./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/RO/29
20 November 1998
(98-4658)
Committee on Rules of Origin
REPORT OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON RULES OF ORIGIN
ON PROGRESS MADE AT ITS 14TH SESSION
TO THE COMMITTEE ON RULES OF ORIGIN
In conformity with paragraph 4 of the Report of the Committee on Rules of Origin to the
Council for Trade in Goods on the Harmonization Wo rk Programme (G/RO/25), the Chairman of the
Technical Committee on Rules of Origin (TCRO) has submitted to the Committee on Rules of Origin
(CRO) a Report on progress made at the 14th Session of the TCRO.  The Report is herewith submitted
to Members.
_______________
Brussels, 10 November 1998.
Dear Mr. Wells,SUBJECT :   Progress Report to the Committee on Rules of Origin Following the 14
th Session of the
Technical Committee on Rules of Origin
As recommended by the CRO in its Report of 7 July 1998 to the Council for Trade in Goods
(CTG), and as agreed by the TCRO, I am submitting the first Chairman’s Progress Report on the
harmonization of rules of origin.
1. At its 14th Session, held in Brussels from 19 to 30 October, the TCRO resumed its work on
the overall architecture of the harmonized rules of origin.
2. The TCRO has taken account of the contents of the Report of the CRO to the CTG (G/RO/25,
7 July 1998).  In particular, the TCRO has taken note of the recommendation of the CRO that the
TCRO’s work on overall architecture should be submitted to the CRO in January, 1999.  The TCROaccepted this recommendation and has arranged its meeting schedule and agendas to meet that
deadline.
3. Note also was taken of the CRO’s recommendation that “the Chairman of the TCRO shall
report to each meeting of the CRO on the progre ss achieved in the TCRO”.  The TCRO decided to
implement this recommendation by modifying its appr oach to the reporting of results to the CRO.  In
future, beginning with this Report, the Chairman will present to the CRO his appraisal of the progress
made.  The Chairman’s Progress Report will be in the place of the Quarterly Reports of the TCRO
submitted until now.
4. In preparation for the 14
th Session Members of the TCRO held informal discussions on the
overall architecture during the week of 25th September at Meech Lake, Canada.  These discussionsG/RO/29
Page 2
were valuable in respect of the broad concepts that were agreed upon and for the identification of
issues needing further attention.  In particular, Members laid out the distinctions between general
rules of application or of interpretation, primary rules of origin, and residual rules of origin;
exchanged views on the principles of application for primary and residual rules, and discussed the
presentation of the overall Annex containing the harmonized rules of origin.  Members emphasized
the importance of constructing an instrument that is logical and user-friendly.
5. The Provisional Text of the TCRO, modified to take on board proposals and observations
recently made, was the working text for the consider ation of overall architecture.  The text resulting
from the 14th Session discussions is reproduced as Annex C/2 of the Draft Report of the TCRO’s 14th
Session (WCO Doc. 42.7101).
6. For the most part the TCRO concentrated on developing the texts of various provisions.  For
some a tentative consensus was reached, while for others, e.g., de minimis and fungible goods,
Members have been invited to respond to sets of questions and to arrive at the 15th Session having
decided their positions, including whether the provisions are needed.
7. Notwithstanding progress on these texts, more needs to be accomplished on the overall
arrangement of the provisions.  The matter of arrangement, or presentation, is a question both of
coherence and of user-friendliness.  The scope of this issue covers both the general rules at the
beginning of the annex and the appendices and also the presentation of rules at the Chapter level.
Concerning the latter, some Members indicated preferences while others indicated the need tounderstand more deeply the implications.
8. The TCRO examined some illustrative examples of Chapter Note arrangements prepared by
the WCO Secretariat.  For the next Session the Secretariat is to prepare additional detailed case
studies on the presentation of Chapters.  It is hoped that the examination of these documents will helpto answer some key questions as to residual rules and how they are to be presented and applied.
Members have been asked, for this purpose, to make definitive presentations as to their preferences
for residual rules.
9. The TCRO is aware that the CRO Report  recommends that the TCRO turn to the
Section/Chapter Notes and residual rules after completion of the overall architecture.  In practice,
some of the work on Chapter Notes is being undertaken in concert with the architecture so as to putthe architecture discussions into context.  Howe ver, given the significant issues remaining to be
solved in the area of architecture, it may be questioned whether the TCRO can realistically expect to
complete the texts of all Chapter Notes during the next Session.  It is more likely that work on these
will continue in early 1999 with a more specific focus on Chapter Notes for particular products.
10. The 15
th Session will be held from 7 to 18 December 1998 in Brussels.  The TCRO intends at
that time to conclude its consideration of the overall architecture of the harmonized rules of origin.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Janeczko,
Chairman
                                                     
1 Available for consultation in the Secretariat (Market Access Division).