WTO COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
At its informal meeting on 22 January 1999, the Committee requested the Secretariat to
prepare a stock-taking paper of the submissions by delegations (Annex 1) on elements related to the
Work Programme of the First Triennial Review of the Agreement (G/TBT/5) to facilitate discussions
in the Committee.  The present paper aims at highlighting the key points of those submissions without
any intention to summarize nor interpret Members positions on the issues.
99-1205RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/SPEC/11
25 March 1999
(99-1205)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
SUBMISSIONS BY DELEGATIONS ON ELEMENTS RELATED TO THE WORK
PROGRAMME OF THE FIRST TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE AGREEMENT
Stock-taking paper by the Secretariat
A. IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE AGREEMENT BY MEMBERS
UNDER ARTICLE 15.2
No submission has been made under this item.
B. OPERATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES UNDER
ARTICLES 2, 3, 5 AND 7
I. INFORMATION EXCHANGE IN RELATION TO THE OPERATION AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES UNDER ARTICLES 2, 3,
5 AND 7 (G/TBT/W/84) - Contribution from Thailand
1. This document provides "Thailand's experience with regard to the operation and
implementation of notification procedures under Articles 2 and 5.  The Thai Industrial Standards
Institute (TISI), … has been designated as the central government authority responsible for the
implementations at national level of the provisions concerning notification procedures under this
Agreement.  In compliance with these provisions, government departments and regulatory authoritiesresponsible for the implementation and administration of technical regulations, standards and
conformity assessment procedures have been informed of their obligations under the TBT Agreement.
In addition, a National Committee comprising representatives from relevant organizations has been
established for the purpose of ensuring implementation and administration of the Agreement."
2. Specific difficulties and problems concerning notification procedures
"(i) Ambiguities in the text of the TBT Agreement:  The text of the Agreement contains certain
ambiguities that need further clarification, e.g. Article 2.9 provides that:  "Whenever a relevant
international standard does not exist on the technical content of a proposed technical regulation is not
in accordance with the technical content of releva nt international standards, and if the technical
regulation may have a significant effect on trade of other Members, Members shall:  2.9.1 publish anotice … 2.9.2 notify other members …" therefore, in those cases where the technical content of a
proposed technical regulation is in accordance with relevant international standards but could, in one
way or another, affect trade of other Members, it is unclear whether the proposed technical regulation
should be notified.  And if not, the transparency objective of the TBT Agreement may not be fulfilled.
(ii) Timing of notification:  The regulatory bodies have the task of informing the notification
authority as soon as the text of a proposed or amended technical regulation is finalized.  However, it
often occurs that by the time the technical regulatio n has been notified to the WTO Secretariat, it hasG/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 2
already been adopted or entered into force.  When comments are submitted, they are nevertheless
taken into account and if justifiable, amendments can be introduced to those particular regulations.
Thailand is well aware of this obstacle and various measures are presently being considered to
minimize this problem.
(iii) Inconsistency of working period of agencies re levant to the notification procedures:  As the
60-day comment period is counted from the day the notification authority announces the draft
regulation to the public, the real time-span for comments after circulation under the WTO is often
considerably shorter than the actual 60 days.
(iv) Documentation:  Difficulties often arise from  the fact that documentation regarding notified
technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures is not always available in one
of the standard WTO working languages, causing further problems of translation.
(v) Delivery of documentation within the comment period:  Relevant documentation is
sometimes delivered beyond the deadline of the comment period and although requests for an
extension of comment period are sometimes submitted to the notifying Member Countries, such
postponement cannot be allowed due to legislative constraints.
3. Proposals or suggestions concerning notifications
(i) Description of the content of notified technical regulations and conformity assessment
procedures should represent an outline of the contents, allowing consideration by other Members inthe absence of documentation.
(ii) Cooperation and coordination between national enquiry points needs to be strengthened.(iii) Seminars on the operation and implementation of the TBT Agreement should be held
regularly."
II. INDIA'S EXPERIENCE ON TBT NOTIFICATION SYSTEM AND PROCEDURES
FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE  (G/TBT/W/93) - Contribution from India
1. " … the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India has appointed the Bureau of Indian
Standards (BIS), the national standards body of India as the National Enquiry Point.  Information on
Standards, Technical Regulations and Certificati on Systems formulated and operated in India are
notified by the BIS to the WTO for circulation to other Members.  Ministry of Commerce,
Government of India and BIS together are making  joint efforts to evolve/develop a National System
of Notification of technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures.  A
beginning has been made by apprising Central Go vernment, State Government, Statutory Bodies and
Standardizing Bodies of the obligations under the TBT Agreement and also the importance of the
acceptance of the Code of Good Practice and other notification obligations.  A National Level
meeting of these bodies is being planned shortly.  It is hoped that a suitable National Notification
System will be evolved in the near future."
2. Problems and Proposals
"(i) BIS has been implementing Article 2.9.2 of the Agreement regarding notifications but there is
a need to take some remedial measures to implem ent the notification procedures so that comments are
received in time by the notifying Members.  Extension of time-period for comments may beconsidered from 60 days to 90 days, as the notifications take time to reach the concerned agencies
who have to give comments.G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 3
(ii) Delayed response from Enquiry points of other Members greatly hampers a country's efforts
to provide timely and quick information on standards, technical regulations and conformity
assessment procedures of other Members to its industry, organizations and exporters.  This has an
obvious adverse effect on trade among different Member countries."
3. Conclusion
BIS would like to seek clarification on the following issues:  Does the National notification
system of developed countries include all organizations in the country engaged in enforcement of
technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures?
C. ACCEPTANCE, IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE CODE OF GOOD
PRACTICE FOR THE PREPARATION, ADOPTION AND APPLICATION OFSTANDARDS BY STANDARDIZING BODIES
I. ENVIRONMENTAL LABELS AND MARKET ACCESS:  CASE STUDY ON THE
COLOMBIAN FLOWER-GROWING INDUSTRY ( G/TBT/W/60) - C ontribution from
Colombia
1. "For Colombia, it is of capital importance for the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation,
Adoption and Application of Standards of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade to be appliedto voluntary eco-labels.  This Code is open for acceptance by governmental and non-governmental
bodies and is an important instrument for monitoring the adoption of labelling standards applicable to
a product.
