G/RO/N/188  
 
16 October 2019  
(19-6693) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Rules of Origin  Original: English  
 
 NOTIFICATION UNDER P ARAGRAPH 4 OF ANNEX II  
OF THE AGREEMENT ON RULES OF ORIGIN  
PREFERENTIAL RULES O F 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 apply, 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 noti fications which had initially been received by the CRTA or the CTD should also be circulated 
by the Secretariat to the CRO. The information regarding such notifications, including related to 
preferential rules of origin, can, in addition, be retrieved thro ugh 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 : 
JAPAN – RULES OF ORI GIN FOR APPLICATION OF GENERALISED SYSTEM O F 
PREFERENCES (GSP)  
Article 8 -4 of the Temporary Tariff Measures Law has been added by the following.  
(Heading 1)  
The Director General of Customs where  a good has been  declared for import under heading 1 or 3 
of Article 8 -2 may verify whether the good is originating in the beneficiary country by means of the 
following measures:  
1. A written request for information from the importer of the good;  
2. A written request for  information from the competent authority of the beneficiary country 
which issued the certificate of origin, the exporter , or the producer of the good;  
3. A verification visit to the premises of the exporter or producer subject to the consent of the 
exporter or producer;  or 
4. A request to the competent authority of the beneficiary country which issued the certificate of 
origin to verify through  a visit by the body along with customs officers o f Japan Customs and 
to submit information.  
(Heading 2)  
The request stipulated in subheading 2 to heading 1 shall be made with a certain period to provide 
collected information.  G/RO/N/188  
 
- 2 - 
 
  (Heading 3)  
When conducting the visit pursuant to subheading 3 to heading 1, the Director General of Customs 
shall send the exporter or pr oducer a written notification which sets a due date to respond regarding 
the acceptance of receiving the visit.  
(Heading 4)  
When conducting the visit pursuant to subheading 4 to heading 1, the Director General of  Customs 
shall se nd the competent authority of the beneficiary country a written notification which sets a due 
date to respond regarding the acceptance of receiving the visit.  
(Heading 5)  
The Director General of Customs may deny the benefits under heading 1 or 3 of Article 8 -2, where:  
1. The good does  not meet the requirements of Article 8 -2; 
2. The importer fails to comply with any of the relevant requirements for obtaining the 
preferential tariff treatment ; 
3. With regard  to the request for information pursuant to subheading 2 to heading 1, the 
competent a uthority of the beneficiary country, the exporter, or the producer  fail to respond 
to the questions within the specified period pursuant to heading 2, or the information provided 
does not suffice for the request;  
4. With regard to the notification pursuant to  heading 3, the competent authority of the 
beneficiary country, the exporter, or the producer rejects the visit referred to in subheading 
3 to heading 1, or does not respond within the specified period pursuant to heading 3; or  
5. With regard to the request pursuant to heading 4, the  competent authority of the beneficiary 
country rejects the request, or does not respond to the request within the specified period, or 
refuses to provide the information,  or the information does not suffice for the reques t. 
(Heading 6)  
When the verification of heading 1 has been  conducted, the result and the reason for it shall be 
informed to the importer.  
__________