G/RO/W/163/Rev.6  
 
4 October 2019  
(19-6435) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Rules of Origin    
 
STATUS OF NOTIFICATI ONS OF PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN FOR LDCS AND 
PREFERENTIAL IMPORT DATA  
Note by the Secretariat1 
Revision  
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1 Paragraph 4.3 of the 2015 (Nairobi) Ministerial Decision on preferential rules of origin for least 
developed countries (LDCs) reiterates Members' commitment to notify their preferential rules of 
origin for LDCs as well as data concerning their preferential  imports from LDCs. This note summarizes 
the latest status of  notification s submitted to the Secretariat.  
2  REQUIREMENT TO NOTIF Y PREFERENTIAL RULES  OF ORIGIN AND PREFE RENTIAL 
IMPORTS  
2.1 The following WTO instruments require Members to notify their preferen tial rules of origin for 
LDCs as well as  their preferential trade imports from LDCs:  
- Paragraph 4 of Annex II of the Agreement on Rules of Origin  requires Members to notify 
"promptly" "to the Secretariat" any preferential rules of origin. Notifications ar e circulated 
under the G/RO/N/ document series and are examined by the Committee on Rules of Origin 
(CRO);  
- The Transparency Mechanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements (WT/L/806 of 
14 December  2010)  requires Members to provide detailed and product -specific rules of origin 
"to the Secretariat".  Annex 1 of the Decision enumerates the specific information which should 
be submitted . The Decision also requires Members to notify, at the tariff line level, import data 
under their PTAs. Notifications of PTAs u nder the Transparency Mechanism are circulated as 
documents of the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD). Notifications are considered 
by the CTD in Dedicated Session (CTD -DS), on the basis of a "factual presentation" prepared 
by the Secretariat. Only P TAs notified after the adoption of the Decision in 2010 have been 
examined under these procedures. In addition, a "guide" for each PTA is prepared in 
consultation with the Member implementing the PTA, and is placed in the Database on PTAs 
(http://ptadb.wto.org ) after its approval by the implementing Member. Annex 2 of document 
G/MA/367 contains the format that Members have agreed to be use d in the preparation of 
their notifications of tariffs and import data;  
- The 2013 (Bali) Ministerial Decision on Preferential Rules of Origin for LDCs (WT/L/917)  and 
the 2015 (Nairobi) Decision (WT/L/917/Add.1)  reiterate these obligations. In addition, the 
CRO agreed on a t emplate to be used by all WTO preference -granting Members (G/RO/ 84) 
when notifying their preferential rules of origin. These notifications are circulated under the 
G/RO/LDC/N/ document series.  
                                                
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and  is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO . G/RO/W/163/Rev.6  
 
- 2 - 
 
  3  STATUS OF NOTIFICATI ONS AND IMPORT DATA RECEIVED TO DATE  
3.1 The following table enumerates, for each preference -granting Membe r, the latest information 
available  concerning preferential trade arrangements in favour of LDCs , namely:  
- The references of the latest notifications submitted  to the CTD describing the coverage of 
preferential schemes, their date of entry into force, edibility criteria and list of beneficiary 
countries;  
- The references of the latest notifications submitted to the CRO describing the preferential rules 
of origin and origin requirements applicable to LDCs as required under the notification 
templat e adopted by the Committee (G/RO/84) and;  
- The availability of tariff and import statistics for each scheme:  
- A full listing of preferential duties under the PTA per beneficiary partner and other data, 
where applicable (e.g., tariff -rate quotas, seasonal  restrictions, special safeguards and, 
if available, ad valorem  equivalents for non -ad valorem  duties) ; and 
- Import data at the tariff line level from each beneficiary Member, in value for total 
imports, imports under MFN rates and imports under PTA benef its.  
3.2 It should be noted that some of the data received most recently may still be subject to review, 
correction and validation by the WTO Secretariat.  
 