2. It is clear that if a private, recognized institution approves a document containing rules,
guidelines or specifications on products or the related production processes and methods,  intended for
generalized and repeated albeit optional use, it is subject to the provisions of the Code.
3. Thus, by observing the principles of the Code of Good Practice, private organizations would
ensure that products originating in the territo ry of any WTO Member receive treatment no less
favourable than that accorded to similar products  of national origin or originating in any other
country.  In that way they would effectively pr event the elaboration, adoption or application of
standards having the objective or effect of creating unnecessary barriers to international trade.
4. In the light of the foregoing, Colombia reiterates the importance of applying Article 4 of the
TBT Agreement which states that Members shall take such reasonable measures as may be available
to them to ensure that non-governmental standa rdizing bodies within their territories accept and
comply with the Code of Good Practice.
5. Finally, another aspect of interest to Colombia is for the WTO to study and develop the areas
of mutual recognition and equivalence with respect to eco-labelling, for the application of these
concepts could solve some of the problems raised in this document with regard to such schemes."
II. NATIONAL EXPERIENCES WITH TECHNICAL REGULATIONS (G/TBT/W/71) -
Canadian contribution
This paper provides some examples of technical regulations where it has referenced, or
considered as equivalent, the technical regulations of other Members.  It should be viewed as a
contribution to future Committee discussions on equivalency, pursuant to paragraph 14, of the
Triennial Review (G/TBT/5).  This contribution is designed to encourage further contributions by
other Members.G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 4
III. TBT AGREEMENT CO DE OF GOOD PRACTICE, PARAGRAPH J:
PUBLICATION OF THE WORK PROGRAMMES OF STANDARDIZING BODIES
(G/TBT/W/74) - Note from the European Community
The TBT Triennial Review Report states that the TBT Committee will examine problems
encountered by Members in publishing work programmes on a six monthly basis (paragraph 12 (c) inG/TBT/5).  The EC suggests "that the TBT Committee recognize other ways of achieving the
transparency aims of paragraph J of the Code of Good Practice.  This could be done, without
publishing a formal work programme, through an internet web-site where up-to-date comprehensive
information is freely available in a user-friendly structure or through the establishment of an
information center."
IV. TBT AGREEMENT CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE, PARAGRAPH J:
PUBLICATION OF THE WORK PROGRAMMES OF STANDARDIZING BODIES
(G/TBT/W/74/Add.1) - Note from the European Community
1. The EC proposal on Paragraph J of the Code of Good Practice (G/TBT/W/74) gave rise to
questions from several delegations regarding its practical implementation.  This note aims atclarifying the EC proposal.
2. "The EC proposal does not aim at withdrawing the current paper based publication system
which obviously could continue to be used.  The communication of the work programmes of the
standardizing bodies via Internet would simply be another  possibility to fulfil the paragraph J
obligations by adapting to new technology.  In other words, standardizing bodies would be offered the
choice of publishing their work programmes either on paper or on an Internet web site.
3. With regard to the question of language to be used, the EC is of the opinion that the rules
(already foreseen in Paragraph J) should be the same whatever the medium, paper or electronic."
V. INFORMATION EXCHANGE IN RELATION TO THE ACCEPTANCE,
IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE
FOR THE PREPARATION, ADOPTION AND APPLICATION OF STANDARDS BY
STANDARDIZING BODIES (G/TBT/W/82) - Contribution from Thailand
1. This document is being submitted to the Comm ittee on Technical Barriers to Trade in light of
paragraph 12 of the First Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (G/TBT/5) with a view to sharing the experiences of Thailand with other
Members regarding the implementation of the provisi ons of the Code of Good Practice (Annex 3) of
the Agreement.
2. "In Thailand, standards development activity is carried out by the Thai Industrial Standards
Institute (TISI), … In considering the potentiality of TISI to comply with the Code of Good Practice
for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards which is an obligation under Article 4 of
the TBT Agreement, TISI came to realize that the disciplines of the Code, e.g. harmonization of
international standards, transparency, avoidance of unnecessary obstacles to trade andnon-discrimination would be beneficial to Thailand as well as to other developing countries in the
sense that they can contribute an efficient and effective standards preparation process as well as
facilitate the conduct of international trade …
3. Thailand is of the opinion that alignment of TISI's working procedures with the ISO/IEC
system helps ease the implementation of the provisions of the Code.  Certain ISO Manuals and
ISO/IEC Guides, for example:  ISO Development Manual on Development on Establishment and
Management of a National Standards Body;  IS O/IEC Guide 21:1981 - Adoption of International
Standards in National Standards;  ISO/IEC Guide 26:1981 - Justification of Proposals for theG/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 5
Establishment of Standards; etc. have been used as guidelines in standards development process
bearing in mind the principles of consensus, non-discrimination and transparency."
4. Specific difficulties and problems concernin g the implementation and operation of the
Code of Good Practice regarding harmonization of international standards    
"(i) Thailand is of the opinion that in certain ca ses, the process for development of international
standards is dominated by developed countries, while input from developing countries, such as
proposals for establishing particular standards of interest, or comments for draft standards, or voting
process are not properly taken into account.  As a result, it always happens that published
international standards are ineffective or inappropriate to be adopted by developing countries.
(ii) Paragraph J of the Code provides that the work programme shall be published at least once
every six months.  This is considered to be quite a burden, especially to developing countries."
5. Proposals or suggestions concerning implementation and operation of the Code of Good
Practice
"(i) For those standardizing bodies that are still not able to accept and comply with the Code, it
may be worth considering and following the experi ence of Thailand regarding the alignment of their
working procedures with the ISO/IEC system.
(ii) WTO Members, especially developed ones, should be encouraged to afford sympathetic
consideration to developing country Members in the preparation of international standards, so that the
standards would also be effective and appropriate for developing countries.
