WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/143
22 September 2000
(00-3800)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English/
                 French
SECOND TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE OPERATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE AGREEMENT ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
Note from Canada
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Second Triennial Review of the World Trade Organization’s Technical Barriers to Trade
Agreement1, to be completed by the end of this year, offers an opportunity for Canada to pursue
clarifications and improvements to the Agreement without the necessity of open ended re-opening.  At
the 25 February 2000 meeting of the TBT Committee, Members declared themselves prepared to
engage actively and constructively in the Review.  The point of departure for the Review will be the
First Triennial Review completed in 1997 (G/TBT/5), with assistance from the Secretariat’s “stock
taking” paper summarizing submissions since the First Triennial Review (G/TBT/SPEC/11 and
11/Add.1-2).
2. Following up on the work of the First Triennial Review, Canada’s principal goal for the
Second Triennial Review is to examine the level of implementation of the Agreement, and how this
can be improved.  More particularly, Canada wishes the outcome of the Review to mandate the
Committee to pursue further significant work in the areas of international standardization, conformity
assessment, and technical assistance.
3. Canada considers that a significant underpinning of the Agreement is domestic and
international cooperation and coordination of trade, regulatory, voluntary standards, and conformity
assessment policy and practice.  Only through this cooperation and coordination will the Agreement
fulfill its intended goals of trade liberalization and facilitation.  In order to draw the most benefitsfrom the Agreement, Members must take responsibility for cooperating and coordinating, at the
domestic level, trade, regulatory, standards, and conformity assessment policy and practice.  Canada
foresees that this will foster the added advantag e of advancing work in voluntary international
standards and conformity assessment bodies which will complement and enhance the Agreement.
This cooperation and coordination must then be taken a step further to the relationships between theinternational organizations themselves.
II. IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE AGREEMENT
4. Under the rubric of Notification Procedures, Canada would like the Committee to review
notification obligations at the sub-national level, as detailed in Article 3 of the Agreement,
“Preparation, Adoption and Application of Technica l Regulations by Local Government Bodies and
Non-Governmental Bodies”.  Canada is particularly concerned with the apparent low level of
notification from the provincial/territorial/state/Länder/cantonal/etc. levels for Members where a large
amount of regulatory responsibility lies at the sub-national level, and suggests that the Committee
look at how to improve this.
                                                     
1 The World Trade Organization shall, from here on, be referred to as the “WTO”; the Technical
Barriers to Trade Agreement as the “TBT Agreement”, or simply “the Agreement”; the Technical Barriers toTrade Committee of the WTO as the “TBT Committee” or simply “the Committee”; the TBT CommitteeSecretariat as“the Secretariat”; and the Second Triennial Review as“the Review”.G/TBT/W/143
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III. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDIZATION
5. Canada encourages the Committee to maintain flexibility in defining the principles to be met
in the development of international standards.  Ac ceptable principles would allow for the recognition
of existing standardization and regulatory realities.  Canada believes that the future value of standards
systems, for legitimate regulatory purposes and the promotion of an open trading environment,requires that they be allowed to evolve so as to find their own solutions, without unnecessarily
attempting to impose restrictive requirements from outside.  This should be achieved, within the
standards system, through the effective and appropriate coordination of trade and standards interests
described in paragraph three.
6. Moreover, Members should be mindful of the particular problems and constraints faced by
developing countries in the field of international standardization and should encourage their
participation in international standards development so that, as the Agreement’s provisionsincreasingly take effect and are strengthened, developing countries are not at a disadvantage.
7. To maximize openness, transparency, coherence, effectiveness and order in standardization,
Canada's national accreditation organization, the Standards Council of Canada, has formally adopted
both ISO/IEC Guide 59 "A Code of Good Practice for Standardization" and Annex 3 of the
TBT Agreement as its accreditation requirements.  The criteria for accreditation thus include:evidence of a consensus process representing balanced representation of interest categories, broad
geographical representation, an appeals mechanism for the impartial handling of any substantial or
procedural complaints, and notification of standardization activities in suitable media to afford
interested persons or organizations an opportunity for meaningful contributions.
