G/TBT/W/748  
 
21 May 2021 
(21-4279) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 
PROPOSAL ON CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT  PROCEDURES  
NINTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW  
Submission from the United States  
The following submission, dated  21 May 2021, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of 
the United States . 
 
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1  BACKGROUND  
1.1.  The a ccreditation of the competence, integrity and reliability of conformity assessment bodies 
(CABs) is a valuable conformity assessment procedure  (CAP)  that can be used to  facilitate the 
efficient movement of  goods and services across national borders while protecting against ri sks to 
the health and safety of people and environments. The World Trade Organization 's Agreement on 
Technical Barriers to Trade ( TBT Agreement ) encourages Members to permit participation of CABs 
located in the territories of other Members in their CAPs under conditions no less favourable than 
those accorded to bodies located within their territory or the territory of any other country. Further, 
the TBT Agreement requires Members to ensure, whe never possible,  that results of CAPs in other 
Members are accept ed, even when those procedures differ from their own, provided that those 
procedures offer an assurance of conformity with applicable technical regulations or standards 
equivalent to their own procedures. As defined in the TBT Agreement, CAPs include accre ditation .  
1.2.  The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) has proposed  a policy that 
favors local accreditation bodies (ABs) that appears potentially inconsistent with Members ' 
obligations regarding CAPs under  the TBT Agreement. The TBT Agre ement  is over 25 years old. In 
that time, CAPs, including accreditation, have evolved significantly: guides on accreditation have 
been converted to international standards ; regional and international mutual recognition 
arrangements  (MRAs)  on accreditation were established;  and the membership in those MRAs 
include s an increasing number of national AB signatories. As the landscape in this area has changed , 
national policies  on accreditation  may have evolved away from  the TBT  Agreement 's provisions on 
recognition of conformity assessment by central government bodies, and on the use of international 
and regional systems.  
2  PROPOSAL  
2.1.  Accreditation policies that operate consistently with Members ' obligations under the TBT 
Agreement, for instance through the conclusion of MRAs; permitting the participation of CABs of 
other Members under conditions no less favorable than those accorded to national CABs; and 
whenever possible, the acceptance of the r esults of CAPs in other Members, will improve efficiency 
of production and facilitate the conduct of international trade. Therefore, i n order to advance the 
implementation and operation of the TBT Agreement, the United States proposes an examination of 
Member accreditation policies , including those on the use of regional and international systems for 
conformity assessment . International organizations will be invited to discuss proposed and 
implemented policies.   G/TBT/W/748  
 
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  2.2.  As part of the 9th Triennial Review, in thema tic session and in the development of conformity 
assessment guidelines, the TBT Committee should consider how accreditation and related policies 
can be advanced to further reduce barriers to trade in goods. Further, as part of the TBT Committee's 
ongoing 8 th Triennial Review effort to develop guidelines for conformity assessment, the TBT 
Committee should initiate work to develop guidance for Members with respect to accreditation 
policies as they relate to MRAs, the recognition of accreditation results in th e territories of other 
Members, and the national treatment of accreditation bodies.  
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