RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/RO/W/24
24October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4668)
Committee onRules ofOrigin
THIRD ANNUAL REVIEW OFTHE IMPLEMENTATION AND
OPERATION OFTHE AGREEMENT ONRULES OFORIGIN
Background Document bytheSecretariat
Thisbackground document iscirculated bytheSecretariat inpreparation forthethirdannual
review oftheimplementation andoperation oftheAgreement onRules ofOrigin, tobeconducted
atthemeeting oftheCommittee onRules ofOrigin on21November 1997.
_______________
Article 6:1oftheAgreement onRules ofOrigin provides that"theCommittee shallreview
annually theimplementation andoperation ofPartIIandPartIIIofthisAgreement having regard to
itsobjectives". Themainobjectives oftheAgreement arethose listed inthepreambular paragraphs.G/RO/W/24
Page2
Thecontents ofthisdocument areasfollows:
Page
1. Members andObserver Status ............................... 3
2. Officers oftheWTO Committee onRules ofOrigin ................. 4
3. Meetings oftheCommittee onRules ofOrigin .................... 4
4. Harmonization ofrules oforigin ............................. 4
5. Notifications ofrules oforigin ............................... 8
6. Annual report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods ................... 8G/RO/W/24
Page3
1. Members andObserver status
(a) WTO Members (132)
Angola
Antigua andBarbuda
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Colombia
Congo
Congo, Democratic Republic ofthe
Costa Rica
Côted'Ivoire
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
EC
Ecuador
Egypt
ElSalvador
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
GambiaGermany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Rep.of
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong, China
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Korea
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Macau
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Netherlands
NewZealand
NicaraguaNiger
Nigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Papua NewGuinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Rwanda
Saint KittsandNevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &Gren.
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Spain
SriLanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad andTobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
ZimbabweG/RO/W/24
Page4
(b) Observer Governments (30)
Albania
Algeria
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Cambodia
China
Croatia
Estonia
Former Yugoslav
Rep.ofMacedoniaGeorgia
Holy See
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyz Rep.
Latvia
Lithuania
Moldova
Nepal
OmanRussian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Seychelles
Sudan
Taipei, Chinese
Tonga
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
VietNam
(c) Observer International Organizations (9)1
ACP
EFTA
IADB
IMF
ITCB
OECD
UNCTAD
WCO
World Bank
2. Officers oftheWTO Committee onRules ofOrigin
Chairperson: Ms.L.Berrig (Philippines)
Vice-Chairman: Mr.A.Gaarder (Norway)
3. Meetings oftheCommittee onRules ofOrigin
During thereporting period, theCommittee onRules ofOrigin (theCommittee) hasheldfour
formal meetings on6February, 15May, 3October and21November 1997. Theminutes ofthese
meetingsarecontainedindocumentsG/RO/M/9,G/RO/M/10,G/RO/M/11andG/RO/M/12respectively.
4. Harmonization ofRules ofOrigin
4.1 TheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin (theTechnical Committee) submitted tothe
Committee, on27September 1996, thefifthReport (G/RO/9), on17January 1997, theSixth Report
(G/RO/11), on18April 1997, theSeventh Report(G/RO/15), on18July1997, theEighth Report
(G/RO/18), andon[..]October 1997, theNinth Report (G/RO/19).
4.2 Atthemeeting on6February 1997 (G/RO/M/9), theCommittee:
- asconcerns theissueofproducts taken fromtheseaoutside acountry, elaborated two
alternative texts;
1These organizations haveofficial observer status following agreement intheCommittee (G/RO/M/9) andagreements
between theWorld Bank andtheIMFwiththeWTO (WT/L/195).G/RO/W/24
Page5
- asconcerns theFifthandSixth Report oftheTechnical Committee totheCommittee
noted thecontinuation ofwork ontheelaboration ofthegeneral rulesandtheproduct-
specific rules under Phase IIoftheHarmonization Work Programme, aswellasthe
factthatcertain supplementary criteria originally foreseen tobeexamined under Phase
IIIwere alsobeing discussed;
- requested thatTechnical Committee torevisit themeaning oftheterm"obtained" when
usedtogether withtheword "produced" inthecontext ofdefinition 1(i)ofWholly
Obtained Goods withaviewtoachieving greater precision andclarity;
- welcomed theproposal bytheChairman oftheTechnical Committee toforward to
theCommittee draftproduct-specific ruleswhere thetechnical possibilities hadbeen
exhausted andasolution needed tobefound atapolicy level;
- noted theupdated Integrated Negotiating TextfortheHarmonization Work Programme
(INT), contained indocument G/RO/W/13/Rev.2;
- considered aproposal bytheUnited States pursuant toArticle 9.3(a) oftheAgreement
onRules ofOrigin (theAgreement) asastarting pointforPhase IIoftheHarmonization
Work Programme. According totheproposal, substantial transformation wasdeemed
tohavetaken place when assembly orother processing operations resulted inachange
fromtheHSnomanclature category providing for"parts" toatariffcategory providing
forthe"goods". TheCommittee didnotreach aconsensus ontheproposal anddecided
toconvey itsviewontheproposal totheTechnical Committee forfurther consideration
inthecontext ofPhase IIoftheWork Programme.
