Presentation on WTO Agreement on Rules of Origin

566 Pages·2009·16.6 MB·English

PPrreesseennttaattiioonn oonn WWTTOO AAggrreeeemmeenntt oonn
RRuulleess ooff OOrriiggiinn
By Shashank Priya
Professor
Centre for WTO Studies
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• Rules of Origin are laws, regulations and
administrative determination of general
application to determine the country of
origin of goods (that is, where made, grown,
etc.).
• Excepption: Such rules of origgin would not
apply to preferential trading agreements.
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• SSuucchh rruulleess ooff oorriiggiinn aarree ttoo bbee uusseedd ffoorr vvaarriioouuss nnoonn-
preferential commercial policy instruments.
Illustrative examples are:
- Extending MFN treatment under various GATT
Articles (I, II, III, XI and XIII).
- AAnttii-ddumpiing andd counttervaiilliing dduttiies.
- Safeguard measures.
- OOrriiggiinn mmaarrkkiinngg rreeqquuiirreemmeennttss.
- Application of QRs or TRQs.
- GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt PPrrooccuurreemmeenntt.
- Trade statistics.
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• Rules of Origin would apply equally for all
purposes as set out in the Agreement.
• SSuchh Rulles shhoulldd bbe addmiiniisteredd iin a consiistent,
uniform and impartial manner.
• TTransparency requiirementts-llaws bbe pubblliishhedd,
advance ruling, no retrospective changes.
•• PPrrooviissiioonn ffoorr jjuddiicciiaall rreeviieew aanndd ccoonnffiiddeennttiiaalliitty
clause.
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HHaarrmmoonniissaattiioonn WWoorrkk PPrrooggrraammmmee
((HHWWPP))
• CCeerrttaaiinn WWTTOO MMeemmbbeerrss aallrreeaaddyy hhaavvee tthheeiirr
own non-preferential ROO
•• IInnddiiaa ddooeess nnoott hhaavvee ssuucchh nnoonn--pprreeffeerreennttiiaall
ROO
• TThhe AAgreementt seekks tto hharmoniize, tthhatt iis,
have common rules of origin for all WTO
MMembbers.
• The expected benefit is to provide more
certaiinty iin thhe condduct off worlldd tradde.
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• Rules of Origin should be objective,
understandable and predictable.
• They should not be used as instruments to
ppursue trade objjectives.
• They should be coherent.
•• TThheeyy sshhoouulldd bbee bbaasseedd oonn aa ppoossiittiivvee
standard.
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• RROOOO, iinclluddiing speciiffiicatiions rellatiing to SSTT, bbe cllearlly
defined
• ROO be not used as a trade ppolicyy instrument
• ROO by itself should not create restrictive, distorting, or
disruptive effects on international trade
•• RROOOO sshhoouulldd nnoott rreeqquuiirree ffuullffiillllmmeenntt ooff ccoonnddiittiioonnss nnoott
related to mfg. or processing of product in question
• ROO applied to trade be not more stringent than those
applliiedd to ddetermiine whhethher a goodd iis ddomestiic
• ROO should not discriminate between Members
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• Origin of a good would either be the country
where it is wholly produced and in case of multi-
ccoouunnttrryy pprroodduuccttiioonn ooff ggooooddss, tthhee ccoouunnttrryy wwhheerree
the last substantial transformation took place.
•• TThhee bbaassiiss ffoorr HHWWPP iiss tthhee HHaarrmmoonniisseedd SSyysstteemm
(HS) tariff classification developed by WCO (total
HS subheadinggs-5113)).
• Discussion on product sector basis represented by
various Chappters or Sections ((15 pproduct sectors)).
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• WWhhoollllyy oobbttaaiinneedd aanndd mmiinniimmaall ooppeerraattiioonnss oorr
processes that do not confer origin (examples:
milk, eggs, crops, fruits obtained in one country;
packaging, preservation operations).
• Substantial transformation for multi-countryy
production-CC, CTH, CTSH, CTHS,
CTSHS.
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• CCCC-CChhange off CChhaptter
• CTH- Change of Tariff Heading
• CCTTSSHH-- CChhaannggee ooff TTaarriiffff SSuubb--hheeaaddiinngg
• CTHS- Change of Tariff Heading Split
• CTSHS- Changge of Tariff Sub Headingg Spplit
• HS 9.01-Coffee, whether or not roasted or
decaffeinated; coffee substitutes containing coffee
iinn aannyy pprrooppoorrttiioonn.
• -coffee not roasted
• -coffee roasted
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