RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/133
11 April 2000
(00-1460)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
SECOND TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE OPERATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE AGREEMENT ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
Note from the European Community
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Article 15.4 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade states that at the end of each
three-year period the Committee shall review the operation and implementation of the Agreement,
including the provisions relating to transparency.  The outcome of this review may lead to arecommendation to adjust the rights and obligations of the Agreement where necessary, and may also
lead to proposals for amendments to the text of the Agreement.
2. The role of the Agreement as an instrument fo r the exchange of information appears so far to
have taken precedence over the role that it should play with a view to the elimination of technical
barriers to trade.  The European Community is  convinced that the TBT Agreement must play a
leading role in preventing and eliminating non-tariff barriers to world trade.  Given the reduction in
tariffs generally, it has become increasingly important to address non-tariff barriers, which remains
one of the main impediments to international trade
3. Against this background, it is appropriate that the Second Triennial Review should first
examine the achievements of the First Review, which was conducted in 1997.  The starting point for
this exercise is, therefore, document G/TBT/5.  Building on this, the European Community proposes
that the approach taken in the Second Review should focus on an extensive, but not exhaustive list ofissues, which will help to make the application of the Agreement more effective.  In particular,
priority should be given to notification procedures, international standardization, conformity
assessment, regulatory best practice and labelling.  Technical assistance for developing countries
should be addressed as a horizontal issue.
II. IMPLEMENTATION
4. Taking into consideration the state of the implementation of the Agreement, the European
Community considers that this Triennial Review should also deal with this issue.
5. The TBT Agreement is still not implemented to a large extent, even though no transitional
period was laid down.  Only around half of the Members have informed the Committee of measures
taken to implement the Agreement in accordance with Article 15.2.  For various reasons, somedeveloping and developed countries have been relatively inactive in implementing and applying the
Agreement.  For example, with regard to the acc eptance of the Code of Good Practice relating to
standards by standardizing bodies (Annex 3 of the Agreement), there are still many Members in
which no standardizing body has accepted the Code of Good Practice.  Progress here is vital for a
balanced implementation of the Agreement.  Efforts have to be made to understand the reasons andapply the findings to similarly situated countries.G/TBT/W/133
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6. In the short-term, some technical measures to improve the functioning and transparent
application of the TBT Agreement, such as ways to support developing countries’ participation in
international standard setting and capacity building to help these countries fulfil their
TBT obligations, need to be addressed.  The European Community believes that this issue is one of
the most important to be dealt with in the Review.
III. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
7. The Community believes that there is considerable scope to enhance the effectiveness of
technical assistance for developing countries in  relation to the TBT Agreement.  We would like to
emphasise the importance of (1) enhancing co-operation between donors, (2) ensuring the full
participation of donors in technical assistance programmes, (3) identifying the specific needs of
developing and least developed countries in this field, and (4) establishing an overall framework for
technical assistance.
8. In addition, the Community would like to promot e the transparency of technical assistance.
The TBT Agreement does not require the communication by Members of information on their
technical assistance programmes.  Nevertheless, the European Community believes that it would be
useful for Members to make public such inform ation in the application of the TBT Agreement.
IV. NOTIFICATIONS
9. The number of notifications of proposed technical regulations, standards and conformity
assessment procedures has not increased much compared to the last review period.  While the number
of Members notifying one or more proposals has risen from 30 in the first review to around 50 in the
second, the overall annual number of notifications has not significantly increased.  In addition, only a
tiny fraction of notifications originate from local government bodies, although the notification ofproposals by local government bodies directly below central government level is obligatory.  In order
to avoid unnecessary technical obstacles to trade it  is essential for Members to notify systematically
their proposals on technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, and standards according to
the provisions laid down in the Agreement.  A ppropriate pragmatic solutions should be found to
encourage an increase in the number of notificatio ns as well as the number of notifying countries.
