G/TBT/W/783  
 
29 January 2024  
(24-0639) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  
TRANSPARENCY  
TENTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW  
Proposal from Brazil  
The following submiss ion, dated 26 January  2024, is being circulated at the request of the  delegation 
of Brazil . 
 
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1  BACKGROUND  
1.1.  Over the past 28 years, world trade has changed. With this transformation, the WTO has faced 
new challenges to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade while pursuing legitimate objectives. Following 
this trend, the TBT Committee has also undergone changes. From one -day meetings in 1995 to full 
TBT weeks in the present.  
1.2.  The implementation of the TBT Agreement has brought several improvements to the 
Committee that were unimaginable in the first years after its signature. Members submitted more 
than 3,800 notifications of product standards and  regulations in 2022, including 31% from least 
developed countries. And as a result of this compliance, about half of Members are notifying on a 
regular basis, with an average of 58 days for comments.1  
1.3.  In 2023, the TBT Committee discussed 53 new trade concerns related to the implementation 
of the TBT Agreement. This feature is remarkable considering that STCs became a standing agenda 
item with this name only after 9 years of Committee meetings, in 2004.  
1.4.  The increasing relevance of the TBT Committe e is shown not only by the results in transparency 
and the discussions of trade concerns, but also in the Committee 's growing openness to trade 
operators and other stakeholders. It is worth mentioning that more than 19,000 users have 
registered on ePing, t he main WTO tool for TBT notifications and trade concerns.2  
1.5.  Certainly, the increasing awareness of its usefulness and the growth of Members' capacity to 
deal with trade issues are important factors. But technology also plays a significant role. The 
Internet, and then systems such as ePing and eAgenda, have made it easier to make notifications 
and track specific trade issues. These gains in transparency open up opportunities to strengthen TBT 
agreement clauses related to them.  
1.6.  At the last Triennial Review,  Brazil submitted a proposal to improve transparency 
(G/TBT/W/742 ). The Committee discussed what was an appropriate early stage for submitting 
notifications to the TBT Committee. Several valuable contributions were made by Members. The 
report concluded tha t further discussion was needed on the applicability of this proposal.  
 
1 Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement - 10 key results from 2022 . 
2 Ibid. p. 10.  G/TBT/W/783  
 
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  1.7.  It is clear from these discussions and from the meetings of the TBT Committee that the early 
and adequate notification of proposed technical regulations is a mandatory clause of the TBT  
Agreement.  
1.8.  As there was a consensus on the obligation to notify technical regulations at a stage where 
comments could still be taken into account, it is also important to know which proposals or 
contributions were considered and incorporated into the fina l technical regulation or conformity 
assessment procedure.  
1.9.  Therefore, Brazil invited the Committee to share its experience in making or receiving 
comments and how they were taken into account.  
1.10.   In Brazil's experience, the received comments are always consid ered and, if the proposal is 
consistent with the objectives of the technical regulation and the scientific evidence, it is included in 
the new technical regulations.  
1.11.   Regarding comments sent by Brazil, we compare the notified draft and the final version whe n 
it is communicated to the Committee. In a sample of notified texts, Brazil was able to find some 
changes that were made from Brazilian comments or from other publicly available comments. 
Nevertheless, in our research we could identify Members that never took Brazilian comments into 
account in a positive way.  
1.12.   While this is a possible outcome, it is still a frustrating one. If the comments are never taken 
into account, one hypothesis is that these members are not notifying at an early stage where it is 
possible to participate in the formulation of technical regulations.  
1.13.   In light of the above, Brazil would like to present its proposal to the Committee. The 
Committee could have a separate agenda item on notification where, if requested by a Member at 
least thr ee weeks before the Committee meeting, the requested Member could inform to what 
extent, if any, the received comments have been effectively  taken into account.  
1.14.   This would facilitate the monitoring of the TBT Agreement, reinforce good regulatory practices 
and make new technical regulations transparent, thereby avoiding unnecessary barriers to trade.  
2  PROPOSAL  
2.1.  The TBT Committee decides to define " Notifications - Consideration of comments " as a standing 
agenda item in order to open the dialog ue on adopted technical regulations. Brazil will present 
specific proposals on how to implement this idea in a way that is not a repetition of STCs discussions 
and which could benefit from and stimulate the use of online tools, such as ePing.  
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