RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/RO/W/6
3November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3421)
Committee onRules ofOrigin
DRAFT RULES OFPROCEDURE FOR MEETINGS OF
THE COMMITTEE ONRULES OFORIGIN
Note bytheSecretariat
Atitsmeeting on4April 1995, theCommittee onRules ofOrigin requested theSecretariat
toprepare draftrules ofprocedure foritsmeetings, based ontheRules ofProcedure adopted bythe
Council forTrade inGoods andapproved bytheGeneral Council on31July1995 (WT/L/79). The
following draftRules ofProcedure areproposed foradoption bytheCommittee onRules ofOrigin.
They shallsubsequently beforwarded forapproval totheCouncil forTrade inGoods, inaccordance
withparagraph 6ofArticle IVoftheWTO Agreement.
_______________
TheRules ofProcedure formeetings oftheGeneral Council shallapply mutatis mutandis for
meetings oftheCommittee onRules ofOrigin, except asprovided below:
(i) Rule1ofChapter I(Meetings) shallbemodified toreadasfollows:
TheCommittee onRules ofOrigin shallmeetasnecessary, butnotlessthanonceayear.
(ii) Thefollowing footnote shallbeadded toRules 2,3and4:
Itisunderstood thatitisdesirable thatanotice convening ameeting, thelistofitems proposed
fortheagenda ofthatmeeting andthedocumentation forconsideration atthatmeeting beissued at
leastthree weeks inadvance ofthemeeting.
(iii) Rule4ofChapter II(Agenda) shallbemodified toreadasfollows:
Requests foritems tobeplaced ontheagenda ofaforthcoming meeting shallbecommunicated
totheSecretariat inwriting, together withtheaccompanying documentation tobeissued inconnection
withthatitem. Documentation forconsideration atameeting shall becirculated notlaterthan
tencalendar daysprior tothedatesetforthemeeting.
(iv) Rule5ofChapter II(Agenda) isnotapplicable.
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(v) Rules 12,13and14ofChapter V(Officers) shallbemodified toreadasfollows:
Rule12
TheCommittee onRules ofOrigin shallelectaChairperson1andmayelectaVice-Chairperson
fromamong therepresentatives ofMembers. Theelection shalltakeplace atthefirstmeeting ofthe
yearandshalltakeeffect attheendofthemeeting. TheChairperson andVice-Chairperson shallhold
office untiltheendofthefirstmeeting ofthefollowing year.
Rule13
IftheChairpersonisabsentfromanymeetingorpartthereof,theVice-Chairpersonshallperform
thefunctions oftheChairperson. IfnoVice-Chairperson waselected oriftheVice-Chairperson is
notpresent, theCommittee onRules ofOrigin shallelectaninterim Chairperson forthatmeeting or
thatpartofthemeeting.
Rule14
IftheChairperson cannolonger perform thefunction oftheoffice, theCommittee onRules
ofOrigin shalldesignate theVice-Chairperson referred toinRule12or,ifnoVice-Chairperson was
elected, itshallelectaninterim Chairperson toperform those functions pending theelection ofanew
Chairperson.
(vi) Rule16ofChapter VI(Conduct ofBusiness) isnotapplicable.
(vii) Rule33ofChapter VII(Decision-Making) shallbemodified toreadasfollows:
Where adecision cannot bearrived atbyconsensus, thematter atissue shallbereferred to
theCouncil forTrade inGoods.
(viii) Rule34ofChapter VII(Decision-Making) isnotapplicable.
1TheCommittee onRules ofOrigin shallapply therelevant guidelines contained inthe"Guidelines
forAppointment ofOfficers toWTO Bodies" (WT/L/31 dated 7February 1995).