G/RO/LDC/N/AUS/1  
 
12 September  2017 
(17-4825) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Rules of Origin  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION OF PREF ERENTIAL RULES OF OR IGIN FOR  
LEAST DEVELOPED COUN TRIES  
AUSTRALIA  
The following communication, dated 5 September  2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Australia . 
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Paragraph 4.3 of the 2015 Minist erial Decision on preferential rules of origin for least developed 
countries (WT/L/917/Add.1) requires preference -granting Members to notify preferential rules of 
origin as per the established procedures1.  In addition, as mandated by the Ministerial Decis ion, 
the Committee on Rules of Origin agreed, at its meeting of 2 March 2017, to a template for such 
notifications (G/RO/84).  
 
Following such requirements, the following notification has been received from: Australia . 
A. BASIC INFORMATION  
1)  Notifying membe r Australia  
2)  Date of entering into force of 
Rules of origin and any 
substantive  modification 
thereof  https://www.border .gov.au/AccessandAccountability/Documents/
practice -statements/ps200913 -ig-preferential_rules_origin.pdf  
Amendments made in 1993.  
3)  Date of expiration of Rules of 
origin if applicable  Not applicable .  
4)  Title of the preferential scheme 
for which legislati on on Rules of 
origin is applicable  Preferential rules of origin.  
5)  Authority(ies) granting the 
preferential treatment  Department of Immigration and Border Protection  
Customs Act 1901  (Customs Act)  
https://www.borde r.gov.au/  
6)  National authorities in charge 
of Rules of origin 
administration  
 Department of Immigration and Border Protection  
Trade Policy Section  
Phone: +61 131 881  
http://www.border.gov.au/Busi/cargo -support -trade-and-
goods/free -trade -agreements/developing -countries -least-
developed -countries   
                                                
1 The relevant notification req uirements are contained in Paragraph 2(d) of Annex 1 of the Transparency 
Mechanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements (WT/L/806) and in Paragraph 4 of Annex II of the Agreement 
on Rules of Origin.  G/RO/LDC/N/AUS/1  
 
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  B. INFORMATION ON RULES OF ORIGIN  
I.  BENEFICIARIES  
1) List of Benefi ciaries  https://www.border.gov.au/Tariffclassificationofgoods/Document
s/sch1w.pdf  
2) Eligibility  Not applicable.  
 
II.  CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING SUBSTANTIAL TRANSFORM ATION  
1)  General criteria, if applicable for all products  
 (a) Definition of wholly 
obtained products  Goods claimed to be the produce of a country are the produce of 
that country if they are its  unmanufactured raw  products.  
 (b)  Describe the criteria f or 
not-wholly produced 
products  Goods are the manufacture of an Least Developed Country (LDC) 
if: the last process in the manufacture of the goods was 
performed in an LDC; and the allowable factory cost of the goods 
is not less than 50 % of the total factor y cost of the goods.  
For LDC preferences, at least 25 % of the allowable factory or 
works cost of the goods must be from one or more LDCs, with at 
least 25 % from other countries in the qualifying area.  
 (c)  Insert the formula for 
calculating ad valorem  
percentage  % = Allowable Facto ry Costs/Total Factory Costs  
Section 153B of the Customs Act defines "allowable factory cost " 
and " total factory cost " in terms of materials, labour and 
overhead.  
Sections 153D and 153E of the Customs Act establish rules for 
calculating the total expenditure and allowable expenditure 
respectively in regard to materials received at the factory.  
2)   Product specific rules of origin, 
where applicable  No product specific rules of origin.  
 (a)  Insert  the link where the 
complete  list of product 
specific rules of origin can 
be found.  
 (b) Insert the formula for 
calculating ad valorem  
percentage, when applied 
for product specific rule  
3) Definition of non -originating 
material and originating material, 
if any  Not applicable.  
4) List of insufficient working 
process, if any  The manufacturer of the preference claim goods must perform 
the last process in the manufacture of those goods. The last 
process of manufacture must be determined on a case -by-case 
basis with due regard to the nature of the goods concerned and 
the processes to which they have been subjected. Manufacture 
does not include restoration, refitting and/or repair of goods. 
The manufacturer must be making a different thing from that out 
of which it is made.  
5) Rules fo r application of 
cumulation and related 
procedures if any  LDC goods qualify for preference if a specified percentage (50%) 
of the total factory cost in producing those goods constitutes 
allowable expenditure in relation to the particular "qualifying 
area".  
For LDCs the qualifying area is a minimum of 25% allowable 
costs from least developed countries, Papua New Guinea, Forum 
Island countries and up to 25% from developing countries as per 
list in question BI 1) .  
6) Any other information that 
member deems necessary  - 
 G/RO/LDC/N /AUS/1  
 