(iii) As the Code is aimed to provide transparen cy within the territory of WTO Members, the
comment period for a draft standard may not be as long as 60 days, as it retards the normal standardspreparation process.  The Committee may consider the period of 30 days as an alternative.
(iv) Regarding publication of the work programme, limitation should not be made to hard copies.
Members should also have an option of making available their standards work programme via the
Internet."
VI. INFORMATION EXCHANGE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 2.7
RELATING TO EQUIVALENCY OF TECHNICAL REGULATION (G/TBT/W/83) -Contribution from Thailand
"Thailand notes that the concept of equivalency is emphasized throughout the TBT
Agreement, e.g. Article 2.7 … and would like to point out the acceptance as equivalent of technical
regulations of other members is provided in the Industrial Product Standards Act of Thailand.However, in practice, consideration of technical essence is required prior to conclusion as
"equivalent".  In some cases, this must be submitted to technical groups, and would take some time.
In other cases, establishment of equivalency is proven difficult.  Therefore, equivalency would be best
resolved with the adoption of international standards."
VII. INDIA'S EXPERIENCE ON TBT NOTIFICATION SYSTEM AND PROCEDURES
FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE (G/TBT/W/93) - Contribution from India
1. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national standards body of India, has accepted the Code
of Good Practice under the TBT Agreement.  "In accordance with paragraph J of the Code of Good
Practice, BIS is publishing the work programme on an annual basis in English language.  The CodeG/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 6
however, calls for publishing of work programme on a six monthly basis, which is difficult to
implement in a developing country like India due to resource constraints.
2. The use of the Internet, it is felt, contains the potential to greatly facilitate Members to
disseminate such information in a timely manner, and update it on a regular basis.  The BIS has noted
the suggestion by European Union that transparency of paragraph J of the Code of Good Practiceunder the TBT Agreement can be achieved in a more practical way through an Internet website where
up-to-date, comprehensive information could be made available in a user-friendly manner, and that it
should be recognized as an alternative to the published work programme.  However, BIS feels that
though the above is a good suggestion, in the current scenario some of the developing countries and
least developed countries will not be able to benefit from it because of the lack of internet facilities
and infrastructure.  Thus, it is felt that though the Internet can be recognized as one of the measures to
disseminate information on the work programme, it should be ensured that all Members will alsopublish and disseminate hard copies of the work programme as well."
3. Conclusion
BIS would like to seek clarification on the following issues:  Have all the standards
formulating bodies of developed countries accepted the Code of Good Practice and are they meeting
the notification obligations?
VIII. EQUIVALENCY OF STANDARDS:  AN INTERIM MEASURE TO FACILITATE
TRADE IN THE ABSENCE OF RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
(G/TBT/W/88) - Note from New Zealand
1. "In the course of the First Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the
Agreement conducted in 1997, some Members submitted that the WTO TBT Code of Good Practice
for Standards should also contain a similar provision to that of Article 2.7 of the TBT Agreement.  It
was noted that while the TBT Agreement differentiates quite rightly between technical regulations
(mandatory in their nature) and standards (voluntary in their nature), that in practice standards could
create unnecessary obstacles to trade…  The TBT Committee recognized that divergent national
standards serving similar objectives existed in different Member economies.  In particular, this
occurred where international standards did not exist in a particular area."  This paper is contributed as
part of the follow up process to the Triennial Review.  It seeks to prompt an exchange of views on
these matters, and makes suggestions for ways in which individual and cooperative actions could
facilitate removal of technical barriers to trade through the recognition of equivalency of national
voluntary standards.  It provides the reasons why international standards do not exist;  New Zealandexperiences in the implementation of Article 2.7 of the TBT Agreement;  the application of the
concept of equivalency to voluntary standards;  means of applying the Article 2.7 concept of
equivalency to voluntary standards;  and What options are available to facilitate trade between
countries whose different national standards appear to be underpinned by very similar objectives.
2. In New Zealand's view, in many instances an arrangement for recognition of equivalency of
national standards should be relatively straight fo rward.  It would also provide a useful interim
solution for the facilitation of trade until an international standard is available.  Furthermore, if
agreement on an international standard proves difficult to achieve, an equivalency arrangement will
tend to focus the developers of national standards on resolving the differences.  This would beparticularly effective if the international standards initially brought together collective agreement on
just the performance objectives.
3. If national standards organizations were to address equivalency with foreign standards at the
same time of developing their own national standa rds, there would subsequently be no need for
governments to additionally cite foreign standards in regulations in implementing Article 2.7 of theG/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 7
TBT Agreement.  In effect, the foreign standards would already have been taken into account in the
specific equivalency arrangements recognized in the single national standard referred to in national
compliance requirements.  The consensus and public consultation processes employed by national
standards bodies would ensure industry and community acceptance of these regulatory solutions.
4. There appear to be two main avenues that would be available to encourage and facilitate the
application of the Article 2.7 concept of standards equivalency.
(i) Equivalency - Individual Action by a National Standards Body
The implementation of the equivalency requirements for regulations in Article 2.7 of the
WTO TBT Agreement relies on responsible individual action by the signatory economies.  The most
explicit and consistent way to incorporate the concept of standards equivalence in the TBT Agreementwould be to add a similar commitment to Article 2.7 as part of the Code of Good Practice for the
Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards.  A provision of this sort would provide a strong
incentive in cases where no relevant international standards exits for national standardizing bodies to
cooperate more closely with their counterparts within other WTO member-States to exchange
information on their respective standards objectives.  It would lessen the tendency for nationalstandards to be construed "in a vacuum", without regard to the potential implications that they might
have on trade.  In effect, an additional provision on equivalency to the Code of Good Practice should
not be seen as a revolutionary development, but rather as a natural one.  Some national standardizing
bodies are already actively engaged in addressing equivalency issues.  This is very much the case
between Australia and New Zealand, the two national standardizing bodies of which have developedan "umbrella standard" concept …
(ii) Equivalency – Cooperative Actions
The TBT Committee may also wish to discuss whether it would be desirable to coordinate
equivalency arrangements on a regional or internationa l basis.  It would be much easier to do this in
areas of voluntary standards than for technical regulations, primarily because of the existence of
international and regional coordinating bodies and ne tworks (ISO, IEC, PASC etc).  A sensible first
step would be the encouragement of information exchange between the various bodies to explore
strategies for the implementation of equivalency concepts in relation to the national standards ofothers.  International and regional standardization bodies and networks could feasibly coordinate the
recognition of equivalency actions by national standards bodies by seeking collective agreement on
priority areas for voluntary action by individual standards bodies.  They could also facilitate collective
agreement on which national standards provide for acceptable levels of performance in each of these
priority areas …  It should be noted that the Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC) is currently
investigating areas in which Asis-Pacific standards bodies could voluntarily cooperate to implement
recognition of equivalence."
