G/RO/LDC/N/TPKM/1  
 
10 July 2017  
(17-3700) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Rules of Or igin  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION OF PREF ERENTIAL RULES OF OR IGIN FOR  
LEAST DEVELOPED COUN TRIES  
THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN , PENGHU , KINMEN AND MATSU 
The following communication, dated 6 July 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of The Separ ate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.  
_______________  
 
 
Paragraph 4.3 of the 2015 Ministerial Decision on preferential rules of origin for least developed 
countries (WT/L/917/Add.1) requires preference -granting Members to notify prefer ential rules of 
origin as per the established procedures1.  In addition, as mandated by the Ministerial Decision, 
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 requi rements, the following notification has been received from: The Separate 
Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.  
 
A. BASIC INFORMATION  
 
1)  Notifying member  The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and 
Matsu  
2)  Date of entering into force of Rules 
of origin and any substantive  
modification thereof  Proclaimed on 30 September 1994, as amended on 
8 January  2002, 29 March 2004, and 17 January 2008, 
24 December  2010.  
3)  Date of expiration of Rules of 
origin if applicable  N/A 
4)  Title of  the preferential scheme for 
which legislation on Rules of origin 
is applicable  The preferential tariff rates for LDCs are listed in column II of 
the Customs Import Tariff . 
5)  Authority(ies) granting the 
preferential treatment  Council of Agriculture  
Minist ry of Economic Affairs  
Ministry of Finance  
6)  National authorities in charge of 
Rules of origin administration  
 The Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance is responsible 
for Rules of origin.  The Customs Administration can be 
contacted  at customs@customs.gov.tw  or via telephone 886 -2-
25505500 #2531  
 
                                                
1 The relevant notification requirements 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/TPKM/1  
 
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  B. INFORMATION ON RULES OF ORIGIN  
I.  BENEFICIARIES  
1) List of Beneficiaries  
 48 beneficiaries of the LDCs.  The list of beneficiaries can be 
found at: 
http://web.customs.gov.tw/public/Attachment/76309254971.pdf  
2) Eligibility  Following the LDC s Criteria defined by Committee  for 
Development Policy, the United Nations  
 
II.  CRITERIA F OR DETERMINING SUBSTANTIAL TRANSFORMATION  
1)  General criteria, if applicable for all products   
 (a) Definition of wholly 
obtained products  Article 6 of Regulations Governing the Determination of Country 
of Origin of Imported Goods  
See: 
http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=G0350
047 
 (b)  Describe the criteria for 
not-wholly produced 
products  N/A 
 (c)  Insert the formula for 
calculating ad valorem  
percentage  Article 10 of Regulations Governing the Determination of Country 
of Origin of Imported Goods  
See: 
http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=G0350
047 
2)  Product spec ific rules of origin, where applicable  
 (a)  Insert  the link where the 
complete list of product 
specific rules of origin can 
be found.  N/A 
 (b) Insert the formula for 
calculating ad valorem  
percentage, when applied 
for product specific rule  N/A 
3) Defin ition of non -originating 
material and originating material, 
if any  Goods imported from a least -developed country shall be 
regarded as  originating in that country, provided that:  
(1) the goods were wholly produced in that least -developed 
country; or  
(2)  where there are two or more countries involved in the 
production of the  goods, the production process conducted 
by that least -developed country has  added value to the 
goods by a ratio of no less than 50%.  
4) List of insufficient working 
process, if any  N/A 
5) Rules for application of 
cumulation and related 
procedures if any  Article 10 of Regulations Governing the Determination of Country 
of Origin of Imported Goods  
See: 
http://law .moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=G0350
047 
6) Any other information that 
member deems necessary  N/A 
 G/RO/LDC/N/TPKM/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 o ther 
proof of origin, if any  Article 11 of Regulations Governing the Determination of Country 
of Origin of Imported Goods  
See: 
http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCod e=G0350
047 
 (b) Authority to be designated 
for issuance of certificate of 
origin  The Certificate of Origin shall be issued and certified by the 
government of the exporting country  
 (c)  Prescribed form of 
Certificate of origin and/or 
any other proof of origin  N/A 
 (d) Any other procedures 
applied for certificate of 
origin and/or any other 
proof of origin, if any  N/A 
2)  Direct shipment  
 (a)  Rules applicable for direct 
shipment, if any  Article 11 of Regulations Governing the Determination of Country 
of Origin of Imported Goods  
See: 
http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=G0350
047 
 (b) Documentary requirement 
for proof of direct shipment 
including when the 
trans port of consignment 
involves transit through 
one or more intermediate 
countries, if any  The exporters from LDCs could present the self-proof 
documentary  of direct shipment to Customs.  
 
IV.  VERIFICATION AND PENALTIES  
1) Procedure for verification of 
proof s of origin  Information about verifications can be found at: http://law -
out.mof.gov.tw/LawContentDetails.aspx?id=FL045751&KeyWord
HL= 
2) Penalties for fraud and false 
declarations  According to Article 37 of Customs Anti -smuggling Act , in case a 
fraud and false declaration of import cargoes is made, Customs 
may, according to the nature of the case, either imposes a fine 
equivalent to two to five times the duties evaded t ogether with 
the confiscation of the cargoes in question, or only confiscates 
the cargoes in question.  
3) Authorities and procedures for 
appeal in the case of dispute on 
verification  According to Article 47 of Customs Anti -smuggling Act, where 
the importe r does not agree with the disposition by Customs, 
the importer may, within 30 days from the day following the 
date of receipt of the disposition notice, file a written protest in 
given format against Customs for review.  
 
Customs shall make a determination of the protest within two 
months from the day following the date of receipt of a protest, 
and notify the importer; where necessary, the term may be 
prolonged once for no more than another two months.  
The original copy of the determination of protest shall be 
delivered to importer within 15 days from the date on which 
such determination is made.  
4) Requirement for preserving the 
documents related to issuance of 
certificate of origin  According to Article 98 of Customs Act, the documents related to 
issuance o f certificate of origin shall be preserved for 5 years . 
 G/RO/LDC/N/TPKM/1  
 
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  5) Any other relevant information  N/A 
 
V.  REFERENCE TEXTS  
(a) The legislative texts in one of the 
official 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)  Regulations Governing the Determination of Country of Origin of 
an Import Good 
http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=G0350
047 
Customs Act 
http:// law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=G0350
001 
Customs Anti -smugg ling Act  
http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=G0350
029 
 (b) The full text of the administrative 
regulations concerning 
modalities for issuance, 
acceptance, retr ospective 
issuance and replacement of 
certificates of origin 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 consignment 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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