4.3 Atthemeeting on15May1997(G/RO/M10), theCommittee:
- welcomed theadoption oftheManagement Planfor1997bytheTechnical Committee
aimed atensuring thetimely completion ofthetechnical work;
- noted thefurther updated INT,contained indocument G/RO/W/13/Rev.3, andagreed
thatforthefuture, onlyadditions totheINTwould becirculated.
4.4 Atthemeeting on3October 1997(G/RO/M/11), theCommittee:
- noted thattheTechnical Committee hadcompleted itsfirstexamination ofalltheHS
Chapters from 1to97;
- endorsed theproduct-specific rulesofgoods forChapters 25-27, 41-43 and91which
hadbeenreferred totheCommittee asBasket 1decisions fromtheTechnical Committee
(seeparagraph 9ofdocument G/RO/18);
- reached consensus ontheorigin criterion of4302.30 as"CTSH";
- agreed todelete Option BinIssues forDecision No.3,4,5and6inregard toChapters
25-27 andtoputsquare brackets onOption Awithaviewtopossibly removing these
square brackets atthenextmeeting oftheCommittee;
- agreedtocontinueitsexaminationonremainingIssuesforDecisionconcerningChapters
25-27, 41-43 and91,transmitted totheCommittee from theTechnical Committee;G/RO/W/24
Page6
- noted thefurther updated INT, contained indocument G/RO/W/13/Rev.3/Add.1.
4.5 Atthemeeting on21November 1997, theCommittee(G/RO/M/12), ....[tobefinalized in
lightofdiscussions atthemeeting inNovember 1997].
5. Notifications ofrules oforigin
(i) Non-preferential rules oforigin
5.1 Notifications relating tonon-preferential rules oforigin under Articles 5.1and5.2ofthe
Agreement havebeenreceived from [56]Members ofwhich [24]Members notified thattheydonot
havenon-preferential rules oforigin. [Sixty-one] Members havenotnotified (seeAnnex).
(ii) Preferential rules oforigin
5.2 Notifications relating topreferential rules oforigin under paragraph 4ofAnnex IItothe
Agreement havebeenreceived from [58]Members, ofwhich oneMember notified thatitdoesnot
havepreferential rules oforigin. [Fifty-nine] Members havenotyetnotified theirpreferential rules
oforigin (seeAnnex).
6. Annual Report totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
[TheCommitteeadopteditsreporttotheCouncilforTradeinGoods(G/RO/W/21)atitsmeeting
on21November 1996].G/RO/W/24
Page7
ANNEX
1. Members thathavenotified Non-Preferential Rules ofOrigin
Argentina (G/RO/N/2, 10&16)
Australia (G/RO/N/1)
Brazil (G/RO/N/14)
Bulgaria (G/RO/N/17)
Canada (G/RO/N/1)
Colombia (G/RO/N/1)
Cuba (G/RO/N/3)
Czech Rep.(G/RO/N/2)
EC(G/RO/N/1)
Hong Kong (G/RO/N/1)
Hungary (G/RO/N/2)Israel (G/RO/N/13)
Japan (G/RO/N/1)
Korea (G/RO/N/1)
Madagascar (G/RO/N/11)
Malta (G/RO/N/4)
Mexico (G/RO/N/12)
Morocco (G/RO/N/2)
NewZealand (G/RO/N/1)
Norway (G/RO/N/8)
Peru(G/RO/N/4 &5)
Poland (G/RO/N/8)Romania (G/RO/N/1)
Senegal (G/RO/N/10)
SlovakRepublic(G/RO/N/1)
Slovenia (G/RO/N/5 &7)
South Africa (G/RO/N/3)
Switzerland (G/RO/N/4)
Tunisia (G/RO/N/7)
Turkey (G/RO/N/8)
US(G/RO/N/1 &6)
Venezuela (G/RO/N/1 &10)
2. Members thathavenotified thattheydonothaveNon-Preferential Rules ofOrigin
Bolivia (G/RO/N/9)
BruneiDarussalam
(G/RO/N/5)
Chile (G/RO/N/6)
Costa Rica(G/RO/N/1)
DominicanRep.(G/RO/N/9)
ElSalvador (G/RO/N/10)
Fiji(G/RO/N/17)
Honduras (G/RO/N/3)Iceland (G/RO/N/5)
India (G/RO/N/1)