5. Conclusion and recommendations
"(i) In conclusion, the concept of standards equivalency has merit as a means of avoiding and
further reducing unnecessary obstacles to trade.  It is emphasized that it should only be applied whereinternational standards do not exist, and then only as an interim measure until suitable international
standards are made available.  Arrangements for recognition of equivalency can provide a useful
starting-point for agreement on content of future international standards.
(ii) In view of the benefits that recognition and application of a concept of equivalency could
have in context of voluntary standard, the Committee could further consider the following draft
recommendations:
- Endorsing the inclusion in the Code of Good Practice of the following additional paragraph:G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 8
"The standardizing body shall give positive consideration to accepting as equivalent,
standards originating from other Members of the WTO, even if these standards differ from
their own, provided they are satisfied that these standards adequately fulfil the objectives of
their own standards".
- Requesting international and regional standardizing bodies to encourage an exchange of
information from the standardizing bodies that make up their membership on the actions they
have taken to implement equivalency in relation to national standards of other members.
- Encouraging international and regional standardizing bodies to coordinate and prioritise
actions for recognition of equivalency by their membership."
IX. NATIONAL EXPERIENCES WITH STANDARDS AND TECHNICAL
REGULATIONS (G/TBT/W/99) - Contribution by Australia
1. This paper provides Australia's experience in developing standards due to its size and
geography, its  economic development and a range of other domestic factors;  and taken account of
specific industrial or infrastructure developments  and more recently of the Closer EconomicRelationship we enjoy with New Zealand.
2. "Many Australian standards are an amalgam of others, recognizing that the development of
standards is the product of investment in research and development.  The needs of multinational
companies operating in Australia or countries which are the destination for our exports have beenanother factor.  This has meant that standards have been developed in response to the need of
Australian companies to meet the standards of others rather than a desire to develop a local standard
for its own sake."
D. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, GUIDES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
I. ENVIRONMENTAL LABELS AND MARKET ACCESS:  CASE STUDY ON THE
COLOMBIAN FLOWER-GROWING INDUSTRY (G/TBT/W/60) - Contribution from
Colombia
1. "The Colombian flower-exporting industry has id entified the following as the most risky
aspects of private eco-labelling:
(i) The lack of supervision or compliance with internationally accepted standards guaranteeing
transparency, impartiality and objectiveness in the demands made and the absence of monitoring toallow for self-correction.  This situation entails a serious risk for the bodies managing these labels in
that they could fall prey to interests that have nothing to do with the actual environmental conditions
of cultivation.
(ii) The absence of any common minimum parameters, which means that the consumer does not
receive comparable and intelligible information.  Each label may be designed based on different
criteria, or may assign greater specific weight to some criteria over others, depending on the
orientation of its promoters.  Furthermore, there is the risk that no account is taken of differences in
production processes from one region to the next."
II. FORESTS:  A NATIONAL EXPERIENCE (G/TBT/W/61)
 – Contribution from Canada
This paper by Canada on its experience in the forestry sector is designed to complement the
Secretariat paper (WT/CTE/W/67 7 November 1997) Section V: Forestry and follow-up to theTechnical Barriers to Trade Report to the Singapore Ministerial (G/L/122 28 October 1996,G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 9
paragraph 15 and the TBT Triennial Review (G/TBT/5 19 November 1997,  paragraphs 18 and 22
(b)). The main focus of the paper is Canada’s experience with standards-related issues. The paper
reinforces the general premise that, given a sound domestic regulatory framework, the impact of trade
barriers, including tariff escalation, on the environment is generally negative given that trade barriers
impede efficient resource allocation and thus increase the overall impact on the environment.
III. TRANSPARENCY IN INTERNAT IONAL STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT
(G/TBT/W/64) - Contribution from the United States
1. The paper intends to provide U.S. views regardin g international standards, in addition to those
contained in the First Triennial Review (G/TBT/5), and to offer a proposal for the Committee’s
consideration.  It is based on the idea that "The disciplines in the Agreement include detailed
provisions to ensure transparency (e.g., the requirements to publish notice of proposed standards andto allow a reasonable period of time for the submission of comments by interested parties) in the
development and application of standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment
procedures.  These same disciplines do not extend directly to the preparation of standards by
international bodies.  And, while Article 9 encourages Members to formulate and adopt international
systems for conformity assessment , it also explicitly acknowledges Members’ responsibilities to
ensure that such systems comply with the relevant provisions of the agreement (i.e., Articles 5 and 6).
The Agreement does not contain a corresponding statement of Members’ responsibility with respect
to participation in international bodies developing standards."
2. "The United States continues to believe that bodies which operate with open and transparent
procedures which afford an opportunity for consensus among all interested parties will result in
standards which are relevant on a global basis and prevent unnecessary barriers to trade
(G/TBT/W/40)."
3. The United states recommend that "the Committee could establish its view that international
bodies which develop standards should have established procedures to ensure that all interested
parties have adequate notice, time and opportunity to provide input in the development of standards.
