WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.600
1October 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4118)
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 ofJustice
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): Pistol
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Regulation ofthe
Minister ofJustice fortheAppointment ofCustoms Officers asSpecial Criminal
Investigators (1995 Decree Relating toSpecial Criminal Investigators with the
Tax/Customs Office)
6. Description ofcontent: TheCode ofCriminal Procedure indicates those whoare
authorized toinvestigate punitive actions. They are,inaddition tothe"traditional"
criminal investigators (such aspolice officers andpublic prosecutors) alsotheso-called
"special criminal investigator". They areinteraliapersons whobelong tocategories or
bodies appointed bytheMinister forJustice (e.g.specific persons employed byCustoms
ortheDutch Railways Security Department). The1993 Police Actprovides some
general rules relating totheduties exercised bythese criminal investigators. Pursuant to
Article 8.7ofthe1993 Police Act,theMinister forJustice mayupon appointment of
persons asspecial criminal investigators alsoauthorize theymayuseforce when carrying
outtheir duties. Hemaytherefore provide them withspecific means offorce. The
general banforbidding thepossession oruseofsuchweapons doesnotinthiscaseapply
tosaidpersons (Article 3a,paragraph 3,Weapons andMunitions Act). Thedraft
Regulation referred toinpoint 5appoints officers employed bytheCustoms Department
oftheDutch TaxDepartment asspecial criminal investigators. According totheDutch
Government, thisRegulation probably contains technical regulations within themeaning
oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade. Anindicative summary ofthese
technical regulations appears below. Article 4.3(b) specifies thatthespecial criminal
investigators employed byCustoms may carry asemi-automatic pistol bearing the
Walther mark, etc. Those typeapprovals referred toinArticle 4.3(a) and(c)donot
(yet)exist. These willbenotified assoonastheyhavebeendrafted. Similar regulations
which arealsobeing notified include:
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.600
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6. Description ofcontent: (cont'd)
1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theTax/Customs
Office;
1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators withtheECD;
1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theFIOD/Tax
Department;
1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theNSSecurity
Services;
1997 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theNational
Transport Department ofJustice;
1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators withtheHDTP; and
1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators withtheNational Special
Service fortheProvision ofAssistance.
7. Objective andrationale: Insofar asthedraft Regulation contains technical barriers to
trade thenthese measures arejustified intheinterests ofensuring thatpublic order is
maintained. Theregulations concerning those weapons tobeused have particular
consideration fortheadequate arming ofspecial criminal investigators toensure both
effective action andoffer protection tothose officers concerned.
8. Relevant documents: Article 141andArticle 142Code ofCriminal Procedure, Article 7
to11ofthe1993 Police Act, Article 3aoftheWeapons andMunitions Act(an
explanatory notetotheoriginal Decree doesnotexist).
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 19November 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 20November 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 18November 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetime-limit havebeenreceived fromother
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: