G/RO/W/159  
 
12 April 2016  
(16-2048)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Rules of Origin  Original: English  
 
IMPLEMENTATION OF NAIROBI MINISTERIAL DECISION ON  
PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
(WT/L/917/ADD.1) 
Submission of Benin on behalf of the LDC Group 
Background  
Paragraph 31 of 10th WTO Ministerial Declaration states "Work on all the Ministerial Decisions 
adopted in Part II of this Declaration will rema in an important element of our future agenda." 
In this context, Least Developed Country Members of the WTO are of the view that implementation 
of the Decision on Preferential Rules of Origin for Least Developed Countries is one of the major works of the Committee of Rules of Origin.   
Paragraph 4 of the said Ministerial Decision (WT/L/ 917/Add.1) requires specific actions to be taken 
by Preference-granting Members and at the Committ ee on Rules of Origin as subsidiary body on 
this issue and therefore, its implementation issu e s  s h o u l d  b e  k e p t  a s  s t a n d i n g  A g e n d a  o f  C R O  
meetings.  These actions include: 
1. Notification of measures being taken by th e preference granting members to implement 
the decision (paragraph 4.2); 
2. Notification of Preferential rules of origin (Paragraph 4.3); 
3. Submission of Import data to the Secretariat (Paragraph 4.3); 
4. Modalities for calculation on utilization rate to be developed by CRO (Paragraph 4.3); 
and 
5. Developing template for notification of preferential rules of origin (Paragraph 4.3) 
This short note aims at raising some issues to discuss way forward to carry out these functions 
and implement the overall content of the Ministeria l Decision on Preferential Rules of Origin for 
LDCs adopted at the Nairobi WTO Ministerial (WT/L/917/Add.1). 
Elements for a discussion on how to implement the Ministerial Decisions on  
Preferential Rules of Origin adop ted at the Nairobi WTO Ministerial 
(WT/L/917/Add.1)  
Paragraph 4.2 of the Decision on preferential rules of origin for LDCs adopted at Nairobi 
(hereinafter the Decision) provides for a deadline of 31 December 2016 for Developed Preference Granting countries to implement the provisions cont ained in the Decision and provides flexibilities 
for developing countries in implementing such Decision. 
1. How do developed preference granting members intend to comply with the 
deadline of 31 December 2016 to implement the commitments undertaken in 
the Decision? 
2. How do developing preference granting members intend to comply with the 
31 December 2016 deadline or how do they intend to gradually comply with 
the commitment to implement the Decision? 
Paragraph 4.3 of the Decision provides for a commitment "Preferential rules of origin shall be 
notified as per the established procedures.  In this context, it is important to have the information on the present status of notification on preferenti al rules of origin and how the preference granting 
members are going to abide by this commitment. G/RO/W/159 
 
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  3. How have preferential rules of origin been notified to the WTO? 
4. Are the Members that are yet to notify th eir preferential rules of origin going 
to do so before the next meeting of the CRO?    
Paragraph 4.3 of the Decision provides for a commitment to " annually provide import data to the 
Secretariat as referred to Annex 1 of the PTA Tran sparency Mechanism, on the basis of which the 
Secretariat can calculate utilization rates, in accordance with modalities to be agreed upon by the CRO". 
It has emerged from discussions with the Secret ariat that some members have provided such 
import data, other members have provided incomple te data, and some members have yet to notify 
such data.  It is also necessary to ensure that the data is made available to other organizations such as UNCTAD who may assist LDCs in monitoring utilization rates.   
5. How do preference-granting members intend to comply with the commitment 
to "annually provide import data to the Se cretariat as referred to Annex 1 of 
the PTA Transparency Mechanism "? 
6. What measures are they undertaking to notify such data well before the next 
Committee on rules of origin meeting so that the LDCs could analyse the utilization rates under the differe nt preferential arrangements? 
7. Could the secretariat provide a report at the CRO meeting of 22 April of the 
current notification and their accuracy? 
8. How will the CRO undertake work on developing modalities for calculation of 
utilization rate? 
Paragraph 4.3 mandates the CRO to:  " develop a template for the notification of preferential rules 
of origin, to enhance transparency and promote a better understanding of the rules of origin 
applicable to imports from LDCs .  The LDC group is currently studying an appropriate format for 
such notification that will be presented at the next CRO meeting.  Meanwhile it would be 
interesting to hear from Members their views on such possible format as well as from the experience of the secretariat with current noti fications and ways and means to improve their 
transparency. 
9. What are the views of the preference gran ting countries on the best format to 
adopt for notifying the preferential rule s of origin according to paragraph 4.3 
of the Decision? 
10. What are the experiences and lessons learned that the WTO Secretariat may 
draw from the current notifications of pref erential rules of origin in favour to 
LDCs made to the Secretariat so far? 
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