G/RO/W/182  
 
17 January 2019  
(19-0268) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Rules of Origin  Original: English  
 
ENHANCING TRANSPAREN CY IN NON -PREFERENTI AL RULES OF ORIGIN  
COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTRALIA; BRAZIL; C ANADA; HONG KONG, CHINA; JAPAN; NORWAY; 
RUSSIA N FEDERATION ; SINGAPORE; SWITZER LAND; THE SEPARATE C USTOMS TERRITORY OF 
TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINM EN AND MATSU ; AND THE UNITED STAT ES 
 
The following communication, dated 16 January 2019 , is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Switzerland.  
_______________  
Members of the World Trade Organization,  
Recalling that multilateral trade negotiations shall aim to "bring about further liberalization and 
expansion of world trade";  
Desiring to ensure that rules of origin themselves do not create restrictive, distorting or disruptive 
effects on international trade;  
Desiring  to ensure that rules of origin are pre pared and applied in an impartial, transparent, 
predictable, consistent and neutral manner;  
Recognizing  that clear and predictable rules of origin and their application facilitate the flow of 
international trade;  
Recognizing  that it is desirable to provide  transparency of laws, regulations, and practices regarding 
rules of origin;  
Desiring  to complement the notifications obligations of Article 5 of the Agreement on Rules of origin;  
Affirming  that enhancing transparency of laws, regulations, and practices re garding rules of origin 
contribute to mitigate compliance costs of economic operators wishing to integrate global value 
chains, notably micro, small and medium enterprises;  
Decide , with respect to rules of origin, as follows:  
1. That it is desirable to mainta in and promote a high level of transparency and mutual 
understanding about existing rules of origin and related documentary requirements used by 
WTO Members. Rules of origin are understood as those falling under the scope of Article 1 of 
the Agreement on Rules of Origin. 
2. In order to enhance transparency and promote a better understanding of rules of origin, 
Members shall notify the WTO Secretariat no later than one year after the adoption of this 
decision the rules of origin that they use in the application  of most -favoured nation treatment 
under Articles I, II, III, XI and XIII of GATT 1994. If applicable, Members are encouraged to 
notify the WTO Secretariat any other rules of origin that they use for the application of other 
non-preferential commercial pol icy instruments as provided for in Article 1.2 of the Agreement 
on Rules of Origin. Notifications should be submitted pursuant to Annex 1 of this Decision . G/RO/W/182  
 
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  3. In addition, Members shall describe , according to Annex 2 , their practices with respect to 
certifica tion of origin and other mandatory documentary proofs of origin for non -preferential 
purposes that have been notified according to Annex 11. Members that report that they do not 
implement rules of origin according to Annex 1 shall , nonetheless , describe th eir documentary 
requirements according to Annex 2 . 
4. The information notified pursuant to this decision shall be made publicly available by the 
Secretariat.  
5. Each Member shall, within its available resources, establish or maintain one or more enquiry 
points t o answer reasonable enquiries of governments, traders and other interested parties 
on matters regarding rules of origin and related documentary requirements as well as to 
provide the required forms and documents2. Members shall communicate the contact deta ils 
of their respective enquiry points to the WTO Secretariat pursuant to Annex 1 . 
6. Members shall endeavour to provide legal references, websites, explanatory documents, or 
any other documents, in an official WTO language, preferably in English . 
7. Members int roducing substantive changes to their rules of origin and related documentary 
requirements that have been notified according to this decision, shall notify such changes 
promptly to the Secretariat according to this decision . 
8. The Committee on Rules of Origi n (CRO) shall examine existing rules of origin and related 
documentary requirements based on the information notified according to this decision, with 
a view to identifying trade -facilitating practices and to promoting their international diffusion . 
9. Members having difficulties in complying with these provisions, in particular Least Developed 
Country members, may seek the assistance of the WTO Secretariat.  
10. Nothing in this Decision shall be construed as affecting the rights and obligations of members 
contained in Article 5 of the Agreement on Rules of Origin or in Article 1 of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement.  
  
