WORLD TRADE G/RO/9
17October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4109)
Committee onRules ofOrigin
FIFTH REPORT OFTHE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ONRULES OFORIGIN
TOTHE COMMITTEE ONRULES OFORIGIN
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Inconformity withparagraph 2(c)(ii) ofArticle 9oftheAgreement onRules ofOrigin, the
Technical Committee onRules ofOrigin hassubmitted totheCommittee onRules ofOrigin itsFifth
Report. TheReport pertains to:
(a) theresults ofthecontinuing work under Phase IIoftheHarmonization Work
Programme; and
(b) responses totherequests raised bytheCommittee onRules ofOrigin (G/RO/W/14
andG/RO/7 and8).
2. Theattached Report (WCO document 40.511) isherewith circulated toMembers, together
withtheletter oftransmission oftheChairman oftheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin.1
1Theviews anddecisions oftheTechnical Committee (contained inAnnexes toReport oftheFifth Session
oftheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin) areavailable forconsultation intheSecretariat (Market Access
Division).G/RO/9
Page2
Brussels, 27September 1996
Dear Mr.Osakwe,
Fifth Report totheCommittee onRules ofOrigin
Ihavepleasure inenclosing theFifthReport oftheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin
totheCommittee onRules ofOrigin.
Thisreport contains theresults ofthecontinuing work under Phase IIoftheHarmonization
Work Programme andresponds totherequests made bytheCommittee asreported inyourletters of
12September and16September. TheReport issubmitted inaccordance withtheprovisions of
Article 9.2(c) oftheAgreement.
Please accept, Mr.Osakwe, theassurance ofmyhighest consideration.
Yours sincerely,
R.Janeczko
ChairmanG/RO/9
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FIFTH REPORT OFTHE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ONRULES OFORIGIN
TOTHE COMMITTEE ONRULES OFORIGIN
1. TheTechnicalCommitteeonRulesofOriginhelditsFifthSessionfrom16to27September1996
inBrussels. During thissession theTechnical Committee continued itswork toestablish harmonized
rulesoforigin forparticular products andproduct sectors. Italsofurther elaborated upon theoverall
architectural design andcommon terminology tobeusedintheannex containing theharmonized rules
oforigin, andfurther considered general rules forthisannex. Taking noteofthecontinuing good
relations between thetwoCommittees, andtaking account oftherequests andsuggestions ofthe
Committee onRules ofOrigin, theTechnical Committee re-examined theschedule oftheHarmonization
Work Programme. Itagreed upon formal andinformal steps toaccelerate thepaceofthework.
Harmonization Work Programme:
2. TheTechnical Committee tooknotethattheCommittee onRules ofOrigin, inconnection with
thedevelopment ofthedefinitions ofthegoods thataretobeconsidered aswholly obtained inone
country, hasdecided totransmit arequest thattheTechnical Committee further examine andclarify
withaviewtopossibly defining thefollowing terms: processing, further processing andmanufacturing.
3. TheTechnical Committee continued itswork onthesecond phase oftheHarmonization Work
Programme toconsider andelaborate, onthebasisofthecriterion ofsubstantial transformation, rules
oforigin based ontheuseofchange intariff classification forparticular products andproduct sectors
asrepresented bychapters orsections oftheHarmonized System nomenclature. Forcertain products
andproduct sectors theTechnical Committee alsoconsidered, ascalled forunder thethirdphase of
theHarmonization Work Programme, theuseofsupplementary criteria toexpress substantial
transformation. TheTechnical Committee tooknotethatthesimultaneous consideration ofchange
intariff classification andsupplementary criteria wasappropriate inview oftheefficiencies tobe
achieved.
4. TheTechnical Committee examined forthefirsttimerulesoforigin proposed forthegoods
ofChapters 91,80and81,6through partof18,28and29,and50through 63.Theresults ofthis
work appear inAnnexes E/1,E/2,F/1,F/2,G/1,G/2,H/1,H/2,I/1,I/2,J/1,J/2,K/1,K/2,O/1
andO/2oftheReport oftheFifthSession oftheTechnical Committee. AcopyoftheReport ofthe
Fifth Session isenclosed forinformation.2
5. ForsomegoodstheTechnicalCommitteedecidedthatimportantissueshadbeenraisedrequiring
further technical analysis. Rules oforigin forthese goods willbetaken upagain under the"basket 2"
procedure infuture formal sessions orduring informal work. Several delegations reported thatthey
hadbeenunabletocompletethepreparationoftheirpositionsandenteredreservationsforcertainproduct
sectors. Reservations astotherulesoforigin forparticular goods havebeenentered andarerecorded
intheReport oftheFifth Session. TheChairman oftheTechnical Committee hasemphasized that
while reservations areanormal procedure, Members entering them willbeexpected bythetimeof
reconsideration ofaparticular ruletotakeadefinite position whether ornottojointheconsensus on
aparticular rule.
2Available forconsultation intheSecretariat (Market Access Division).G/RO/9
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Overall architectural design, common terminology andgeneral rules
6. TheTechnical Committee welcomed theprecedent which hadbeenestablished bytheinformal
discussions which hadbeenheldduring theintersession inOttawa. Itexpressed itsappreciation to
theCanadian Administration foritsinitiative inmaking possible work intheofficial languages ofthe
Technical Committee.
7. AfteritsexaminationoftherecommendationsoftheintersessionaldiscussiongrouptheTechnical
Committee endorsed them withcertain modifications andclarifications. TheTechnical Committee
approved asimplification ofArticle 4oftheProvisional Textandtookunder consideration proposed
textsconcerning theelaboration ofAppendix 2oftheProvisional Text. TheTechnical Committee
alsoagreed ontechniques tobeapplied intheformulation oftherules oforigin forspecific goods.
8. TheTechnical Committee continued itsconsideration ofthegeneral rules. Itconcluded that
GeneralInterpretativeRule2(a)oftheHarmonizedSystemwasnotalwaysaproperstandardtodetermine
whether assembly ofagoodwasorigin conferring inthecontext ofrulesoforigin prescribing change
intariffclassification. Conclusions werereached alsoconcerning theorigin treatment ofaccessories,
spare parts andtools.
9. Theresults ofthisworkappear inAnnexes C/1,C/2,andD/1oftheReport oftheFifthSession.
Steps toaccelerate progress ontheHarmonization Work Programme
10. TheTechnicalCommitteetookstockofitsprogresstodateinmeetingthetime-framesestablished
under theAgreement. Itnoted thelargevolume ofworkwhich hadbeenaccomplished, afactrecognized
alsobytheCommittee. Atthesametime, itnoted thatmuch remained tobedoneiftheHarmonization
Work Programme istoreach itsgoalofcompletion byJuly1998. Inthisregard, theTechnical
Committee agreed thatitwould benecessary bothtoholdadditional meetings inBrussels andtodo
more work informally ashadbeendoneinOttawa. TheTechnical Committee accepted thekindoffer
oftheWorld Customs Organization toprovide facilities forafourth meeting in1996 from 16to
20December. Facilities arealsobeing provided forinformal work tobeconducted inBrussels on
12and13December.
Integrated Negotiating Text
11. TheTechnicalCommitteewelcomedtheIntegratedNegotiatingText.TheTechnicalCommittee
agreed thatitwasimportant fortheefficient execution oftheHarmonization Work Programme that
thedecisions ofthetwoCommittees becompiled inasingle document or"binder". Having heard
theexplanation oftheChairman oftheCommittee theTechnical Committee accepted theIntegrated
Negotiating Textasacommon document ofbothCommittees.
Future work
12. TheSixth Session oftheTechnical Committee willtakeplace inBrussels on16to
20December 1996.