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  III.   DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS  
1)  Certificate of origin and other proofs of origin  
 (a)  Requirement for certificate 
of origin and/or any other 
proof of origin, if any  Australia accepts Certificates of Origin or Declarations of Origin 
made  by the overseas manufacturer of goods imported into 
Australia to support  a preference claim, provided:  
(a) the Certificate of Origin or Declaration of Origin clearly 
identifies the goods to which it applies;  
(b)  the Certificate of Origin or Declaration  of Origin specifies 
that the last process in the manufacture of the goods was 
performed in the LDC and that the manufacturer 's allowable 
factory cost is at least 50% of their total factory cost; and  
(c)  there is no reason to doubt the veracity or reliab ility of the 
Certificate of Origin or Declaration of Origin  
There is no prescribed form for Certificate of Origin or 
Declaration of Origin by the manufacturer.  It should, however, 
describe the goods and refer to the particular provision in 
Division 1A of Part VIII of the Customs Act that the goods meet. 
Also, the name of the person signing the certificate or 
declaration, together with their position and the company or 
entity represented, should be clearly stated. The declaration may 
be on the commercial do cuments or form a separate document.  
 (b)  Authority to be designated 
for issuance of certificate of 
origin  No designated authorities for LDC certificates of origin.  
 (c)  Prescribed form of 
Certificate of origin and/or 
any other proof of origin  Certif icates of Origin provided to support a claim of origin under 
the Australian GSP arrangements must meet the requirements of 
Form A as indicated in the Australian GSP manual.  
The Australian GSP manual can be found at 
http://unctad.org/Sections/gsp/docs/gsp_form_a_new_en.pdf   
 (d)  Any other procedures 
applied for certificate of 
origin and/or any other 
proof of origin, if any  The Australian Border Force may seek further evidence of 
preference entitlement for any specific reason or a simple 
intuitive selection, irrespective of the existence of  a certificate or 
declaration.  
2)  Direct shipment  
 (a)  Rules applicable for direct 
shipment, if any  There are no direct shipment requirements f or LDC preferences.  
 (b)  Documentary requirement 
for proof of direct shipment 
including when the 
transport of consignment 
involves transit through 
one or more intermediate 
countries, if any  Not applicable.  
 
IV.  VERIFICATION AND PENALTIES  
1) Procedure  for verification of 
proofs of origin  Verification of origin is done under general powers provided by 
the Customs Act 1901.  
Legislation available: 
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017 C00028   
Relevant sections include:  
Section 30 Customs control  
Section 68 Importation of goods  
Section 186  General powers of examination of goods subject to 
customs control  
Section 186AA  General powers of examination of goods loaded 
onto or unloaded fro m ships or aircraft  
Part XII, Division 1  
Subdivision JA —Powers to monitor and audit —Australia United 
States Free Trade Agreement  G/RO/LDC/N/AUS/1  
 
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  Subdivision J —General powers to monitor and audit  
Sections 240 (Commercial documents to be kept), 240AA 
(Authorised officer may  require person to produce commercial 
documents), 240AB (Verifying communications to department, 
240AC (Authorised officer may re quire person to produce 
record).  
2) Penalties for fraud and false 
declarations  Customs Act 1901, sections 243U and 243T and se ction 234 
(Customs offences)  
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00028  
3) Authorities and procedures for 
appeal in the case of dispute on 
verification  Traders have access to inter nal review by the Department of 
Immigration and Border Protection as well as merit review by an 
external tribunal: the Administrative Appeals Tribunal  
(http://www.aat.gov.au/ ) and judicial review by the Federal 
Court  of Australia  (http://www.federalcourt.gov.au/ ). 
4) Requirement for preserving the 
documents related to issuance of 
certificate of origin  Requirement for preserving the documents related to issuance of 
certificate of origin in the Customs Act 1901, section 240. 
Commercial documents must be kept for five years after the 
goods were imported into Australia.  
5) Any other relevant information   
 
V.  REFERENCE TEXTS  
(a) The legislative texts in one of the 
officia l WTO languages 
containing the preferential rules 
of origin applicable under a PTA 
granted under the Decision on 
Measures in Favour of Least -
Developed Countries (Annex F of 
the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration)  Customs Act 1901: 
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00219  
(b) The full text of the administrative 
regulations concerning 
modalities for issuance, 
acceptance, retrospective 
issuance and replacement of 
certificates of origi n or any 
equivalent declarations to be 
made, including any 
requirements  related to stamps 
to be used along with notification 
of stamps  
(c) The full text and related 
administrative regulations of the 
modalities for the proof of 
movement of the consignmen t of 
the goods from the beneficiary 
countries to preference -giving 
countries including transit 
through third countries  
(d) The full texts of the modalities of 
the verification procedures and 
related penalties  
 
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