WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.640
10October 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4319)
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 may beprovided inaddition, where applicable): Equipment forthe
personalization ofDutch travel documents (passport printer andaprinter ribbon, optical
reading equipment, laminator, passport pen)
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Draft Regulation of
theSecretary ofState forDomestic Affairs Relating totheProvision ofEmergency
Documents aswell astheIntroduction ofEmergency Extensions bytheRoyal
Marechaussee (1995 Royal Marechaussee Regulation Governing thePreparation of
Passports); 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. TheRoyal Marechaussee Regulation Governing thePreparation
ofPassports (PUKMAR) relates toemergency documents issued bytheMarechaussee.
According totheDutch Government, thePUN probably contains technical regulations
within themeaning oftheWTO Agreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade (Marrakesh,
15April 1994). Anindicative summary oftheremaining technical regulations isstated
below:
- Thedocument printer must satisfy thespecifications asprescribed bythe
Minister forDomestic Affairs (Article 22.2 PUKMAR). Thespecifications
relate totheprint result andaredescribed indraft document RDB97/U613RD
(Appendix 1).Theprocedure forallowing other printers islaiddown indraft
Circular RDB97/U614-RD (Appendix 2).
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.640
Page2
6. Description ofcontent (cont'd):
- Themachine-readable strip isscanned viaoptical reading equipment andis
approved forthispurpose bytheMinister forDomestic Affairs (Article 23.3
PUKMAR).
- Thetravel document islaminated (Article 22.4PUKMAR).
- Ifdatamust beincorporated inthetravel document andaprinting facility is
unavailable thenallthedataisentered using apassport penwhich must be
ordered byaninstitution appointed bytheMinister forDomestic Affairs
(Article 22.2and56PUKMAR).
- Document printer ribbons maybeordered byaninstitution appointed bythe
Minister forDomestic Affairs (Article 56PUKMAR).
7. Objective andrationale: IfPUKMAR contains quantitative import restrictions or
measures ofsimilar effect thenthese arejustified fortheprotection ofpublic safety and
national security. ThePUKMAR regulations arenecessary inorder toguarantee that
travel documents arevalid interms ofcontent, areuniformly prepared from atechnical
point ofview andareprotected tothehighest degree against forgery orfalsification.
Furthermore, themachine-readable strip which isapplied tothedocuments must be
compatible withoptical reading equipment atallborder controls throughout theworld.
Thismeans thatequipment usedforthepersonalization oftravel documents must satisfy
given specifications which areinlinewiththose specifications relating tothedocument
itself. Failure tocomply withthese requirements mayjeopardise acceptance ofthese
documents, either astravel oridentity documents,both inthiscountry andabroad.
8. Relevant documents: Article 2.3and59ofthePassport Actrelate totheevaluation of
PUKMAR.
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 20November 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 21November 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 19November 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: