G/RO/N/150  
10 Novem ber 2016 
(16-6157) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Rules of Origin   
 
  NOTIFICATION UNDER A RTICLE 5 AND PARAGRA PH 4 OF  
ANNEX II TO THE AGRE EMENT ON RULES OF OR IGIN  
NON-PREFERENTIAL AND PRE FERENTIAL RULES OF O RIGIN  
1. According to Article 5.1 of the Agreement on Rules of Origin, each Member shall provide to 
the Secretariat, wi thin 90 days after the date of entry into force of the WTO  Agreement for it, its  
rules of origin, judicial decisions, and administrative rulings of general application relating to rules 
of origin in effect on that date . If, by inadvertence, a rule of origi n has not been provided, the 
Member concerned shall provide it immediately after this fact becomes known . Article 5.2 of  the 
Agreement provides, moreover, that during the period referred to in Article  2, Members 
introducing modifications, other than de minimis modifications, to their rules of origin or 
introducing new rules of origin, shall publish a notice to that effect at least 60 days before the 
entry into force of the modified or new rule in such a manner as to enable interested parties to 
become acqua inted with the intention to modify a rule of origin or to introduce a new rule of  
origin, unless exceptional circumstances arise or threaten to arise for a Member.  
 
2. Furthermore, paragraph 4 of Annex II to the Agreement on Rules of Origin envisages that 
Members shall promptly provide to the Secretariat their existing or new preferential rules of origin, 
including a listing of the preferential arrangements to which they apply, judicial decisions, and 
administrative rulings of general application relating t o their preferential rules of origin.  In this 
respect, the Committee on Rules of Origin further agreed that notifications made to the Committee  
on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) or the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) could 
also suffice to discha rge Members' notification obligations under the Agreement on Rules of Origin 
(G/RO/M/59).  As a result, the Committee  agreed that notifications which had been initially 
received by the CRTA or the CTD should also be circulated by the Secretariat to the CRO . 
Information regarding such notifications, including related to preferential rules of origin, can also 
be obtained through the WTO database on regional trade agreements ( http://rtais.wto.org ) or the 
WTO database on preferen tial trade agreements ( http://ptadb.wto.org ). 
 
3. With reference to these rules, the following notification has been received:  
 
BENIN  
(Notification in Frenc h) 
Rules of origin are applied in the Republic of Benin  for both preferential and non -preferenti al 
trade.  
A. NON-PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN  
The Republic of Benin has no non -preferential rules of origin.  
B. PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN  
The Republic of Benin applies the p referential rules of origin of:  
- the West African Economic and Monetary Union ( WAEMU), as set forth in the Additional 
Protocol establishing the rules of origin governing WAEMU products 
(http://www.uemoa.int/sites/default/files/bi bliotheque/pages_ -
_protocole_additionnel_03.pdf ); and G/RO/N/150  
- 2 - 
  - the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as set forth in Articles 35 and 
38 on "Liberalisation of Trade" and "Community Tariff Treatment" respectively of Chapter VII 
of the ECOWAS  Treaty (http://www.ecowas.int/wp -content/uploads/2015/01/Revised -
treaty.pdf ). These rules are supplemented by Protocol A/P/03 of 2 5 November 2 005, 
adopted in Dakar, relating to  the definition of products originating from 
ECOWAS  Member  States.  
 
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