (data protection)