RD/RO/6* 12 September 2013 
  Committee on Rules of Origin 
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENTS 
 Documents issued in the RD series are not official WTO documents. They usually appear in 
their language of submission and will not be tran slated systematically into the working languages 
of the WTO. They are intended for use in WTO meeting rooms and are attributed an unofficial 
symbol for archiving purposes only.   
 
_______________ 
 
 
 
CRO Informal Consultations on 13 September 2013 
Written Contribution on Non-preferential  Rules of Origin by Hong Kong, China 
 1. Does your country apply non-prefer ential rules of origin at present? 
On the import side, being a free port Hong Kong, China (HKC) imposes no origin 
requirement on imported goods.  On the export  side, HKC's non-preferential rules of origin 
are devised and administered to facilitate customs clearance of HKC exports by our trading partners' customs authorities.  The principles of  HKC's non-preferential rules of origin also 
provide a reference for the Customs and Excise Department's determination of whether 
imported or exported goods' origin markings fulfil HKC's local legislation on trade descriptions.   
2. If it does not, does it require any type  of origin proof for no n-preferential trade? 
HKC does not require any type of origin  proof for both imports and exports for 
non-preferential trade. 
3. If it does apply non-preferential rule s of origin, what types of rules are being 
applied (tariff change, value added, product-specific)? 
Non-preferential rules of origin are applied to facilitate HKC's export.  For wholly obtained or 
produced goods, they must be the natural prod ucts of HKC which have been wholly grown or 
mined in HKC or produced in HKC from domestic materials.  For manufactured goods which 
may involve multiple country processing and/or materials, they must be the products of manufacturing processes in HKC which have changed permanently and substantially the 
shape, nature, form or utility of the basic materials used in manufacture.  Where the 
manufacturing process alone does not suffice to express substantial transformation, the HKC cost content attributable to local component parts and labour vis-à-vis  the total 
manufacturing cost or the value of the fi nished product, will be considered in a 
supplementary manner. 
4. What objectives are being pursued with  your current non-preferential rules? 
Please see answer to Question 1. 
5. What commercial instruments are these ru les being applied to (determination of 
customs duties, statistical purposes,  labeling, anti-dumping, etc.)? 
                                               
* In English only Origin certification to facilitate export, origin marking to prohibit false marks and 
misstatements of goods, and statistical purposes. 
6. In your view, does the multiplication of  non-preferential rules of origin create 
obstacles to international trade?  Do  you think that the harmonization of 
non-preferential rules would fa cilitate international trade? 
HKC believes that the introduction of harmonized  rules of origin will facilitate the flow of 
international trade and prevent unilateral changes of rules which could have a protectionist 
effect.   
 
__________