REPORT OF THE
COMMITTEE ON RULES OF ORIGIN TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL
ON PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
Revision
This report is being submitted
by the Committee on Rules of Origin (CRO) to the General Council following the
2022 Decision on Preferential Rules of Origin and the Implementation of
the Nairobi Ministerial Decision, which states that the "CRO should report its work to the General Council
ahead of the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference" (G/RO/95).
In addition, it also discharges
the requirements of the 2013 (Bali) and 2015 (Nairobi) Ministerial
Decisions on preferential rules of origin for least developed countries (LDCs) (WT/L/917
and WT/L/917/Add.1
respectively), which stipulate that the CRO "shall annually review the developments in preferential rules of origin
applicable to imports from LDCs" and report to the General
Council.
1
Introduction.. 2
2 Transparency and data availability
(notifications). 2
2.1
Preferential Rules of Origin. 2
2.2
Preferential Tariffs and Preferential Import Statistics. 3
3 Recent developments reported to the CRO.. 3
4 Implementation of the Bali and Nairobi
Ministerial Decisions. 4
4.1
Requirements for the Assessment of Sufficient or Substantial Transformation. 4
4.1.1 Ad valorem percentage Criterion. 4
4.1.2
Change of Tariff Classification Criterion. 5
4.1.3
Specific Working and Processing Criterion. 5
4.2
Cumulation. 5
5 Documentary requirements. 6
5.1
Proof of Origin. 6
5.2
Trade Facilitation Measures for Small Consignments. 6
5.3
Documentary Evidence of Direct Consignment 6
6 Impact of preferential rules of origin
on preference utilization: the ANALYSIS of preference utilization rates. 6
6.1
Linking Preference Utilization Rates and Preferential Rules of Origin. 7
6.2
Modalities for the calculation of Utilization Rates. 7
6.3
Preference Utilization by LDCs. 7
6.4
Discussion on different factors that could affect the Utilization of Trade
Preferences. 8
7 CONCLUSION and Next Steps. 9
8 references to documents considered by
the CRO (2013‑2023). 10
Annex 1. 11
Annex 2. 13
Annex 3. 14
Annex 4. 15
1.1. This document reports on the work conducted by the CRO from 2017 to
October 2023 pursuant to the April 2022 "Decision on
Preferential Rules of Origin and the Implementation of the Nairobi Ministerial
Decision" (G/RO/95)
This Decision was also acknowledged in the Outcome Document of the
Twelfth Ministerial Conference.[1]
1.2. It describes progress, discussions and, if applicable, different
views in the various areas of work of the CRO related to preferential rules of
origin for LDCs. It highlights the main issues discussed and the state of play
reached on the main components of this work. Where relevant, it indicates
lessons learned and discusses practices with respect to the use of preferential
rules of origin. Finally, it provides guidance for the future work of the
Committee to advance further in the identification of possible best practices
and lessons learned.