G/RO/N/230  
 
24 November 2021  
(21-8867) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Rules of Origin  Original: English  
 
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER PARAGRAPH 4 OF ANNEX II  
OF THE AGREEMENT ON RULES OF ORIGIN  
PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN  
1. Paragraph 4 of Annex II to the Agreement on Rules of Origin envisages that Members shall 
provide to the Secretariat  as soon as possible their existing or new preferential rules of origin, 
including a listing of the preferential arrangements to which they a pply, judicial decisions, and 
administrative rulings of general application relating to their preferential rules of origin. Lists of 
information received and available within the Secretariat shall be circulated to Members by the 
Secretariat under the G/RO/ N/ series.  
2. The Committee on Rules of Origin further agreed that, with respect to preferential rules of 
origin, notifications made to the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) or to the 
Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) could also suffice to discharge their notification 
obligations under the Agreement on Rules of Origin (G/RO/M/59). As a result, the Committee agreed 
that notifications which had initially been received by the CRTA or the CTD should also be circulated 
by the Secretariat to th e CRO. The information regarding such notifications, including related to 
preferential rules of origin, can, in addition, be retrieved through the WTO database of regional trade 
agreements ( http://rtais.wto.org ) or in the WTO database of preferential trade agreements 
(http://ptadb.wto.org ). 
3. Accordingly, the following notification has been received : 
ALBANIA  
A.  PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN  
The Republic of Albania has enforced pref erential rules of origin, as below:  
1. Law No. 98/2021 dated 7  July 2021 "On the ratification of Decision No. 1/2021, of the 
Stabilization and Association Council European Union -Albania, amending the Stabilization and 
Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the 
one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part, replacing Protocol 4 thereof, regarding 
the definition of the concept 'originating products' and methods of administrative 
cooperation" ; and  
2. Law No. 82/2020 dated 2  July 2020 "On the ratification of the amendment of the FTA protocol 
II between the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Turkey, ratified by Law No. 9733 dated 
14 May 2007, regarding the definition of the concept "originating produ cts" and "method of 
administrative cooperation" ". 
Below  is a short explanation of each of the above laws.  
  G/RO/N/230  
 
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  Summary of Law No. 98/2021 dated 7 July 2021 "On the Ratification of Decision 
No. 1/2021, of the Stabilization and Association Council European Union -Albania, 
Amending the Stabilization and Association Agreement Between the European 
Communities and their Member States, of the One Part, and the Republic of Albania, of 
the Other Part, Replacing Protocol 4 Thereof, Reg arding the Definition of the Concept 
'Originating Products' and Methods of Administrative Cooperation"  
The European Union, the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Turkey, European 
countries part of the Stabilization and Association process (including the Republic of Albania and the 
Republic of Kosovo) and the Mediterranean countries part of the Barcelona Process, the Faroe 
Islands, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, a total of 54 countries, together have about 60 free trade 
agreements between them. Each of these agreements has specific regimes in terms of preferential 
origin and administrative cooperation. The existence of these different rules or the same rules based 
on different legal instruments has been assessed as an obsta cle to the development of trade between 
these states.  
The PEM Convention allows the implementation of cumulation  between the European Union, the 
EFTA countries, Turkey, the countries that have signed the Barcelona Declaration, the countries part 
of the Sta bilization and Association process, the Faroe Islands, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia. For 
cumulation  to take effect, free trade agreements between the parties must have identical protocols 
of origin. Aiming at modernizing, unifying and simplifying the rules  of origin, and to use a single set 
of rules, those of the PEM Convention, under the direction of the European Commission, since 2013, 
the process of reviewing the relevant protocols of origin for to replace them with the PEM Convention 
and in parallel the  process of reviewing the rules of origin of the Convention began.  
The process of adopting the revised preferential rules of origin, in the framework of the PEM 
Convention, on the replacement of the Protocol on the definition of the concept of "originating  
products" and methods of administrative cooperation, in bilateral or multilateral free trade 
agreements, has continued. in parallel with the approvals of : (i) the decision of the EFTA - Albania 
Joint Committee ; (ii) the decision of the Albania - CEFTA Joi nt Committee ; and (iii) the decision of 
the Albania - Turkey Joint Committee.  
Through the letter ref. No. 8569183/20 dated 15  December 2020, DG TAXUD informs the 
participating countries in the PAN -EURO -MED area, on the approval on 7 December 2020, by the 
Council of the European Union of the decision package to introduce the new rules of origin in the 
protocols of the agreements between the EU and the partner countries of the pan -Euro-
Mediterranean area.  
According to this decision, the existing Protocol of t he Stabilization and Association Agreement 
European Union -Albania, regarding the definition of the concept of "originating products" and 
methods of administrative cooperation, will be replaced by Annex A which contains the rules of 
preferential, transition al, alternative origin, until the entry into force of the amendment to the PEM 
Convention.  
These common and unique rules will facilitate and further develop the mutual trade between the 
countries participating in the Convention and with which our country i mplements a free trade 
agreement, as:  
- The new rules are simpler and more flexible;  
- They allow the application of full cumulation  of origin;  
- They allow for easier review and change of rules of origin and other related rules;  
- Include all Western Ba lkan countries, including the Republic of Albania and the Republic of 
Kosovo, in the pan -Euro-Mediterranean zone of diagonal and full cumulation; and  
- The Businesses will have the choice of either using the current rules of the PEM Convention or 
the "alte rnative" transitional rules, whichever is more beneficial to them.  
Introducing the same text in all bilateral agreements will ensure the creation of a cumulation  zone 
based on the revised rules of origin on a transitional basis, applicable in parallel wit h the rules of the 
current PEM Convention.  G/RO/N/230  
 
