status of notifications of preferential rules of origin for ldcs and preferential import data

Note by the Secretariat^[1]

Revision

Paragraph 4.3 of the 2015 (Nairobi) Ministerial Decision on preferential rules of origin for least developed countries (LDCs) reiterates Members' commitment to notify their preferential rules of origin for LDCs as well as data concerning their preferential imports from LDCs.  This note summarizes existing notification requirements and reports on the notifications received to date by the Secretariat.

1  Requirement to notify preferential rules of origin and preferential imports

1.1   The following WTO instruments require Members to notify their preferential rules of origin for LDCs and their preferential trade imports from LDCs:

-        Paragraph 4 of Annex II of the Agreement on Rules of Origin requires Members to notify "promptly" "to the Secretariat" any preferential rules of origin.  Notifications are circulated under the G/RO/N/ document series and are examined by the Committee on Rules of Origin;

-        The Transparency Mechanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements (WT/L/806 of 14 December 2010) requires Members to provide detailed and product-specific rules of origin "to the Secretariat".  Annex 1 of the Decision enumerates the specific information which should be provided, including preferential rules of origin. The Decision also requires Members to notify, at the tariff line level, import data under their PTAs. Notifications of PTAs under the Transparency Mechanism are circulated as documents of the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD). Notifications are considered by the CTD in Dedicated Session (CTD‑DS), on the basis of a "factual presentation" prepared by the Secretariat.  Only PTAs notified after the adoption of the Decision in 2010 have been examined under these procedures. In addition, a "guide" for each PTA is prepared in consultation with the Member implementing the PTA, and is placed in the Database on PTAs (http://ptadb.wto.org) after its approval by the implementing Member.

-        The 2013 (Bali) Ministerial Decision on preferential rules of origin for LDCs (WT/L/917) and the 2015 (Nairobi) Decision (WT/L/917/Add.1) reiterate these obligations.

2  Status of notifications and import data received to date

2.1   The following table enumerates, for each preference-granting Member, the latest notifications received concerning trade preferences in favour of LDCs.  It lists:

-        The references of the latest notifications which were sent either or both to the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD), the WTO Integrated Base, and to the CRO;

-        The date in which a notification and PTA was considered by the CTD; and

-        The availability of information about the tariff coverage of preferential schemes as well as data concerning preferential imports. "Yes" means the data has been notified and is available. The sign "-" indicates that the information has not been notified by the Member. The abbreviation "n.a." means that the preferences had not yet been implemented by the Member and that, as a result, no notification obligation was applicable.