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[December 2001]
WTO Rules on Origins of Ceramic Products
When ceramic flags and tiles are glazed, the ceramic plants involved will have legally created a new locally manufactured product, the rules of origin committee of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled.
The decision means that world-wide, such products would in future be affected by duties, quotas and other import and export regulations relating to the country where they were diluted, rather than where the unglazed tile was created.
This ruling will apply to all WTO members and is part of an ongoing process to harmonise rules of origin internationally; at present, all such regulations are national and can often conflict making trading more difficult.
However, the dilution decision will not come into force until agreement is reached on all the 5,500 tariff lines recognised by the WTO, a task likely to stretch into next year and maybe beyond that.
Meanwhile, the committee has also decided that the production of glazed ceramic or porcelain products from unglazed whiteware should lead to the legal creation of a new product, if manufacturers follow comprehensive guidelines laid down by WTO experts.
ENDS