010531

The Gazette of Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2001
PART II
Statutory Notifications (S.R.O.)
GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN
MINISTRY OF COMMERCE
NOTIFICATION
Islamabad, the 31st May, 2001

S.R.O. 343(I)/2001.-- The following Rules of Origin as applicable to trade concessions exchanged among SAARC member countries under the Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement, signed at Dhaka Bangladesh, on the 11th day of April, 1993, and incorporating the subsequent downward revision decided in the twenty-first Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers held on the 18th and 19th March, 1999, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, are hereby notified for general information:--

1. Short title, commencement and application.-- (1) These rules may be called the SAPTA Rules of Origin, 2001.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the official Gazette.
(3) These rules shall apply to products consigned from any Contracting State.

2. Definitions.-- (1) In these rules unless there is anything contrary to the subject or context.--
(a) "Contracting State" means any Member State of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which has entered into SAPTA;

(b) "factory ship" means any vessel, used for processing or making on board products exclusively from those products referred to in clause (f) of paragraph 2 of the Schedule to these rules;

(c) "SAPTA" means the Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement, signed at Dhaka, Bangladesh on the 11th day of April, 1993; and

(d) "Vessels shall refer to fishing vessels engaged in commercial fishing, registered in a Contracting State’s country and operated by a citizen or citizens or government of Contracting State or partnership, corporation or association, duly registered in such Contracting State’s country, at least 60 per cent of equity of which is owned by a citizen or citizens and/or government of the Contracting State or 75 per cent by citizens and/or government of the Contracting States. However, the products taken from vessels engaged in commercial fishing under bilateral agreements which provide for chartering/leasing of such vessels and/or sharing of catch between Contracting States will also be eligible for preferential concessions.

(2) Words and expressions used in these rules and not defined, but defined under the Agreement on SAPTA shall have the meanings, respectively, assigned to them in that Agreement.

3. Determination of origin.-- No product shall be deemed to be the produce or manufacture of a Contracting State unless a competent officer of Customs, duly authorized and notified by the Central Board of Revenue is this regard, is satisfied that the conditions specified in the Schedule to these rules are complied with in relation to such products.

4. Claim at the time of importation.-- The importer of the products shall at the time of importation.--
(a) make a claim that the products are the produce or manufacture of the Contracting State from which they are imported and such products are eligible for preferential concession; and

(b) produce the evidence specified in the Schedule of these rules.

1. Originating products.-- Products covered by preferential trading arrangements within the framework of the SAPTA imported into the territory of a Contracting State from another Contracting State which are consigned directly within the meaning of paragraph 5 hereof, shall be eligible for preferential concessions if they conform to the origin requirement under any one of the following conditions, namely:-
(a) products wholly produced or obtained in the exporting Contracting State as defined in paragraph 2; or

(b) products not wholly produced or obtained in the exporting Contracting State, provided that the said products are eligible under paragraph 3 or paragraph 4.

2. Wholly produced or obtained.-- Within the meaning of clause (a) of paragraph 1 the following shall be considered as wholly produced or obtained in the exporting Contracting State, namely:--

(a) raw or mineral products extracted from its soil, its water or its seabeds (include mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials as well as mineral or metal ores);
(b) agricultural products harvested there (include forestry products);
(c) animals born and raised there;
(d) products obtained from animals referred to in clause (c) above;
(e) products obtained by hunting or fishing conducted there;
(f) products of sea fishing and other marine products taken from the high seas by its vessels (in respect of vessels or factory ships operated by Government agencies the requirement of flying the flag of a Contracting State does not apply);
(g) products processed or made on board its factory ships (in respect of vessels or factory ships operated by Government agencies the requirement of flying the flag of a Contracting State does not apply) exclusively from products referred to in clause (f) above;
(h) used articles collected there fit only for the recovery of raw materials;
(i) waste and scrap resulting from manufacturing operations conducted there; and
(j) goods produced there exclusively from the products referred to in clauses (a) to (i) above.

3. Not wholly produced or obtained.-- (1) Within the meaning of clause (b) of paragraph 1, products worked on or processed as a result of which the total value of the materials, parts or produce originating from non-Contracting States or of undetermined origin used does not exceed sixty per cent of the f.o.b. value of the products produced or obtained and the final process of manufacture is performed within the territory of the exporting Contracting State shall be eligible for preferential concessions subject to the provisions of clause (c) of paragraph 3 and paragraph 4.

(2) Sectoral agreements in respect of products traded within the framework of sectoral agreements negotiated under SAPTA, provision may need to be made for special criteria to apply. Consideration may be given to these criteria as and when the sectoral agreements are negotiated.
(3) The value of the non-originating materials, parts or produce shall be--
(i) the c.i.f. value at the time of importation or materials, parts or produce where this can be proven; or
(ii) the earliest ascertainable price paid for the materials, parts or produce of undetermined origin in the territory of the Contracting State where the working or processing takes place.

