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.
_______________
|
Preference-granting Member(i)
|
Notifications to the
CTD
|
Guide
|
Consideration by the CTD
|
Notifications to the CRO
|
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
|
1. Australia
|
WT/COMTD/N/18
21 January 2004
|
No guide
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
2. Canada
|
WT/COMTD/N/15/Add.3
17 November 2014
|
06/04/2016
|
No
|
G/RO/N/71/Add.1(ii)
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
3. Chile
|
WT/COMTD/N/44
and Add.1
23
October 2014
|
16/09/2014
|
11/03/15
|
G/RO/N/124
|
Tariffs
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
4. China
|
WT/COMTD/N/39/Add.2
21 November 2016
|
11/11/2016
|
Pending
|
G/RO/N/132
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
5. European
Union
|
WT/COMTD/N/4/Add.7
1 July 2015
|
03/08/2016
|
No
|
G/RO/N/69
and
G/RO/N/69/Add.1
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
6. Iceland
|
WT/COMTD/N/17
and Corr.1
20 January
2004
|
No
guide
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
-
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
7. India
|
WT/COMTD/N/38 and Add.1
18
November 2015
|
18/11/15
|
Pending
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
-
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
8. Japan
|
WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.16
4 November 2015
|
22/11/2016
|
No
|
G/RO/N/131(iii)
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
9. Kazakhstan
|
PTA has not been notified
|
No guide
|
No
|
G/RO/N/148
|
Tariffs
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
-
|
|
10. Korea,
Rep. of
|
WT/COMTD/N/12/Rev.1/Add.1
20 March 2012
|
24/05/2016
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
11. Kyrgyz
Rep.
|
PTA
has not been notified
|
No
guide
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
-
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
12. Morocco
|
WT/LDC/SWG/IF/18
9
May 2001
|
No
guide
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
-
|
-
|
Yes
|
-
|
-
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
13. New
Zealand
|
WT/COMTD/27
20
November 2000
|
17/11/11
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
14. Norway
|
WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.6
1 June 2016
|
25/05/2016
|
No
|
G/RO/N/149
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
15. Russian
Fed.
|
WT/COMTD/N/42
5
April 2013
|
No guide
|
Pending
|
G/RO/N/84/Corr.1
|
Tariffs
|
-
|
-
|
Yes
|
-
|
Yes
|
-
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
16. Switzerland
|
WT/COMTD/N/7/Add.5
26
September 2012
|
09/11/11
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
17. Chinese
Taipei
|
WT/COMTD/N/40
and Corr.1
28
February 2012
|
13/03/12
|
Pending
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
18. Tajikistan
|
PTA
has not been notified
|
No
guide
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
-
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
19. Thailand
|
WT/COMTD/N/46
23 July 2015
|
No guide
|
Pending
|
G/RO/N/130/Corr.1
|
Tariffs
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
Imports
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
20. Turkey
|
PTA
has not been notified
|
01/03/12
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
Yes
|
-
|
Yes
|
-
|
|
Imports
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
21. USA
|
WT/COMTD/N/1/Add.9
8 February 2016
|
04/11/11
|
No
|
No
|
Tariffs
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Imports
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
-
|
Notes:
i. Some PTA schemes entered into force
after the adoption of the PTA transparency mechanism, i.e. Chile; Kazakhstan;
and Thailand.
ii. Legislation repealed in 2013 after the
adoption of the reformed GSP-LDC.
iii. Partial
notification; the information only describes the latest modifications to rules
of origin for LDCs.
__________
[1] This
document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is
without prejudice to the positions of Members or to their rights and
obligations under the WTO.