10. It is also essential that Members should observe the rules governing the progress of all stages
of the notification procedures.  These rules are laid down in Articles 2 and 5 of the Agreement and
clarified by the decisions of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (document G/TBT/1/Rev.6
of 6 May 1999).   This includes the right not only to present comments, in writing, but also to obtain a
response to those comments prior to the adoption of the proposal so that it is possible for the
interested Member to request discussions, if necessary, of its comments in accordance with
Article 2.9.4.
11. In this area, improvements can and should be made to the operation of the Agreement without
actually amending it.  To make decisions already taken by the Committee more effective, the
European Community suggests the specific measures outlined in annex A.
V. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDIZATION
12. There has been a considerable amount of debate on this issue in the Committee during the
past year.  The European Community remains convinced that the agreement will not function
effectively until there is a common view on international standardization matters.  Our proposals on
international standardization have been made in G/TBT/W/87/Rev.1.G/TBT/W/133
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13. In order to ensure an effective application of the TBT agreement, it is necessary for
WTO Members to reach a consistent view of international standards.  It is also necessary to clarify the
principles that ought to apply to an international standardization body (ISB).
14. The EU also believes that greater emphasis should be laid on the use of international
standards.  However, in order to make progress in th is field it is first necessary to concentrate on the
understanding of international standards and to agree on the principles that should apply to
international standardization bodies.
15. The TBT Agreement and the Code of Good Practice give a privilege to international
standards.  This means that the international sta ndardization bodies have a more important role than
they did before the existence of the TBT Agreement.  In turn this implies that these bodies should be
accountable to a broad range of interests.  The EC believes that a set of principles should be agreed
for ISBs.
16. In order to give concrete form to these principles, it might be useful to draw up a voluntary
code of good practice, or a set of guidelines for international bodies, which might then privilege
international standards prepared by these bodies.
17. The proliferation of competing international bodies must be avoided.
18. Concerning international standards themselves, the Agreement obliges WTO Member
governments to use international standards as a basis for their legislation where appropriate.  Because
of the privilege that the Agreement gives to international standards, it is essential to identify what they
are.  The EU suggests that the properties that charac terise an international standard should be agreed.
19. Constraints on developing countries should be taken into consideration in the standards
development process.  The impartiality and openness of any international standardization processrequires that developing countries are able to participate in the process.  Provisions for capacity
building and/or technical assistance are important in this context.
VI. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT
20. The Committee has already highlighted the importance of conformity assessment as an
element contributing to the avoidance of unnecessary obstacles to international trade.   In addition, theCommittee has emphasised that conformity assessment activities should be based on the principles
and rules set out in the relevant ISO/IEC standards or guides.  This recommendation should be
reconfirmed and reference should where appropriate be widened to any relevant ISO guide(s) or
standard(s).
21. The European Community also proposes that the Review should examine the feasibility to
promote regional co-operation on accreditation, for example by promoting the use of multilateral
agreement groups (MLAs).
22. The recent WTO Symposium on Conformity Assessment Procedures led to a more detailed
analysis and extensive exchange of information on the issue.  The outcome of this discussion was the
confirmation that in the field of conformity assessment, procedures should not be more onerous or
applied more strictly, than is necessary to provide to the importing authorities assurance of
compliance of the products to the applicable technical regulations and/or standards.  The EC supportsthis principle.
23. Members should commit themselves to carrying out an evaluation of the different conformity
assessment procedures available, which most appropriately match the regulatory objectives of theG/TBT/W/133
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relevant technical regulation.  The aim of this evaluation is to help choose the least trade-restrictive
procedures for international trade, compatible with the fulfilment of legitimate public policy
objectives, such as the protection of human health or safety and the environment.  In this context,
preference should be given to the use of supplier’s declaration of conformity, taking into
consideration the particularity of the sector, the re levant product risks, as well as health, consumer
safety and environment issues.  An appropriate legislative framework, including safeguards against
non-compliant or dangerous products must also be put in place.  Market surveillance and product
liability issues should also be considered.  The EC suggests that, as a first step, Members of the
Committee should indicate the sectors, or product categories, where supplier’s declaration of
conformity is used nationally.