Based on the provisions of, and experience with, the TBT Agreement, the Committee could articulate
a set of principles and procedures it considered desirable for international bodies which developed
standards.  With agreement on a common set of principles and procedures, the Committee couldclarify the responsibility of Members’ participation in international bodies along the lines of that now
contained in Article 9.3.  With broad endorsement for this approach by the Committee, the United
States would volunteer to develop a draft for further consideration by Members."
IV. TRANSPARENCY IN INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS DRAFT - PROPOSAL FOR
A DECISION  (G/TBT/W/75) - Contribution from the United States
1. Following document G/TBT/W/64, this paper provides proposal for a decision of the
Committee on the transparency in international standards.
2. "BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
In the first Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the Agreement
(G/TBT/5), the Committee reiterated the important contribution that international standards can make
to improve efficiency of production, to facilitate the conduct of international trade, and to the transfer
of technology from developed to developing countries.  The Committee noted that in order for
international standards to make a maximum contribu tion to the achievement of the objectives of the
Agreement, it was important that the interested parties of all Members have adequate notice, time and
opportunity to participate in the discussions, elaboration and adoption of international standards.
With a view to ensuring a common approach to Members’ responsibilities with respect to the
development and use of international standards, the Committee agreed upon the following:G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 10
3. Decision
(i) Members shall ensure that their central government bodies use international standards only to
the extent that these standards comply with the provisions of Article 2, as applicable.
(ii) Members shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to them to ensure that
international bodies developing standards in which Members or relevant bodies within their territories
are members or participants have an established process that seeks to take into account the views of
all parties concerned and to reconcile any conflicting arguments.  It is the sense of the Committee that
when developing standards, the procedures of th e international body should, at a minimum, include:
(a) the publication of a notice at an early appropriate stage, in such a manner as to enable
interested parties within the territory of a WTO Member to become acquainted with it, that
the international body proposes to introduce a particular standard;
(b) the notification or other communication through established mechanisms to its
members providing a brief description of the scope of the proposed standard, including itsobjective and rationale. Such communications shall take place at an early appropriate stage,
when amendments can still be introduced and comments taken into account;
(c) upon request, the prompt provision, throug h electronic means whenever possible, to
its members of copies of the proposed standard;
(d) without discrimination, the provision of a reasonable period of time for interested
parties in the territory of its members to make  comments in writing and take these written
comments into account in the further consideration of the standard;  and,
(e) the prompt publication of a standard upon adoption.
(iii) The international body developing standards should publish periodically a work programme
containing information on the standards it is currently preparing and the standards which it has
adopted in a specified period.  Any fees charged shall, apart from the real cost of delivery, be thesame for foreign and domestic parties."
V. INFORMATION EXCHANGE IN RELATION TO THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS, GUIDES AND RECOMMENDATIONS (G/TBT/W/81) - Contribution
from Thailand
1. "As a developing country, Thailand realized the importance of international standards, guides
and recommendations…  Thailand also believes that standards, technical regulations and conformity
assessment procedures which conform to the international system should not create an unnecessary
obstacle to trade, including trade between Thailand a nd such partners as developed countries.  In this
regard, Thailand has made every effort in particip ating in the development of such international
standards and in the use of international standards,  as far as practicable, in establishing national
standards …
2. However, the use of international standards as a basis in the preparation of technical
regulations by a number of regulatory authorities is still unsatisfactory due to lack of full
understanding.  In order to monitor this problem, relevant regulatory authorities are encouraged totake part in more international standardization activities and to be aware of the usefulness and
application of international standards as well as the rights and obligations of Thailand under the
TBT Agreement.G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 11
3. Thailand is of the opinion that in some cases, development of international standards is
dominated by developed countries, while inputs from developing countries, such as proposals for
establishing certain standards of their interests, or  comments for draft international standards, are not
properly taken into account.  As a result, it always happens that published international standards are
ineffective or inappropriate to be adopted by developing countries.
4. The process for development of international standards usually takes some years to be
completed and published international standards may not meet the demand of the market.  Therefore,
international standardizing bodies should be encouraged to speed up the process."
VI. THE CONDITIONS FOR ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WTO TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO
TRADE AGREEMENT (G/TBT/W/87) - Note from the European Community
1. "In order to enhance international trade, th e European Community considers that a greater
emphasis should be laid on the use of international standards, as well as their elaboration.  To achieve
a wider use of international standards, there needs to be progress on three aspects:  (i) A clear
distinction is needed between international standards and other (national or regional) standards;(ii) Incentives are required to enhance the use of international standards;  and (iii) Finally, bodies
making standards that qualify as international should observe a set of principles of effectiveness,
transparency, balance of interests and accountability.
The distinction between national and international standards2. The European Community and its WTO partners have made a commitment - as signatories to
the Agreement - to use international standards in  their technical regulation.  In view of this
commitment, it is appropriate to seek to determine the standards to which it applies, i.e., to define the
essential features that characterize standards as international.  Furthermore, it is important that thestatus of international standards be strengthened, and thus a clear distinction between international
and other standards has to be recognized.  In certain sectors - for example, information technology,
electro-technology and telecommunications, a process of internationalization in the market and in
standardization is well advanced.
3. In this respect, the Community suggests that the following principles be observed:
(i) Apart from the criteria that apply to all standardization whatever its level, the key criterion for
a body to be accepted as producing international standards, which will thus be privileged under the
WTO, is that of international impartiality; that is, all countries with an interest in standardization must
have access to the work, and international control over the results, without either discrimination or
privilege as to the nationality of the participants.  The question of the difference between participationand membership is not relevant to this question; for example, for inter-governmental organizations.
The important point is that whatever the way in which the standards body operates, participation, and
where appropriate membership, should be available on equal terms without discrimination as to
nationality.
(ii) Standards bodies cannot claim two different levels of status (national, regional or
international) for their core activity at the same time.  Conflicts of interest and incoherence in the
corpus of standards would arise if regional or national bodies were to act as though they were
international.  Similarly, international bodies would have difficulty in upholding their claim to that
status were their membership not genuinely international.