Indonesia (G/RO/N/16)
Jamaica (G/RO/N/4)
Kenya (G/RO/N/9)
Malaysia (G/RO/N/6)
Mauritius (G/RO/N/1)
Nicaragua (G/RO/N/10)Pakistan (G/RO/N/16)
Philippines (G/RO/N/6)
Singapore (G/RO/N/3)
Thailand (G/RO/N/1)
Trinidad &Tob. (G/RO/N/7)
Uganda (G/RO/N/12)
United ArabEmirates (G/RO/N/17)
Uruguay (G/RO/N/12)
3. Members thathavenotnotified Non-Preferential Rules ofOrigin
Angola
Antigua andBarbuda
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
Côted'Ivoire
Cyprus
D.R. ofCongo
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
EgyptGabon
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Rep.of
Guyana
Haiti
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Macau
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mongolia
Mozambique
MyanmarNamibia
Niger
Nigeria
Panama
Papua NewGuinea
Paraguay
Qatar
Rwanda
Saint KittsandNevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent andGrenadines
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
SriLanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Zambia
ZimbabweG/RO/W/24
Page8
4. Members thathavenotified Preferential Rules ofOrigin
Argentina (G/RO/N/16)
Australia (G/RO/N/1)
Bolivia (G/RO/N/1)
Brazil (G/RO/N/12)
Brunei Darussalam (G/RO/N/4)
Bulgaria (G/RO/N/15)
Canada (G/RO/N/1, 6&8)
Chile (G/RO/N/6)
Colombia (G/RO/N/1)
Côted'Ivoire (G/RO/N/11)
Cuba (G/RO/N/3)
Czech Rep.(G/RO/N/2)
Dominican Rep.(G/RO/N/5)
EC(G/RO/N/1)
Ecuador (G/RO/N/12)
ElSalvador (G/RO/N/10 &11)
Fiji(G/RO/N/17)
Honduras (G/RO/N/3 &10)
Hungary (G/RO/N/2)Iceland (G/RO/N/15)
India (G/RO/N/1)
Indonesia (G/RO/N/4)
Israel (G/RO/N/13)
Jamaica (G/RO/N/4)
Japan (G/RO/N/6)
Kenya (G/RO/N/9)
Korea (G/RO/N/7)
Madagascar (G/RO/N/11)
Malaysia (G/RO/N/4)
Malta (G/RO/N/4)
Mauritius (G/RO/N/1)
Mexico (G/RO/N/12)
Morocco (G/RO/N/2)
New Zealand (G/RO/N/1)
Nicaragua (G/RO/N/10)
Norway (G/RO/N/8)
Pakistan (G/RO/N/16)
Paraguay (G/RO/N/12)Peru (G/RO/N/1)
Philippines (G/RO/N/4)
Poland (G/RO/N/8)
Romania (G/RO/N/14)
Senegal (G/RO/N/10)
Singapore (G/RO/N/3 &4)
Slovak Republic (G/RO/N/1)
Slovenia (G/RO/N/5 &7)
Switzerland (G/RO/N/6)
Thailand (G/RO/N/1 &4)
Trinidad &Tob. (G/RO/N/7)
Tunisia (G/RO/N/7)
Turkey (G/RO/N/8)
Uganda (G/RO/N/12)
UnitedArabEmirates(G/RO/N/17)
US(G/RO/N/1 &6)
Uruguay (G/RO/N/5)
Venezuela (G/RO/N/1)
Zambia (G/RO/N/15)
5. Member thathasnotified thatitdoes nothave Preferential Rules ofOrigin
Hong Kong (G/RO/N/1).
6. Members thathave notnotified Preferential Rules ofOrigin
Angola
Antigua &Barbuda
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cen. African Rep.
Chad
Congo
Costa Rica
Cyprus
D.R. ofCongo
Djibouti
Dominica
EgyptGabon
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea Bissau
Guinea, Rep. of
Guyana
Haiti
Kuwait
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Macau
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Mongolia
Mauritania
Mozambique
MyanmarNamibia
Niger
Nigeria
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Qatar
Rwanda
St.Kitts &Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent &Grenadines
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
South Africa
SriLanka
Suriname
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Zimbabwe