RD/RO/41 7 November 2012 
 
 
Committee on Rules of Origin 
  
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENTS 
  
 Documents issued in the RD series are not o fficial WTO documents. They usually appear in 
their language of submission and will not be translat ed systematically into the working languages of 
the WTO. They are intended for use in WTO meetin g rooms and are attributed an unofficial symbol 
for archiving purposes only. 
 
  
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REVIEW AND MODIFICATION OF HARMONIZED  
NON-PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN 
  
Note by the Secretariat
2 
 
A. BACKGROUND  
 
 This document has been prepared by the Secret ariat at the request of the Chairman of the 
Committee on Rules of Origin (CRO) with a view to assisting Members' discussions about possible 
approaches to undertake the transposition of harmonized rules of origin (HRO) into future versions of 
the Harmonized System (HS) nomenclature (that is, HS2017 and beyond). The intention is for Members to discuss such options at the next meeting of the CRO, scheduled for November 2012.
3 
 B. T
HE AGREEMENT ON RULES OF ORIGIN  
 
 Article 6.3 of the Agreement on Rules of Orig in (ARO), entitled "Review", foresees the need 
to amend HRO in order to keep them both ope rational and up to date.  It reads as follows: 
 
 
"The Committee, in cooperation with the Technical Committee, shall set up 
a mechanism to consider and propose amendments to the results of the 
harmonization work programme, taking into account the objectives and 
principles set out in Article 9.  This  may include instances where the rules 
need to be made more operational or n eed to be updated to take into account 
new production processes as affected by any technological change." 
 
 
 So, Article 6.3 of the Agreement instructs the CRO, in collaboration with the Technical 
Committee on Rules of Origin (TCRO), to set up a mechanism to consider and propose amendments 
to HRO, including in cases in which:  
                                                      
1 In English only. 
2 This document has been prepared under the Secr etariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. 
3 See paragraph 3.8 of document G/RO/M/58.  RD/RO/4 
 Page 2 
 
 
   i. The rules need to made more operational; and 
 ii. The rules need to be updated because of technological change or new production 
processes. 
  While the need to amend harmonized rules to reflect the periodic revisions of the Harmonized 
System (HS) tariff nomenclature is not explicitly mentioned in Article 6.3 of the ARO, it seems clear 
that such a need would fall within the scope of th at article.  First, because items (i) and (ii) do not 
constitute an exhaustive list of cases fo r which amendments may be necessary (" This may include 
instances where ").  Second, because changes to the HS nom enclature aim precisely at updating the 
nomenclature in light of new trade and technological  patterns (in which case they could fall under the 
second case).  Moreover, revisions to the HS would for ce harmonized rules to be adjusted with a view 
to remaining simple and operational (first case).  C. P
ROPOSED PROCEDURES FOR THE AMENDMENT OF HRO 
 
 An important aspect to bear in mind is that  the procedures should be as simple as possible, 
with a view to ensuring that amendments can be discussed and adopted promptly and that HRO 
remain up to date and operational at all times.  Moreover, procedures can also be guided by previous discussions about amendments to the harmonized rules of origin in the CRO
4 and TCRO5 as well as 
by the practice of committees under other WTO Agreements.6 
 
 Having noted these aspects, the following draf t procedures for the amendment of HRO are 
submitted for the consideration of the CRO.  These procedures, once agreed, would only be 
implemented after the adoption by the CRO of HRO. 
                                                      
4 See, for instance, document G/RO/M/41. 
5 See, for instance, the note by the WCO Secretariat for the 20th Session of the TCRO: " Proposed 
mechanism for the submission of the views of the TCRO to the CRO for amendments to the harmonized 
non-preferential rules of origin " of 3 December 2001 (document OC0068E1). 
6 For instance, the periodic review of the HS nom enclature also generates a need to update the 
Schedules of Concessions of WTO Members, which, like th e harmonized rules of origin, also constitute part of 
the WTO Agreement.  Tariff concessions contained in the Schedules are thus regularly transposed to more 
recent versions of the HS.  The tr ansposition of WTO Schedul es of Concessi ons is conducted by the Committee 
on Market Access. See, for instance, documents WT/L/605, WT/L/673 and WT/L/831.  RD/RO/4 
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  PROCEDURES FOR THE AMENDMENT OF 
HARMONIZED RULES OF ORIGIN 
 
Decision of the Committee on Rules of Origin of [Date] 
 
 The Committee , 
 
 Recalling  that Article 6.3 of the Agreement on Ru les of Origin calls the Committee on Rules 
of Origin (CRO), in collaboration with the Tec hnical Committee on Rules of Origin (TCRO) to set up 
a mechanism to consider and propose amendments to harmonized rules of origin, including in cases in 
which the rules need to be made more operational; and, to be updated because of technological change 
or new production processes; 
 
 Recognizing  the objective of maintaining harmonized  rules of origin that are simple, 
operational and relevant; 
 
 Taking into account  the need to achieve such  an objective expeditiously, 
 
 Decides as follows: 
 
Initiation of amendments 
 
1. Any Member of the CRO may submit to the Committee a proposal to amend Annex X of the 
WTO Agreement on Rules of Origin ("harmonized rules of origin"). 
 
2. Following the acceptance by the Contracting Parties of the Harmonized System Convention 
of recommended amendments to the Harmonized  Commodity Description and Coding System 
(referred hereafter as "periodic amendments"), the T CRO shall automatically initiate the consideration 
of the amendments made to the Harmonized Syst em and the necessary adjustments that would be 
required to the harmonized rules of origin.  The TC RO shall submit to the CRO, as early as possible, a 
proposal for amendments to the HRO. 
 
Consideration 
 
3. The CRO shall examine all proposals for am ending the harmonized rules of origin, as 
submitted by any Member of the CRO.  In so doing , the CRO may request the TCRO to assess the 
proposed changes and to formulate a recommendation.  
 
4. Upon submission by the TCRO of its r ecommendations concerning amendments of the 
harmonized rules of origin resulting from the pe riodic amendment of the Harmonized System, the 
CRO shall examine the recommended amendments and adjustments. 
 
5. Consideration of such proposals by the Committee should take place as quickly as possible 
with a view to ensuring a timely adjust ment of the harmonized rules of origin. 
 
Endorsement 
 
6. After an examination of proposals for amendmen ts under paragraphs 3 a nd 4 of this decision, 
the CRO shall agree which amendm ents are necessary and shall endorse those amendments to the 
harmonized rules of origin. 
  RD/RO/4 
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  7. The amendments endorsed by the CRO shall sub sequently be referred to another body of the 
WTO for adoption as appropriate. 
 
8. The WTO Secretariat shall update the harmonized rules of origin in light of the amendments 
adopted by the appropriate body of the WTO. 
 
 
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