24. The Committee should assess the feasibility of producing a Code of Good Practice on
Conformity Assessment.  This can also assist in the objective of ensuring the technical competence ofconformity assessment bodies through procedures such as accreditation.
25. Technical assistance in the area of conformity assessment should be taken into account as a
tool to support the objective of increased international co-operation in this field.
VII. REGULATORY BEST PRACTICE
26. While it is unavoidable that some legitimate regulatory requirements hamper trade, the EC
believes that more could be done to tackle these negative trade effects.  Regulatory best practice
should be promoted within the framework of the TBT Agreement, and the Review should be used to
assess the feasibility of developing explicit guidelines on best regulatory practice.  The proposal of the
EC would be to limit regulation to the generic requirements, which do not become outdated,
compatible with the fulfilment of legitimate public policy objectives, such as protection of humanhealth or safety and the environment, and to allow manufacturers to use international standards to
demonstrate compliance to these requirements.  As a first step, the essential elements for such
international regulatory best practice should be presented and discussed.  Following this, sectors or
product categories could be indicated where technical regulations could be limited to generic
requirements.
VIII.  LABELLING
27. The provisions on labelling in the TBT Agreem ent are limited.  At the same time, labelling
has become a trade policy issue in the application of the TBT Agreement.  It would be useful to have
clearer guidance on the level of product information necessary for the consumer, since this varies
considerably from country to country.  As a possible means to reduce suspicions and lower the risk of
trade restrictive regulation, the Triennial Review should consider the development of multilateral
guidelines on labelling.G/TBT/W/133
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ANNEX A – EC PROPOSAL ON NOTIFICATIONS
1. An examination of the draft technical regulati on, standard or conformity assessment procedure
is essential to determine whether its adoption is li kely to create discrimination or unnecessary obstacles
to international trade.  As Members are obliged to provide on request the notified proposal, it would be
appropriate for the text to automatically accompany th e notification sent to the WTO Secretariat.  Each
interested Member could then obtain these documen ts directly from the Secretariat.  The European
Community proposes that the submi ssion of these documents be done electronically, whenever possible,
in order to avoid an overload for the WTO Secretariat.
2. Except in urgent cases, Members are obliged to allow reasonable time for other Members to
make comments in writing on the notified proposals (Articles 2.9.4 and 5.6.4).  The Committee has
recommended that a period of 60 days be applied in this  respect.  It is essential that the right of Members
to make comments is not rendered meaningless, for example, due to the late transmission of a
notification or due to the need for internal consultation if the provisions of the Agreement are
contravened.  The European Community therefore pr oposes that the period of 60 days should run from
the date on which the notification is published by the WTO.
3. The importance of designating an authority re sponsible for the application of notification
procedures and for dealing with comments made by a Member on a proposal is worth emphasizing,
particularly in cases where the information point is not empowered to exercise this responsibility.  The
name and address of the competent authority should be indicated either as part of the information
referred to in Article 15.2 or in the notification form.  If this authority is different from that responsible
for drawing up the proposal, it should be indicated in the notification form.
4. It is also important to minimise the number of authorities responsible for the application of
notification procedures by adhering strictly to  the conditions laid down by Article 10.11 of the
Agreement.  If authorities that are well acquainted w ith the details of applying the Agreement deal with
comments, it will contribute to the adoption of solu tions that are mutually acceptable to the Members.
5. In order to ensure a common control, and again in  the interests of transparency, texts of adopted
legislation should be made available in accordance with Article 2.11 of the Agreement.
6. Without making the notification procedure more unwieldy or time consuming, it should be
possible for the Committee to make periodic review s to assess how well the notification procedure is
working.
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