WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/RO/N/34
13 June 2001
(01-2924)
Committee on Rules of Origin
NOTIFICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 5 AND PARAGRAPH 4 OF ANNEX II OF
THE AGREEMENT ON RULES OF ORIGIN
A. NON-PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN
1. Article 5.1 of the Agreement on Rules of Origin  envisages that each Member shall provide to
the Secretariat, within 90 days after the date entry in to force of the WTO Ag reement for it, its rules of
origin, judicial decisions and administrative rulings of  general application relating to rules of origin in
effect on that date.  If by inadvertence a rule of origin has not been provided, the Member concerned
shall provide it immediately after this fact becomes known.  Lists of information received and available
within the Secretariat shall be circulat ed to the Members by the Secretariat.
2. Article 5.2 of the Agreement on Rules of Origin provides that during the period referred to in
Article 2, Members introducing modifications, other than  de minimis  modifications, to their rules of
origin or introducing new rules of origin, which, for the purpose of the Article, shall include any rule of
origin referred to in paragraph 1 and not provided to  the Secretariat, shall publish a notice to that effect
at least 60 days before the entry into force of the modified or new rule in such a manner as to enable
interested parties to become acquain ted with the intention to modify a rule of origin or to introduce a
new rule of origin, unless exceptional circumstances ar ise or threaten to arise for a Member.  In these
exceptional cases, the Member shall publish the modified or new rule as soon as possible.
3. Previous notifications received are listed in the G/RO/N/- series.  Further notifications have
been received as follows:1
ESTONIA
(Notification in English)
§ 24 of Customs Act (Government Regulation No. 34 published in Riigi Teataja  (State Gazette), part 1,
No.13, 31.01.2001).
B. PREFERENTIAL RULES OF ORIGIN
1. Paragraph 4 on Annex II of the Agreement on Rules of Origin envisages that Members shall
provide to the Secretariat promptly their preferential rules of origin, including a listing of the preferential
arrangements to which they apply, judicial decisions, and administrative rulings of general applicationrelating to their preferential rules of origin in  effect on the date of entry into force of the
WTO Agreement for the Member concerned.  Members shall provide any modifications to their
preferential rules of origin or new preferential rules of  origin as soon as possible to the Secretariat.  Lists
of information received and available within the Se cretariat shall be circulated to Members by the
Secretariat.
                                                     
     1The notifications are available for consultation in the Secretariat (Market Access Division).G/RO/N/34
Page 2
2. Previous notifications received are listed in the G/RO/N/- series.  Further notifications have
been received as follows:2
BURUNDI
(Notification in French)
Burundi does not have preferential rules of origin.
ESTONIA
(Notification in English)§ 24 of the Customs Act. Official publication Riigi Teataja (State Gazette), part I, No.86, 22.11.1999.
Estonia is a member of the European cumulation of  origin (see document G/RO/N/23).  The following
agreements and Free Trade Agreements are covered by the European cumulation:
 - Europe Agreement between the European Communities and the Republic of Estonia;
 - Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia and EFTA;
 - Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia  and the Czech Republic;
 - Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia and the Slovak Republic;
 - Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Slovenia;
 - Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of
Lithuania;
 - Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Turkey;
 - Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Poland;- Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Hungary.
These agreements contain identical rules of origin.  As an example, rules of preferential origin of the
Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of
Lithuania are submitted.  Protocol A concerning the definition of the concept of “originating
products” and methods of administrative cooperation is published in Riigi Teataja (State Gazette),
part II, No.14-16, 16.05.1997.
Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Esto nia and Ukraine.  Protocol A concerning the
definition of originating products and methods of administrative cooperation is published in Riigi
Teataja (State Gazette), part II, No. 40, 15.11.1995.
Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Estonia, and the Government of
Denmark and the Home Government of the Faroe Islands.  Protocol 2 concerning the definition of the
concept “originating products” and methods of administrative cooperation is published in Riigi
Teataja (State Gazette), part II, No. 42-48, 12.11.1998.
Amendments to the Protocols Concerning the Definition of Originating Products and Methods of
Administrative Cooperation applying provisi onally from the 1 January 1999.  Order of the
Government of Estonia No. 1288-k, 29 December, 1998 is published in Riigi Teataja (State Gazette),
part I, No.1, 7.01.1999.
These amendments are implemented in Estonia's Free Trade Agreements covered by the European
cumulation.  Since the amendments to the above-mentioned FTAs are identical, only the amendments
to the FTA between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are submitted as an example.
                                                     
     2The notifications are available for consultation in the Secretariat (Market Access Division).G/RO/N/34
Page 3
Amendments to the Protocols Concerning the Definition of Originating Products and Methods of
Administrative Cooperation applying provisi onally from the 1 January 2000.  Order of the
Government of Estonia No. 1422- k, 28 December, 1999 is published in Riigi Teataja  (State Gazette),
part II, No. 1, 25.01.2000.
These amendments are implemented in Estonia's Free Trade Agreements covered by the European
cumulation.  Since the amendments to the above-mentioned FTAs are identical, only the amendments
to the FTA between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are submitted as an example.
Amendments to the Protocols concerning the definition of originating products and methods of
administrative cooperation applying provisionally from the 1 January 2001.  Order of the Government
of Estonia No. 1079- k, 20 December, 2000 is published in Riigi Teataja  (State Gazette), part II,
No. 1, 03.01.2001.
These amendments are implemented in Estonia's Free Trade Agreements covered by the European
cumulation.  Since the amendments to the above-mentioned FTAs are identical, only the amendments
to the FTA between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are submitted as an example.
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