WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.639
10October 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4318)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry forDomestic Affairs
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Products concerned -
equipment forthepersonalization ofDutch travel documents (passport printer and
printer ribbon, optical reading equipment, laminator, passport pen)
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Draft Regulation of
theSecretary ofState forDomestic Affairs Relating totheProvision ofTravel
Documents bytheMinister forForeign Affairs (1995 Regulation Governing the
Preparation ofPassports Abroad) including:
-Appendix 1:Document Concerning Printer Specifications (RDB97/U613-RD);
-Appendix 2:Circular Concerning Printers tothose Authorities Issuing
Passports (RDB97/U614-RD).
6. Description ofcontent: Pursuant toArticle 2.3andArticle 59ofthePassport Act,rules
maybeestablished forthepreparation oftravel documents. Three rules have been
drafted forthispurpose (*PUN, PUB andPUKMAR) dependent upon thebody issuing
thedocument. These documents bear astrong resemblance tooneanother andare
notified simultaneously. TheRegulation governing thepreparation ofpassports abroad
(PUB) relates todocuments issued abroad bytheembassies. According totheDutch
Government, thePUBprobably contains technical regulations within themeaning ofthe
WTO Agreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade (Marrakesh, 15April 1994). An
indicative summary oftheremaining technical regulations isstated below:
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6. Description ofcontent: (cont'd)
-Thedocument printer must satisfy thespecifications asprescribed bythe
Minister forDomestic Affairs (Article 46.2PUB). Thespecifications relate to
theprint result andaredescribed indraft document RDB97/U613-RD
(Appendix 1).Theprocedure forallowing other printers islaiddown indraft
Circular RDB97/U614-RD (Appendix 2).
-Themachine-readable strip isscanned viaoptical reading equipment andis
approved forthispurpose bytheMinister forDomestic Affairs (Article 47.3
PUB).
-Thetravel document islaminated (Article 46.5PUB).
-Ifdatamust beincorporated inthetravel document andaprinting facility is
unavailable thenallthedataisentered using apassport penwhich must be
ordered byaninstitution appointed bytheMinister forDomestic Affairs
(Article 46.2and93.1PUB).
-Document printer ribbons maybeordered byaninstitution appointed bythe
Minister forDomestic Affairs (Article 93.1PUB).
7. Objective andrationale: IfPUBcontains quantitative import restrictions ormeasures of
similar effect thenthese arejustified fortheprotection ofpublic safety andnational
security. ThePUBregulations arenecessary inorder toguarantee thattravel documents
arevalid interms ofcontent, areuniformly prepared from atechnical point ofviewand
areprotected tothehighest degree against forgery orfalsification. Furthermore, the
machine-readable strip which isapplied tothedocuments must becompatible with
optical reading equipment atallborder controls throughout theworld. Thismeans that
equipment used forthepersonalization oftravel documents must satisfy given
specifications which areinlinewiththose specifications relating tothedocument itself.
Failure tocomply with these requirements will jeopardize acceptance ofthese
documents, bothinthiscountry andabroad.
8. Relevant documents: Article 2.3and59ofthePassport Actrelate totheevaluations of
PUB
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 20November 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 21November 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 19November 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45daysif
nocomments orrequests forextension ofthetime-limit havebeenreceived from other
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: