North American Free Trade Agreement

Technical rectifications have been made to the NAFTA Rules of Origin to align them with amendments made by the World Customs Organization (WCO) to the Nomenclature of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System which came into effect world-wide on January 1, 2007. The Harmonized System (HS) is an internationally developed and implemented system of tariff nomenclature for internationally traded goods upon which the NAFTA Parties' tariff schedules and NAFTA Rules of Origin are based. Technical rectifications to the NAFTA Rules of Origin were previously made in 1996 and 2002 to take into account changes made to the HS for 1996 and 2002 respectively. The attached 2007 rectifications will affect the following NAFTA provisions: Tables 308.1.1 and 308.1.2 of Annex 308.1, Most-Favored Nation Rates of Duty on Certain Automatic Data Processing Goods and Their Parts; the tariff references for goods in Appendix 1.1 and Appendix 6 of Annex 300-B, Textile and Apparel Goods; Annex 403.1, List of Tariff Provisions for Article 403 (1); the product specific rules of origin and tariff item table of Annex 401, Specific Rules of origin; and the Uniform Regulations for Chapter Four (Rules of Origin).

These technical rectifications do not change the negotiated intent of these provisions; they update the provisions by aligning them with the Harmonized System`s 2007 changes and ensure a uniform application of the regulations by all Parties.

For information purposes, these technical rectifications have been incorporated into consolidated versions of Annex 308.1-Tables 308.1.1 and 308.1.2, Annex 300-B, Annex 403.1, and Annex 401.