RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/RO/W/9
10January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0063)
Committee onRules ofOrigin
HARMONIZATION OFRULES OFORIGIN
Note bytheSecretariat
Thefollowing communication wassentbytheChairman oftheCommittee onRules ofOrigin
on2January 1996 totheChairman oftheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin, asagreed bythe
Committee onRules ofOrigin atitsmeeting on16November 1995.
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Dear Sir,
Iwould liketoraisethree issues withyouregarding theHarmonization Work Programme of
which ourtwoCommittees arecurrently seized. First, totransmit theposition taken bytheCommittee
onthequestion ofthedefinition oftheterm"country". Second, toconvey requests bytheCommittee
aswellasviews andsuggestions ontheresults ofthefirstphase oftheHarmonization Work Programme
forwarded bytheTechnical Committee. Third, totransmit therequest fromtheCommittee onRules
ofOrigin thatwould provide thebasis for,andensure thatthere is,anintegrated overall approach
intheHarmonization Work Programme.
Ontheinitial issueofthedefinition oftheterm"country", theCommittee reached aconsensus
onthematter. Itdecided asfollows:
Torequest theTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin (i)tofully proceed with its
Harmonization Work Programme intheabsence ofanabstractly constructed definition ofthe
term"country", and(ii)inmatters relating tothedefinition oftheterm"country", toforward
toitunresolved practical issues, ifany,forafinaldetermination.
TheCommittee onRules ofOrigin, atitsmeeting on16November 1995, began consideration
oftheinterpretations andopinions oftheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin contained inthe
"First Report ontheResults oftheFirstPhase oftheRules ofOrigin Harmonization Work Programme".
Inthiscontext, theCommittee agreed torequest theTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin torefine
definitions 1(c),1(d)and1(g)inAnnex AtotheReport. Asconcerns theterm"plant products" in
definition 1(d), itwasobserved thatthiscould bemisinterpreted as"products made from aplant" as
opposed to"products obtained from aplant", andtherefore, anyproducts manufactured from plants
could beregarded asbeing wholly obtained, regardless ofwhere theplanthascome from. According
tothisobservation, theword "obtained" indefinition 1(g)might make thedefinition 1(c)andtheterm
"plant products" indefinition 1(d)redundant, andapossible solution tothismisinterpretation might
betodelete definition 1(c)andtheterm "plant products" indefinition 1(d). However, another
observation wasthatdifferent products werecovered bythedefinitions in1(c)and1(g). Asanexample
itwasmentioned thatoneoftheproducts covered bydefinition 1(c)was"wool" asillustrated inthe
Explanatory Note, while definition 1(g)might include products made from "wool".
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Another observation concerning definition 1(g)wasthatiftheterm"solely" wasinterpreted
literally, thismight beinconsistent withdefinition 2inAnnex BtotheReport.
Finally, theCommittee onRules ofOrigin agreed torequest theTechnical Committee onRules
ofOrigin toforward, aspartofitsnextreport ontheHarmonization Work Programme, ageneral format
establishing theoverall architectural design ofanannex within which theresults ofthedifferent phases
oftheHarmonization Work Programme would befinalized asprovided forinArticle 9.4ofthe
Agreement onRules ofOrigin.
Ishould therefore begrateful ifyouwould kindly refer theforegoing requests, views and
observations totheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin.
TheCommittee onRules ofOrigin willholditsnextformal meeting inlateJanuary 1996.
Please accept, Sir,theassurances ofmyhighest consideration.
Chiedu Osakwe
Chairman
Committee onRules ofOrigin