(iii) The current Code (clause G) favours that participation in international standardization be
carried out on a national basis.  In general, it  would be expected that the participants in internationalG/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 12
standards work would be national delegations, that is, delegations of national standards bodies or their
representatives.  In addition, regional standards bodies can contribute directly to international work.
International standardization and trade
4. Compliance with standards is voluntary. In examining, as required by the Triennial Review,
why international standards do not exist, or are not used, attention should be paid to the absence ofincentives to use them, and ways to create such ince ntives when they are lacking.  The incentives may
take different forms, and should be developed at different levels.
(i) The political commitment of public authorities to advance the aims of the WTO needs to be
reflected in legislative reform.  This implies promot ing the use of international standards, for example
by deregulation and by setting up legislative frameworks that make reference to voluntary standards.
More transparency is necessary, and more information should be provided, on the regulatory systemsthat are intended to stimulate the use of international standards.
(ii) There should be transparency on the application of the Code of Good Practice.  Where
Members have more than one standardizing body, they should provide explanations of the extent to
which standardizing bodies are bound by the acceptance, and how they implement the Code, if onebody has accepted on behalf of all of them.
(iii) In order to ensure efficiency and coherence, there is a need for arrangements between
international and regional and national standardization. Arrangements should cover issues such as
common programmes, common technical bodies, common work and common acceptance of theresults.  This also includes transposition of international standards as regional and national standards.
(iv) The international standardization system should ensure that the corpus of international
standards is coherent.  Were actual conflicting international standards to emerge, the system would
become unworkable, since more than one standard would then be characterized as international andthus become privileged by the WTO, codifying barr iers to trade.  The activities of international
standards bodies, and their results, should be complementary.  Standards should not conflict, even
when the individual standards bodies that issued  them are different.  Improved exchange of
information between standards-making bodies and the WTO is desirable in itself, though not a
complete solution.  The emergence of competing international bodies must be deprecated.
(v) In order to provide transparency and certainty, further progress is required on designing a
mechanism under which bodies are accepted by the generality of signatories to the WTO Agreement
as international standards bodies.
(vi) National and regional standards bodies that participate in international standardization should
act coherently and in accordance with the aims of the Agreement.  The legitimacy of an international
standards body would be demonstrated, inter alia , by acceptance of the Code of Good Practice by its
national and regional members.
5. Effective implementation of these points will require monitoring and collaborative action by
the relevant bodies within the WTO.
The activities and discipline of international standards bodies6. Whilst the TBT Agreement provides a privilege to international standards, it does not set out
provisions for observance by international standard s bodies.  If, however, international standards are
to play the role assigned to them by the Agreem ent, the international standards bodies should remain
accountable to the entire range of interested parties, and should achieve a high degree of effectiveness.
The commitment to use international standards should be matched by the observance of rules in
relation to accountability on behalf of international standards bodies:G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 13
(i) Openness should be provided in the drawing up of programmes, and in the ultimate results,
which should be made publicly available for use.
(ii) There should also be openness to all views, general agreement, absence of sustained
opposition and a process that seeks to reconcile conflicting opinions.
(iii) Standards bodies would have to show that thes e principles are enshrined in their rules and be
effectively complied with.
(iv) The enhancement of their role also has an im plication for the responsiveness of international
standards bodies to the needs of the market and of regulators.  Particularly, priorities in international
standards work programmes should reflect trade priorities;  up-to-date international standards should
be delivered in due time, and the activities of international standards bodies, and their corpus ofstandards, both need to be coherent both internally and with other bodies, and kept up to date.
7. Compliance by international standards bodies with these criteria might be ascertained by the
establishment of some kind of formal code of procedures for observance by international bodies,
along the lines of the undertakings laid on national and regional bodies by the Code of GoodPractice."
VII. NATIONAL EXPERIENCES WITH STANDARDS AND TECHNICAL
REGULATIONS (G/TBT/W/99) - Contribution by Australia
1. "Standards Australia  has notified adherence to the Code of Good Practice. The organization
has a positive, proactive policy of adoption of international standards wherever possible and has been
and continues to be an active participant in work to develop international standards especially in the
ISO and the IEC.  Some 30 per cent+ of Australian Standards are directly  adopted from, or are
modifications of, ISO or IEC standards.
2. Combined with a process of continual review , Australian standards will be progressively
replaced with international standards where they are developed and applicable.  There remains a
significant proportion (approximately 25 per cent) of Australian Standards for which there is no
international equivalent or international work …  As one of the small/medium developed country
participants in the multilateral trading system Au stralian institutions and agencies recognise the
commercial and trade value of participating in the development of and adoption of international
standards.   Australia's standards and conformance infrastructure actively promotes their development
and adoption and use by the major "blocs".
3. The development of an agreed multilateral processes for negotiating international standards
would address some of the key concerns which Australia has about the current development of
regional standards through "bloc" support/application.  For example, once a regional standard isdeveloped, adopted and legislated there is through that process a significant 'bloc' of countries which
are attached to that standard.  It can be of concern that the countries involved may subsequently be
reluctant to enter into further international negotiations towards a standard on the same products.
Making more/better use of work which has already been done and making such work more inclusive
from the outset are alternatives which could be examined by those organizations which are looking atthe development of international standards."G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 14
E. PREPARATION, ADOPTION AND APPLICATION OF TECHNICAL REGULATIONS
I. NATIONAL EXPERIENCES WITH TECHNICAL REGULATIONS (G/TBT/W/71) -
Canadian contribution
This contribution by Canada is to provide some examples of technical regulations where it
has referenced, or considered as equivalent, the technical regulations of other Members.  It should be
viewed as a contribution to future Committee discus sions of the preparation, adoption and application
of technical regulations, pursuant to paragraph 24 (c)...  This contribution is designed to encouragefurther contributions by other Members in order to provide the TBT Committee with a variety of
national experience with issues related to technical regulations.
II. INFORMATION EXCHANGE IN RELATION TO THE PREPARATION,
ADOPTION AND APPLICATION OF TECHNICAL REGULATIONS (G/TBT/W/80) -
Contribution from Thailand
This document is being submitted to the Committ ee on Technical Barriers to Trade in light of
paragraphs 23 and 24 of the First Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (G/T BT/5) for the purpose of information exchange
regarding technical regulations in Thailand.
F. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES
I. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES:  SUPPLIER'S DECLARATION OF
CONFORMITY (G/TBT/W/63) - Contribution from the United States
1. This submission by the United States is intended to provide additional background on the use
of suppliers’ declaration of conformity as well as information on the US experience.  "A supplier’s
declaration of conformity is but one tool for indicating the conformity of a product, process or service
to a standard or technical regulation.  It is a procedure by which a supplier (as defined in ISO/IEC
Guide 22:1996, a supplier is the party that supplies the product, process or service and may be a
manufacturer, distributor, importer, assembler, service organization, etc.) provides written assuranceof conformity to the specified requirements.  The declaration identifies the party responsible for
making the declaration of conformity and for the conformity of the product/process/service itself."
2. "Reliance upon a declaration of conformity by suppliers is normally considered to be a trade
friendly approach to conformity assurance.  As noted above, from a manufacturer’s perspective, the
supplier’s declaration of conformity allows flexibility in the choice of location to have a product
tested, reduces the uncertainty associated with mandatory testing by designated laboratories based in
foreign countries as well as associated costs.  Reliance on a supplier’s declaration of conformity can
also be a cost-saving and efficient tool for regulators to meet their legitimate policy objectives, such
as ensuring protection of the environment and the health and safety of consumers.  It can provide anassurance that a product conforms to regulatory requirements by identifying an accountable party in
the event that non-compliance is detected.  Regulatory reliance on a declaration of conformity can be
enhanced when “spot checks” are conducted and penalties are imposed for non-compliance.
Additional safeguards can be provided by customs inspections to verify the presence of the supplier’s
declaration of conformity documents and by affording an opportunity for market participants toinform regulatory authorities of perceived non-conformance.  A supplier’s declaration of conformity
is also beneficial in that there is no discrimination on the basis of the geographic location of a testing
or other conformity assessment body -- conformity is, in short, the responsibility of the supplier.
Under such a system, the question of “portability” of conformity assessment, or of the need to
negotiate political agreements on mutual recognition, become moot."G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 15
3. "While the Committee has noted that the supplier’s declaration of conformity can save costs,
it also acknowledged that such an approach to conformity assurance may not always be appropriate.
The United States continues to support the volu ntary exchange of information foreseen in the
Triennial Review on the use of supplier’s declaration and alternative approaches to conformity
assessment and would welcome information from other Members on their experience.  Such
experience could include a further definition of the conditions supporting effective use of adeclaration of conformity;  considerations that may deem such an approach inappropriate from a
regulatory perspective;  an identification of technical infrastructure components which would be
necessary to support reliance on this approach."
II. ISO/IEC GUIDES ON CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT (G/TBT/W/70) - Note from the
European Community
1. The European Community has in previous notes to the Committee reflected on the usefulness
of the ISO/IEC Guides and their relationship to Article 5 and 6 of the TBT Agreement (document
3146, June 1997), as well as the Community's experience in their use (G/TBT/W/43).  The
Community considers that it is imperative that the TBT Committee can reach an agreement on the
relationship of the ISO/IEC Guides to Articles 5 and 6 of the Agreement.  The paper provides thereasons for this.
(i) "Agreement on the Guides would not only promote a consistent application of the Agreement
as well as facilitating mutual confidence between Members, but more importantly provide a common
language and preference point on conformity assessment.  By pointing to the ISO/IEC Guides onconformity assessment will also increase transparency and predictability, which are basic principles
underlying all WTO Agreements.
(ii) Agreement on the Guides is also necessary if any progress is to be made on discussions
related to conformity assessment procedures and recognition of conformity assessment.  Without acommon basis and platform, in-depth discussions on these important issues will most likely be even
more complex and endanger the possibility of arriving at concrete results that can be beneficial for all
Members.
(iii) These reasons are also based on the experience of the European Community from putting into
place the Single Market. …. It is fair to say that without common criteria as a platform for mutual
confidence the development of Community conformity assessment policy in the realization of the
Single Market would have been greatly hindered if no made impossible."
(iv) The Community understands the practical difficulties that countries can encounter in
implementing the Guides, and provides information on the technical assistance programmes in this
regards.  It says that "a negative stance towards the Guides by the Members of the WTO will onlygive a wrong message to their national organizations making considerable efforts to improve the
technical infrastructure of their country as an aid to their industry and to facilitate international trade."
(v) The paper points out that "the aim of a recommendation is to identify which Guides can be
considered relevant for the purpose of the TBT Agreement, thus giving visibility to these documentsso that they can constitute a common basis for understanding basic and fundamental concepts on
conformity assessment, but in no terms making the Guides mandatory or imposing additional
obligations on Members."
2. "The Community welcomes the continued exchange of information between Members on
their experience in using international guides and recommendations on conformity assessment.
However, high priority must be given to arriving at an agreement on the relationship of the ISO/IEC
Guides to Articles 5 and 6 of the TBT Agreement.  The Community would therefore like to propose
that the Committee at its next meeting devote the necessary time to carefully examine how agreementG/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 16
on a recommendation can be arrived at.  Taking into account the technical nature of this issue,
consideration should be given to asking the Technical Working Group on the ISO/IEC Guides to
prepare such a discussion."
III. AUTONOMOUS RECOGNITION OF THE RESULTS OF FOREIGN CONFORMITY
ASSESSMENTS (G/TBT/W/79) - Communication from Switzerland
1. At the conclusion of the First Triennial Review of the implementation of the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), the Committee reiterated "Members' rights and obligations under
Article 6.1" of the Agreement (G/TBT/5, paragr aph 25). Based on this provision, Switzerland has
developed a system for the autonomous recognition of the results of foreign conformity assessments.
In this communication, Switzerland explains the benefit of autonomous recognition and describes its
experience in this respect.