4. Cumulative rules of origin.-- Products which comply with origin requirements provided for in paragraph 1 and which are used by a Contracting State as input for a finished product eligible for preferential treatment by another Contracting State shall be considered as a product originating in the territory of the Contracting State where working or processing of the finished product has taken place provided the aggregate content originating in the territory of the Contracting State is not less than fifty per cent, of its f.o.b. value.

Explanation.-- "Partial" cumulation as implied by paragraph 4 above means that only products which have acquired originating status in the territory of one Contracting State may be taken into account when used as inputs for a finished product eligible for preferential treatment in the territory of another Contracting State.

5. Direct consignment.-- The following shall be considered as directly consigned from the exporting Contracting State to the importing Contracting State, namely:-
(a) if the products are transported without passing through the territory of any non-Contracting State; and
(b) the products whose transport involves transit through one or more intermediate non-Contracting State with or without transhipment or temporary storage in such countries, provided that--
(i) the transit entry is justified for geographical reason or by considerations related exclusively to transport requirements;
(ii) the products have not entered into trade or consumption there; and
(iii) the products have not undergone any operation there other than unloading and reloading or any operation required to keep them in good condition.

6. Treatment of packing.-- When determining the origin of products, packing shall be considered as forming a whole with the product it contains, unless packing has to be treated separately under the national legislation.

7. Certificate of Origin.-- Products eligible for preferential concessions shall be supported by a Certificate or Origin, in the form annexed herewith, issued by an authority designated by the government of the exporting Contracting State and notified to the other Contracting State in accordance with the Certification Procedures mentioned below the form annexed herewith.

8. Power to prohibit importation of products.-- (1) In conformity with Article 15 of the SAPTA and national legislations, any Contracting State may prohibit importation of products containing any inputs originating from States with which it does not have economic and commercial relations.

(2) Contracting States shall do their best to co-operate in order to specify origin of inputs in the Certificate of Origin.

9. Review.-- These Rules may be reviewed as and when necessary upon request of one-third of the Contracting States and may be open to such modifications as may be agreed upon.

10. Special criteria percentage.-- Products originating in Least Developed Contracting States can be allowed a favourable ten percentage points applied to the percentage established in paragraphs 3 and 4. Thus, for paragraph 3, the percentage would not exceed seventy per cent, and for paragraph 4, the percentage would not be less than forty per cent.

1. Goods consigned from (exporter’s Business name, address, country).

Reference No.

SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA)

Combined declaration and (Certificate), issued in....................

2. Goods consigned to (Consignee’s name, address, country).

(country).

see notes overleaf.

3. Means of transport and route (as far as known).

4. For official use.

5 Tariff item Number/HS Code.

6 Marks and numbers of Packages

7 Number and kind of packages description of goods

8 Origin criterion (see notes overleaf)

9 Gross weight of other quantity

10 Number and date of invoices

11. Declaration by the exporter:	12. Certificate.
The undersigned hereby declares that the above details and statements are correct.	It is hereby certified on the basis of control carried out, that the declaration by the exporter is correct.
That all the goods were produced in.
_________ (Country)
and that they comply with the origin requirements specified for those goods in SAPTA for goods exported to.
_____________(Importing country)	__________________Place and date, signature and stamp of Certifying authority.
Place and date, signature of Authorized signatory.

I. General conditions.-- In order to qualify for preference, a product must,--
(a) fall within a description of products eligible for preference in the Schedule of concessions of SAPTA country of destination;
(b) comply with SAPTA Rules of origin, 2001. Each article in a consignment must qualify separately in its own right; and
(c) comply with the consignment conditions specified by the SAPTA Rules of Origin, 2001. In general, products must be consigned directly within the meaning of paragraph 5 of the Schedule to the SAPTA Rules of Origin, 2001, from the country of exportation to the country of destination.

II. Entries to be made in Box 8.-- (1) Preference products must be wholly produced or obtained in the exporting Contracting State in accordance with paragraph 2 of the Schedule to the SAPTA Rules of Origin, 2001, or where not wholly produced or obtained in the exporting Contracting State must be eligible under paragraph 3 or paragraph 4 of the said Schedule.

(2) For entries to be made in Box 8, the following further guide-lines shall apply, namely:--
(a) Products wholly produced or obtained; enter the letter "A" in Box 8; and
(b) products not wholly produced or obtained; the entry in Box 8 should be as follows, namely:-

(i) Enter letter "B" in Box 8, for products which meet the origin criteria according to paragraph 3 of the Schedule. Entry of letter would be followed by the sum of the value of materials, parts or produced originating from non-Contracting States, or undetermined origin used, expressed as a percentage of the f.o.b. value of the products; (example "B" 50 per cent);

(ii) enter letter "C" in Box 8 for products which meet the origin criteria according to paragraph 4 of the Schedule. Entry of letter "C" would be followed by the sum of the aggregate content originating in the territory of the exporting Contracting State expressed as a percentage of the f.o.b. value of the exported product; (example "C" 60 per cent); and

(iii) enter letter "D" in Box 8 for product which meet the special origin criteria according to paragraph 10 of the Schedule.

[File No. 3 (52)/97-FT.IV.]

ALLAH RAKHA ASI.
Deputy Secretary