WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.453
22September 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-3842)
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 ofPersonnel with theNational Transport
Department ofJustice asSpecial Criminal Investigators (1997 Decree Relating toSpecial
Criminal Investigators withtheNational Transport Department ofJustice)
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 ofJustice (egspecific persons employed byCustoms or
theDutch Railways security department). The1993 Police Actprovides some general
rules relating totheduties exercised bythese criminal investigators. Pursuant toArticle
8.7ofthe1993 Police Act,theMinister forJustice mayupon appointment ofpersons as
special criminal investigators alsoauthorise thattheymayuseforce when carrying out
theirduties. Hemaytherefore provide them withspecific means offorce. Thegeneral
banforbidding thepossession oruseofsuchweapons doesnotinthiscaseapply tosaid
persons (Article 3a,Para. 3,Weapons andMunitions Act). Thedraft Regulation
referred toinpoint 5appoints officers employed bytheNational Transport Department
forJustice oftheMinistry ofJustice asspecial criminal investigators. According tothe
Dutch government, thisRegulation probably contains technical regulations within the
Agreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade. Anindicative summary ofthese technical
regulations appears below.
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6. Description ofcontent: (cont'd)
Article 5(b)specifies thatthespecial criminal investigators employed bythe
above-mentioned Department maycarry asemi-automatic pistol bearing theWalther
mark etc.Thelastsentence inarticle 5specifies thatthose officials responsible forthe
transport ofdefendants fortheYugoslavian Tribunal maycarry semi-automatic sub
machine guns, typeMP5 A3,9millimetre by19millimetre calibre andbearing the
Heckler andKoch mark. Those typeapproval referred toinArticle 5(a)and(c)donot
(yet) exist. These willbenotified assoon asthey have been drafted. Similar
regulations which arealsobeing notified include: 1995 Decree relating tospecial
criminal investigators with theTax/Customs Office, 1995 Decree relating tospecial
criminal investigators withAmsterdam Policing, Security andTransport Department,
1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theECD, 1995 Decree
relating tospecial criminal investigators withtheFIOD/Tax Department, 1995 Decree
relating tospecial criminal investigators withtheNSSecurity Services, 1995 Decree
relating tospecial criminal investigators withtheHDTP andthe1995 Decree relating to
special criminal investigators with theNational Special Service fortheProvision of
Assistance.
7. Objective andrationale: Insofar asthedraft Regulation contains technical barriers to
trade, these 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:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:26October 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 25October 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetimelimithavebeenreceived fromother
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: