G/RO/89  
 
24 October 2019 
(19-7008) Page: 1/2 
   
 
REPORT (201 9) OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES OF ORIGIN  TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL  
ON PREFERENTIAL RULE S OF ORIGIN FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUN TRIES  
1. This report is being submitted by the Committee on Rules of Origin (CRO) to the General 
Council  in accordance with the requirements of Paragraph 1.10 of the Ministerial Decision of 
7 December 2013 (WT/L/917 , the "Bali Ministerial Decision" ) and of Paragraph 4.4 of the Ministerial 
Decisi on of 15 December  2015 (WT/L/917/Add.1 , the "Nairobi Ministerial Decision" ) on Preferen tial 
Rules of Origin for Least Developed C ountries (LDCs).  Under these  provisions , the Committee on 
Rules of Origin (CRO) "shall annually review the developments in pref erential rules of origin 
applicable to imports from LDCs" and report to the General Council.   
2. The CRO discussed several matters  related to preferential rules of origin for L DCs in its two 
meetings  held in  2019 (on 15 -16 May and on 17 -18 October ). The minutes of these meetings are 
contained in documents G/RO/M/72 and [G/RO/M/73] respectively. As required by the 2013 and 
2015 Ministerial Decisions, Members conducted a review of recent developments at the Committee's 
formal meeting of 17 and 18 October 2019. The following are some of the recent developments 
Members took note  of: 
− On transparency, t he Committee now has  excellent coverage and detailed information about 
preferential rules of origin and origin requirements for LDCs. Practically all prefer ence-granting 
Members have  submitted a notification to the Committee using the agreed notification 
template (G/RO/84). The Secretariat had been asked to reach out to those Members with 
notification gaps and report back to the Committee. As a result, the Se cretariat reported as 
follows : 
o Since the last review in 2018, new notifications had been submitted by  the 
Kyrgyz  Republic;  Montenegro;  Tajikistan;  and Turkey.  
o As a result, all WTO Members who grant  non-reciprocal trade preferences to LDCs 
(a "preferential trade arrangement" or PTA) have now submitted detailed information 
concerning their preferential rules of origin to the Committee . Information was missing 
only for the PTAs of Armenia and Iceland.  
o The delegation of Iceland informed the Commit tee that new legislation concerning 
non-reciprocal preferences for LDCs was currently being prepared . A notification 
describing the new requirements would be submitted as soon as the legislation would be 
finalized and adopted . 
o In addition, r evised notifica tions had been  submitted by Australia and the Russian 
Federation.  
− Progress with respect to preferential tariff and import data had been slower and notification 
gaps remained for several preference -granting Members. No statistics or only partial statistics 
were available for the PTAs of Armenia; China; Iceland; India; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyz Republic; 
Montenegro; New Zealand; Russian Federation; and Turkey. The Secretariat had reached out 
to these delegations and was working closely with some to bridge those stat istical gaps. 
Document G/RO/W/ 163/Rev.6 contain s a detailed report about the latest status of information  
available with the Secretariat.  
− To facilitate access to origin -related requirements, the Secretariat informed Members about a 
collaboration with the I nternational Trade Centre (ITC) and the World Customs Organization 
(WCO) for the development of the online "Origin Facilitator"  (https://findrulesoforigin.org ). 
The tool allows users to consult and compare orig in requirements, at the tariff -line level (origin 
criteria, origin certification  and other related elements ). Because preferential rules of origin 
entail compliance with dozens of variables , finding a user -friendly way of navigating these G/RO/89  
 
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  requirements is a key aspect of facilitating trade . The Facilitator was publicly available at no 
cost. It offered a useful tool for government officials in order to identify and compare market 
access opportunities. In that sense, it is an initiative aimed at facilitat ing exports from LDCs. 
− Members also heard updates from some preference -granting Members  about ongoing efforts 
to examine current origin practices in light of the Ministerial Decisions. I n particular , Members 
heard an update about the implementation of the self -certification system for registered 
exporters (Registered Exporter system , REX) being implemented by the European Union;  
Norway;  Turkey; and Switzerland.  
− In addition to transparency, Members have also discussed s ubstantive aspects of 
preference -granting Members' practices related to origin. The Committee continued its 
detailed examination of rules of origin based on the change -of-tariff-classification criterion 
(Paragraph s 1.2 and 1.4 of Nairobi Decision ). In that  context, bilateral meetings between the 
LDC Group and some preference -granting Members were also held in 2019.  
− Finally, Members have also continued their examination of the  utilization of non -reciprocal 
preferences by LDCs. The Secretariat  had prepared two notes : the first  examining the 
utilization of preferences for agricultural products (G/RO/W/185) and the second examining 
the linkages between preference utilization and direct consignment requirements 
(G/RO/W/187). In addition, the LDC Group  also presented a detailed analys is of preference 
utilization rates for the PTAs of Switzerland and of China.  
3. In concluding the annual review, t he Chairperson thanked Members for their constructive 
engagement and proposed that the Committee continue its  technical and focused discussion about 
the implementation of the Ministerial Decisions in order to pursue  monitoring the progress made in 
facilitat ing trade  for LDCs .  
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