8. Canada's experiences in implementing Article 2.7 of the Agreement (as detailed in
G/TBT/W/71) have led to the belief that there should be procedures for standards development bodies
to accept that a standard/standards applied in another country/other countries could meet their own
standardization requirements.  As such, Canada therefore supports a similar provision for voluntary
standards as currently exists for mandatory regulations in Article 2.7.  As described in New Zealand’s
note G/TBT/W/88, the objective of such a provision is to develop an equivalency provision insituations where no international standards exist.  This will help promote efficiency in the regulatory
and voluntary standards systems and facilitate trade, while the discussion on international
standardization continues to advance in the TBT Committee.
9. The international, regional and local standards communities are founded on principles that
naturally tend to promote the objectives of the Agreement.  Canada considers that significant progress
towards the Agreement’s intended goals of trade liberalization and facilitation requires the positive
engagement of these communities by the Committee and Members.  While the Report of theFirst Triennial Review took the step of inviting international standardization bodies as observers to
the Committee, recent dialogue suggests the need for even closer cooperation between these
two groups.  At the domestic level this implies implementing the Report of the First Triennial Review
of the TBT Agreement which calls for better coordination between national standards bodies,
regulatory authorities and national government representatives on the TBT Committee.  Moretransparency and increased awareness of one another’s activities, both at the national and international
level, are essential ingredients in this process.  This cooperative approach is endorsed by many major
standards developers around the world, including ISO and IEC.  Canada believes that much can be
achieved through coordinated and more focussed efforts, and encourages the Committee, through the
Second Triennial Review, to examine how to furt her improve communication with the international
standardization community.
IV. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT
10. The goal of conformity assessment is to ensure that the requirements of standards and
technical regulations are met by given products and services.  This is critical in order for buyers of
those goods and services to have confidence that legitimate regulatory objectives are met and that theG/TBT/W/143
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goods and services meet their health, safety and other needs.  There is little debate that confidence in
the conformity assessment practices and procedures of other countries is important to the facilitation
of trade.  Indeed, there is broad support by both developed and developing countries for working
towards this goal through the principle of “‘one standard, one test’ and if required ‘one certification,
one time’” as stated in the First Triennial Review.
11. Where the debate rests, however, is on the different methods of pursuing the principle.
Among the different approaches to conformity assessment, accreditation that is based on international
standards and guides represents an independent test of the technical competence of conformity
assessment bodies.  Broad global acceptance of accreditation which addresses both regulatory
requirements and market needs has provided the basis for the emergence of a number of international
and regional cooperation of accreditation agreements.  Further work is needed to encourage greater
acceptance of these agreements, particularly among regulators and the public, and strongerparticipation among developing countries in their development.  The Committee should also
encourage the examination of other less formal a pproaches to conformity assessment, including
supplier’s declaration of conformity (SDoC), to determine the costs and benefits and which industrial
sectors would most benefit.  Canada believes that formal accreditation of private testing and
inspection laboratories, operating in support of SDoC  would help facilitate wider acceptance of the
concept among regulators and the public.  Private multilateral agreements between certification
organizations, such as the successful IEC Syst em for Conformity Testing and Certification of
Electrical Equipment (IECEE CB Scheme), should also be studied to assess applicability to other
sectors.
12. Canada seeks to ensure that the continuing discussion on conformity assessment is balanced
and comprehensive.  This discussion should educate regulators, trade policy experts, industry, the
conformity assessment community, and the public of the various forms of recognition, the products to
which they are best suited, and the environments needed for their effective functioning.  Furthermore,
in order to ensure a workable path towards acc eptance of internationally recognized conformity
assessment systems, the dialogue must also take into account the various national regulatory and
conformity assessment systems used by Members.  This includes, in particular, a better understanding
of the challenges faced by developing countries, and how best to assist them in meeting those
challenges.