 
  
  G/RO/W/163/Rev.6  
 
- 3 - Preference -
granting 
Member(i)  Notifications (CTD)  Notifications (CRO)   2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 
1. Armenia  No No Tariffs  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes - - - 
Imports  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. - - - - 
2. Australia  WT/COMTD/N/18  
21 January 2004  G/RO/LDC/N/AUS/1/Rev.1  
13 September 2019  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes* 
Imports  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - 
3. Canada  WT/COMTD/N/15/Add.3  
17 November 2014  G/RO/LDC/N/CAN/2  
10 October 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - 
4. Chile  WT/COMTD/N/44 and 
Add.1/Rev.1  
23 October 2014  G/RO/LDC/N/CHL/1  
18 October 2017  Tariffs  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - 
Imports  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes Yes - - - 
5. China  WT/COMTD/N/39/Add.2  
21 November 2016  G/RO/LDC/N/CHN/1  
10 July 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes Yes - - 
Imports  Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes* Yes Yes* - - 
6. European 
Union  WT/COMTD/N/4/Add.7  
1 July 2015  G/RO/LDC/N/EU/1  
30 June 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes* 
Imports  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - - 
7. Iceland  WT/COMTD/N/17 and Corr.1  
20 January 2004  No Tariffs  - - - Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - 
Imports  - - - - - - - - - - 
8. India  WT/COMTD/N/38 and Add.1  
18 November 2015  G/RO/LDC/N/IND/1  
27 June 2017  Tariffs  Yes - Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - - - 
Imports  - - - - - Yes - - - - 
9. Japan  WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.16  
4 November 2015  G/RO/LDC/N/JPN/1  
11 July 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes* 
Imports  - - - Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes* - 
10. Kazakhstan  No G/RO/LDC/N/KAZ/2  
15 November 2018  Tariffs  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. - - - - 
11. Korea, 
Republic  of WT/COMTD/N/12/Rev.1/Add.1  
20 March 2012  G/RO/LDC/N/KOR/1  
27 September 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - - 
12. Kyrgyz Rep.  No G/RO/LDC/N/KGZ/1  
28 November 2018  Tariffs  Yes - Yes Yes - - - - - - 
Imports  - - - - - - - - - - 
13. Montenegro  No G/RO/LDC/N/MNE/1  
09 September 2019  Tariffs  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. - - - 
14. New Zealand  WT/COMTD/27  
20 November 2000  G/RO/LDC/N/NZL/1  
5 September 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  - - - - - - - - -  
15. Norway  
  WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.6  
1 June 2016  G/RO/LDC/N/NOR/1  
30 June 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - - 
16. Russian 
Federation  WT/COMTD/PTA1/N/1  
16 July 2019  G/RO/LDC/N/RUS/2  
22 January 2019  Tariffs  n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes - Yes - - Yes 
Imports  n.a. n.a. n.a. - - - - - - - 
17. Switzerland  WT/COMTD/N/7/Add.5  
26 September 2012  G/RO/LDC/N/CHE/1 and Corr.1  
6 July 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  - - Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - - 
18. Chinese 
Taipei  WT/COMTD/N/40 and Corr.1  
28 February 2012  G/RO/LDC/N/TPKM/1  and Corr.1  
31 July 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - 
19. Tajikistan  No G/RO/LDC/N/TJK/1  
6 May 2019  Tariffs  n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes* - - 
Imports  n.a. n.a. n.a. - - - - - - - 
20. Thailand  WT/COMTD/N/46  
23 July 2015  G/RO/LDC/N/THA/1  
7 August 2017  Tariffs  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes Yes - - 
Imports  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes* Yes - - - 
21. Turkey  WT/TPR/S/259/Rev.1  
7 March 2012  G/RO/LDC/N/TUR/1  
18 September 2019  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes* Yes* Yes* 
Imports  - - - - - - - - - -  
  G/RO/W/163/Rev.6  
 
- 4 - Preference -
granting 
Member(i)  Notifications (CTD)  Notifications (CRO)   2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 
22. USA - GSP WT/COMTD/N/1/Add.9  
8 February 2016  G/RO/LDC/N/USA/1  
11 July 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes* - 
USA – Haiti  
 WT/L/1012  
12 July 2017  G/RO/LDC/N/USA/2  
11 July 2017  Tariffs  - - - - - - - - - - 
Imports  - - - - - - - - - - 
USA - AGOA  WT/L/1006  
20 January 2017  G/RO/LDC/N/USA/3  
11 July 2017  Tariffs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes* - 
USA – Nepal  WT/COMTD/N/52  G/RO/LDC/N/USA/4  
30 November 2017  Tariffs  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes Yes 
Imports  n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Yes Yes* - 
Note:  (i) Some  Members joined the WTO and/or  PTA schemes entered into force after the adoption of the PTA transparency mechanism,  i.e. Armenia; Chile; Kazakhstan; 
Montenegro; Tajikistan;  Thailand; and the United States' Trade Preferences for Nepal . 
Yes   submission received and disseminated ; 
Yes* submission received but not yet disseminated ; 
-           no submission received ; 
n.a.      PTA not yet in force.  
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