Scientific Coordinators:
Bernard Hoekman | European University Institute, Italy
Stefano Inama | UNCTAD, Switzerland

Conference Room, Villa la Fonte, Via delle Fontanelle 18 – Florence 26 – 28 JUNE 2019

INTRODUCTION

Rules of Origin (RoO) continue to be the subject of intense debate in international trade policy circles. To date, multilateral efforts by organisations such as the WTO, the WCO, and UNCTAD have failed to induce countries to agree to common disciplines on the use of RoO. The private sector frequently complains about the complexity of RoO, but industry has not been effective in pressing governments for reforms and to resume initiatives for regulating ROO at multilateral level. Some progress has been made at the WTO Committee of the Rules of Origin, reflected in initiatives aimed at raising the level of transparency and improving RoO for LDCs. Such developments may provide scope for plurilateral initiatives on RoO among a group of WTO members in view of the next WTO Ministerial in 2020 and the opportunities provided by the revision of Annex K of the WCO Kyoto convention on Rules of Origin. The EUI and UNCTAD are working together with the aim to provide a platform for experts, researchers, practitioners, government officials and the private sector to discuss developments in the area of RoO on an annual basis through policy roundtable meetings of experts hosted by the EUI. The goal is to share experiences, ongoing policy-relevant research on RoO and related administrative requirements, and research findings.

Programme

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