13. As a contribution to the discussion on how to pursue the principle of “‘one standard, one test’
and if required ‘one certification, one time’”, what follows is a brief description of Canada’s
experience, thus far, with MRAs
2:
14. The Mutual Recognition Agreements or Arrangements (MRAs) to which Canada has become
a Party involve conformity assessment (e.g. the testing and certification procedures undertaken to
assess whether a product meets the requirements set out in a given standard or regulation).  These
MRAs cover specific sectors, in which they provide for recognition of inspection results, test reports
and/or conformity certificates issued by bodies located in the territory of the exporting party (or
parties), but deemed capable of testing to the importing party’s regulatory requirements.  Byeliminating duplicative testing and certification requirements, these MRAs are intended to reduce the
burden on both industry and regulatory agencies, thereby facilitating trade.
15. Canada has found that the negotiation of MRAs can be a labour intensive exercise, with MRA
implementation also having significant short and medium term resource implications.  Therefore,
                                                     
2 Canada has been involved in negotiating various bilateral and multilateral Mutual Recognition
Agreements/Arrangements on conformity assessment in recent years, including multi-sector MRAs with theEuropean Union, Switzerland, and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein (the EEA countries).  In the
telecommunications equipment sector, Canada concluded a bilateral Mutual Recognition Arrangement with
Korea in 1997, and is participating in multilateral arrangements through APEC and the Inter-AmericanTelecommunications Commission (known as CITEL).  Canada also actively participated in negotiating theAPEC Arrangement on Conformity Assessment of Electrical and Electronic Equipment.G/TBT/W/143
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clear criteria for undertaking MRA negotiations are important to ensure that these reflect economic
and stakeholder interests.
16. Although Canada’s views on MRAs are still evolving, there is an emerging preference for
single sector MRAs over the multi-sector framework model.  Not only are single-sector MRAs easier
to negotiate and implement, but they tend to avoid the heavy bureaucratic structure associated withmulti-sector MRAs.  Moreover, plurilateral MRAs seem to be more cost-effective then bilateral
MRAs.  At the same time, it must be recognized that MRAs are just one tool which can be employed
to reduce or simplify regulatory requirements in th e international context, and may not be appropriate
to every situation.
17. Canada notes the importance of promoting common global approaches to conformity
assessment.  In this respect Members should be encouraged to participate in the work of
standardization and conformity assessment bodies developing international standards, guides andrecommendations for conformity assessment.  This work serves the interests of consumers, industry,
and regulators, while improving trade.  G/TBT/W/ 72/Rev.1 provides a list of relevant ISO/IEC
international guides and recommendations related to conformity assessment procedures.  Among
these voluntary guides is ISO/IEC Guide 60, Code  of Good Practice for Conformity Assessment.
Canada believes that Guide 60, which is designed to promote equal right of access to conformityassessment worldwide, provides a good framework fo r the performance of all conformity assessment
bodies whether governmental or n on governmental, domestic or international.  However, the guide is
not widely used and needs to be reviewed, and updated, if necessary, to better meet the objectives of
the Agreement.  Therefore, Canada recommends that the Committee invite the ISO Council on
Conformity Assessment (CASCO) to undertake the necessary wo rk.  Members should be encouraged
to adopt the revised Guide 60 on a voluntary basis.  Canada considers the proper forum for work on
conformity assessment to be in the voluntary sector, and does not wish to burden the Agreement
further with a mandatory Code of Good Practice on conformity assessment.
V. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
18. Canada has been assisting developing countries in meeting their TBT Agreement obligations
by supporting technical assistance offered by several international fora, such as the WTO, the
International Trade Centre, APEC and the World Bank.  Bilaterally, Canada offers technical
assistance related to regulation, standards and conformity assessment systems principally through the
Canadian International Development Agency, the Standards Council of Canada, government
departments, and standards development organizations.  Some of this work has included assistance
with respect to fulfilling enquiry point obligations, notification procedures and provision of standards
and standards-related information.
19. The workshop on technical assistance held by the Committee in July 2000 addressed a
number of important issues relating to, inter alia , developing country participation in international
standardization, and the coordination of technical assistance initiatives by international organizations
and Members.  It is Canada's hope that the workshop will provide the basis for specific conclusions
and recommendations in the Review.
20. Indeed, Canada would like a significant part of the Second Triennial Review to focus on
identifying the substantive needs of developing countries in meeting their obligations under the
Agreement and how best to answer these needs.
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