G/RO/W/193  
 
25 February 2020 
(20-1436) Page: 1/1 
Committee on Rules of Origin  Original: English  
 
REPORT BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES OF ORIGIN TO T HE 
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN  GOODS  
UPDATE FOR THE 12TH MINISTERIAL CONFERE NCE 
At the December 2019 meeting of the General Council, its Chairperson, Ambassador Sunanta 
Kangvalkulkihj, noted that the Annual Reports that were considered by the General Council would 
be submitted to the Ministerial Conference in line with the reporting o bligations set out in document 
WT/L/105. She noted, in addition, that, since the Ministerial Conference would be held in June 2020, 
an update could be prepared, for the information of Ministers, to cover the first few months of 2020.  
In this regard, Ambas sador José Luis Cancela, Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods, requested 
all Chairs of the subsidiary bodies of the Council to consider to update the Council on their activities 
since the issuance of the  2019 Annual Report. These updates should  be br ief and factual and were 
to be prepared under the responsibility of the Chairs  of each subsidiary body . 
As a result, the following update concerning the work of the Committee on Rules of Origin (CRO) 
since December 2019  has been prepared . 
The Committee on Rules of Origin held one formal meeting on 5-6 March 2020. During the meeting, 
Members heard an update about the development of the WTO -ITC-WCO Origin Facilitator 
(https://findrulesoforigin.org ). Members also heard updates regarding the Secretariat's latest work 
to facilitate access to documents, notifications and information regarding rules of origin and the work 
of the CRO. 
On preferential rules of origin for Least developed countries (LDCs), Members heard an  update about 
the implementation of the REX self -certification system by the European Union;  Norway;  
Switzerland;  and Turkey. In addition, they heard an update from the LDC group about the bilateral 
consultations that the group has held with certain prefer ence-granting Members. Finally, Members 
noted that the Nairobi Ministerial Decision completed five years in 2020. In that context, they started 
discussing achievements and gaps related to its implementation by the Committee and preference -
granting Members.  
On non -preferential rules of origin, Members continued to discuss ways to improve transparency and 
update and streamline notifications (draft decision G/RO/W/182/Rev.3).  
In addition, an informal session was organized on 4 March 2020 by the Secretariat to mark the 25th 
anniversary of the WTO Agreement on Rules of Origin. During the session, speakers and Members 
reviewed the work undertaken by the CRO in the past 25 years and identified some priorities for 
future work. A report of this session is available in document [G /RO/W/, to be issued].  
The 2019 annual report of the Committee on Rules of Origin to the Council for Trade in Goods is 
contained in document G/L/1331 . In addition, the Committee is also required to report  directly to 
the General Council on the implementati on of the 2013 and 2015 Ministerial Decisions on preferential 
rules of origin for LDCs. This report covering 2019 is contained in document G/RO/89.  
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