                                                
1 This is without prejudice to other proofs of origin that may be require d by the competent authorities 
for control purposes.  
2 It is understood that this enquiry point can be the same as established or maintained pursuant to 
Article 1 .3 (Enquiry points ) of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and Members are not required to provide 
more information or provide more forms and documents than covered by the TFA.  G/RO/W/182  
 
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  ANNEX 1  
NOTIFICATION TEMPLAT E FOR NON -PREFERENTI AL RULES OF ORIGIN  
Annex 1 may be duplicated as many times as the member deems necessary  
I.  BASIC INFORMATION  
1)  Notifying member   
2)  Enquiry point (contact details)   
3)  Are Non -Preferential RO in force?   Yes  No* 
* If your answer is "No", the subsequent questions of this 
Annex do not need to be completed  
4)  Please indicate which commercial 
policy instruments use these 
non-preferential RO (refer to 
Article  1.2 of the Agreement on 
Rules of Origin)   
5)  Date of entry into force or any 
substantive modification thereof:   
6)  Date of expiration, if applicable:   
7)  Governmental or non -governmental 
authorities in charge of 
administration:   
8)  Internet link to legislation and any 
other explanatory documents, if 
applicable:   
9)  Comment s, if any   
 
II.  APPLICATION OF NON-PREFERENTIAL RO  
10)  Do non -preferential RO apply to 
imports   Yes  No 
11)  Do non -preferential RO apply to 
exports   Yes  No 
12)  De minimis  rule for the application 
of non -preferential RO   Yes  No 
 If Yes, please specify the 
de minimis  threshold and p rovide 
the relevant legal references 
applicable to questions 10 to 12.   
 
III.  CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING SUBSTANTIAL TRANSFORMATION FOR ASSESSING 
THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN  
13)  General criteria, if applicable for all 
products:   
14)  Product specific rules of origin 
where applicable:   
15)  Definition of non -originating 
material and originating material, if 
any:  
16)  List of minimal operations not 
conferring origin, if any:   G/RO/W/182  
 
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  17)  Residual rules, if any:   
18)  Any other information the member 
deems necessary (provide an 
Internet link, if appropriate)   
 
IV.   ADVANCE RULINGS
Are advance rulings on the origin of a good 
issued?1  Yes  No 
 
Authority in charge of issuing advance 
rulings (on origin )  
Instructions for the application for an 
advance ruling   
Internet link to legislation and any other 
relevant legal references:   
 
  
                                                
1 As defined in Article 2(h) of the Agreement on Rules of Origin and Article 3 of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement . G/RO/W/182  
 
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  ANNEX 2  
NOTIFICATION TEMPLAT E FOR DOCUMENTARY RE QUIREMENTS RELATED T O 
NON-PREFERENTIAL RUL ES OF ORIGIN  
1)  Mandatory requirements for certificate 
and/or any other mandatory documentary 
proof of origin for imports ?  
 Yes  No** 
 
2)  Mandatory requirements for certificate 
and/or any other mandatory documentary 
proof of origin for exports ?  Yes 
  No** 
 
3)  Is there a standardized or prescribed 
format and/or content of Certificate 
and/or any other mandatory documentary 
proof of origin?  
If Yes, please attach a copy or provide 
relevant details in the Appendix of this 
Annex   
   Yes 
  No 
** If answers to questions 1 and 2 are "No", the 
subsequent questions of this Annex do not need 
to be completed  
4)  If only requested in specific 
circumstances, please describe the cases 
for which a certificate (or other mandatory 
documentary proofs of origin) is requested 
and the respective format (prescribed 
form or other).   
5)  If mandatory requirements for certificate 
and/or any other mandatory documentary 
proof of origin are limited to certain 
products please specify for which HS 
Chapters and the resp ective format 
(prescribed form or other).   
6)  Exemptions to the mandatory 
requirements of presenting a certificate 
and/or any other mandatory documentary 
proof of origin (e.g. low value 
consignments, postal consignments,  …)  
7)  Governmental or non-governmental 
authorities designated for issuance of 
certificate and/or any other mandatory 
documentary proof of origin, if any   
8)  Please provide the relevant legal 
references applicable to Questions 1 to 7   
 
ANNEX 2 - APPENDIX  
Please attach the prescribed form and/or Internet link to the prescribed form of Certificate of origin 
(or other mandatory documentary proof of origin), if applicable  
__________