diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/util/Beta.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/util/Beta.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d395148a3
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+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/util/Beta.java
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/* ====================================================================
+   Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+   contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+   this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+   The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+   (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+   the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+==================================================================== */
+
+package org.apache.poi.util;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
+
+
+/**
+ * Signifies that a public API (public class, method or field) is subject to
+ * incompatible changes, or even removal, in a future release. An API bearing
+ * this annotation is exempt from any compatibility guarantees made by its
+ * containing library.
+ */
+@Documented
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.SOURCE)
+public @interface Beta {
+    
+}
\ No newline at end of file