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  Once this Convention is amended, approved by its parties and published in the Official Journal of the 
European Union and Albania, it will ensure the automatic transition from the application of the 
transitional ru les of origin to the application of the revised Convention, without interrupting the 
possibilities of applying the cumulation , and without having to re -amend the relevant bilateral FTA 
protocols.  
Decision of the Stabilization and Association Council No. 1/2021 amending the Stabilization and 
Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one 
part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part, by replacing Protocol 4 concerning the definition 
of "originating products"  and methods of administrative cooperation, was approved by the Council 
of the European Union, according to the document EU -ALB 4952/21, notified by the note of the 
General Secretariat of the Council SGS No. 21/002783, dated 18  June 2021, sent to the Missi on of 
the Republic of Albania at European Union in Brussels.  
The purpose of the draft act is the ratification of Decision No. 1/2021 of the Stabilization and 
Association Council European Union - Albania amending the Stabilization and Association Agreement 
between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of 
Albania, of the other part, by replacing Protocol 4 concerning the definition of the concept of 
"originating products" and the methods of administrative cooperat ion. 
Stabilization and Association Agreement signed in Luxembourg on 12 June 2006 and ratified by Law 
No. 9590, dated 27  July 2 006 "On the ratification of the  Stabilization and Association Agreement 
between the Republic of Albania and the European Communit ies and their member states"  regulates, 
inter alia, trade relations between the Republic of Albania and the European Union and its member 
states, where an important place for the realization of free trade is occupied by the rules of origin.  
The European Un ion and the Republic of Albania have become parties to the Regional Convention 
on the Rules of Preferential Origin pan -Euro-Mediterranean. The Republic of Albania has ratified this 
Convention with Law No. 1/2012, dated 26  January 2012 "On the ratification of the Regional 
Convention on Pan -Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin". Protocol 4 to the Rules of Origin 
under the Pan -Euro-Mediterranean Convention, which have been amended, is part of the free trade 
agreements of the countries party to the P EM Convention.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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  Summary of Law No. 82/2020 dated 2  July 2020 "On the Ratification of the Amendment 
of the FTA Protocol II Between the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Turkey, 
Ratified by Law No. 9733 dated 14  May 2007, Regarding the Definition of the Concept 
"Originating Products" and "Method of Administrative Cooperation" " 
Albania has a free trade agreement with Turkey which became effective by the Law No. 9733 of 
14 May 2007 "On the Ratification of the Free Trade  Agreement between the Republic of Albania and 
the Republic of Turkey ". Albania applies diagonal cumulation  of the rules of origin with the Law 
No. 10199 dated 17  December 2009 "On ratification of Additional protocol 2 "On definition of the 
concept of 'originating product ' and methods of administrative cooperation, that replace the protocol 
with the same number of the Free Trade Agreement between Republic of Albania and Republic of 
Turkey " which became effective in August 2012; Albania has finalized its int ernal procedures to 
amend the Free Trade Agreement with Turkey with the focus implementation of the rules of origin 
under the Pan -Euro-Med Convention. By the Law No . 82/2020, on 9 July 2020, the Albanian 
Parliament has ratified the changes of the Protocol II of the Free Trade Agreement between Albania 
and Turkey, concerning the Definition of the Concept of "Originating Products " and "methods of 
administrative cooperation ".  
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