2. "If a foreign laboratory or organization is recognized abroad and the accreditation scheme is
applied by a regional organization [(European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA), Northern
American Accreditation Cooperation (NAAC), Interamerican Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC),
Southern African Regional Accreditation C ooperation (SARAC), Pacific Accreditation for
Certification (PAC), Asia Pacific Laboratory Coopera tion Accreditation (APLAC)] or an international
accreditation organization (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), International
Accreditation Forum (IAF)], it is assumed that th e foreign organization has equivalent competence."
3. "The objective, namely recognition of foreign test reports and certificates, can also be met
through the conclusion of mutual recognition agreements (MRAs).  These have the advantage of
offering the contracting parties a legal framework which they can use to seek recognition of their
certificates.  Nevertheless, the negotiation of such agreements is often long and difficult. Autonomous
recognition can therefore be used where such agreements have not yet been concluded or trade flows
do not justify the conclusion of an MRA because the volume of trade is too low."
4. "For Switzerland, the conditions governing autonomous recognition are closely linked to the
use of international standards and guides on accreditation and certification.  Switzerland would be
interested to learn of other countries' experience in this field.  It would be interesting to see how other
Members apply this Article and examine to what extent they also make use of international standardsand guides in this context."
IV. INFORMATION EXCHANGE IN RELATION TO MEMBERS' EXPERIENCE IN
THE VARIOUS TYPES OF CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES
(G/TBT/W/85) - Contribution from Thailand
1. "This document is being submitted to the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade in the
light of the First Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (G/TBT/5) with a view  to exchanging information on the national practice
regarding conformity assessment procedures.
2. Three types of conformity assessment procedures are operated in Thailand, i.e. product
certification, system certification and accreditation sy stem.  In development of these procedures, the
ISO/IEC Guides as well as other international guides  such as those of the International Accreditation
Forum (IAF) and the International Auditor and Training Certification Association (IATCA) are used
as a basis to ensure systematic and continual development, and technical competence of organizations,
procedures and personnel as well as to facilitate arrangements for mutual recognition …G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 17
3. Comments
(i) Thailand believes that in order to achieve "one test, one certificate", the focus should be on
the harmonization of conformity assessment procedures to the international system.  The
TBT Committee should cooperate with relevant international organizations in assisting Members to
implement the relevant ISO/IEC Guides.
(ii) Mutual recognition arrangements will not be possible if technical infrastructure for
conformity assessment procedures remains inadequate.  Cooperation or assistance among Members
should be encouraged.
(iii) Developed countries should provide the opportunity to developing countries, of which
procedures for conformity assessment are in line with the international system, in entering intonegotiations for mutual recognition agreements."
V. NATIONAL EXPERIENCES WITH STANDARDS AND TECHNICAL
REGULATIONS (G/TBT/W/99) - contribution by Australia
1. "Australia  has substantial experience in the utilisation of voluntary sector organizations by
regulatory bodies both for establishing standards and for undertaking much of the conformance work.
One good example of this is found in the activities of the National Association of Testing Authorities,
Australia (NATA) and its relationships with regulatory authorities across a wide technical spectrum
and at various levels of government."
Use of Accreditation by Regulators and Purchasing Authorities"2. NATA was created by government initiative to facilitate government purchasing.  It was
based on the development of trust and confidence in a system where privately and publicly ownedenterprises work together.  Its fundamental premise is that standards of technical competence,
commitment and integrity do not vary between private and government laboratories and that a single
test was more economically efficient than duplication.  The same principle could be applied to testing
for regulatory purposes.
3. With the exception of the areas of pharmaceuticals and medical devices (which are covered
under the responsibilities of the Therapeutic Goods  Administration (TGA)), almost all regulated
sectors of the Australian economy which involve technical testing or measurement require such
testing to be undertaken in accredited laboratories or a recognized equivalent. There are more than
50 Acts and regulations at Commonwealth and State level which reference NATA accreditation in
this context.  There may be some variation in the application of policy but all laboratories must
demonstrate technical competence.
Recognition of Foreign Test Data4. Historically, Australian regulators have tended to accept overseas data from "reputable"
laboratories. In recent years, however, with the advent of mutual recognition agreements (MRAs)between accreditation bodies, there has been a shift towards recognizing only laboratories that have
been accredited by an organization with which NATA has such an agreement.
5. Australia thus pioneered the widespread use of MRAs in the voluntary sector for regulatory
purposes.  Where evidence is available, it suggests that the policy is effective but not without sometechnical problems associated with the application of different standards or different interpretations of
common standards.  Accreditation bodies have the responsibility to resolve issues of interpretation but
the acceptance of the standard itself is a matter for the regulator."G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 18
G. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE UNDER ARTICLE 11
I. INDIA'S EXPERIENCE ON TBT NOTIFICATION SYSTEM AND PROCEDURES
FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE  (G/TBT/W/93) - Contribution from India
1. "Developed countries who have establishe d a National Notification System and whose
standardization bodies have accepted the Code of Good Practice and are meeting the notification
obligations should hold workshops/seminars and provide assistance for the benefit of developing
countries like India, so that the infrastructure in such countries can be upgraded in order to better
fulfill the obligations of Notification under the WTO TBT Agreement.
2. Developed countries who are using the modern technologies like Internet to store and
disseminate information on their standards, technical regulation and conformity assessment
procedures should provide financial/technical assistance to developing countries in order to help themcreate their websites so that this information can be utilised by all Member countries of WTO."
H. SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT UNDER ARTICLE 12
No submission has been made under this item.
I. OTHER ELEMENTS
I. ENVIRONMENTAL LABELS AND MARKET ACCESS:  CASE STUDY ON THE
COLOMBIAN FLOWER-GROWING INDUSTRY ( G/TBT/W/60) - C ontribution from
Colombia
1. "The case study of the Colombian flower-gro wing industry reveals the dangers inherent in
private environmental labelling schemes and their potential negative implications for market access.
Colombia therefore considers it important for the CTE and the Committee on Technical Barriers to
Trade to have a clear position aimed at ensuring that the proliferation of private environmental labels
without common standards or monitoring of any ki nd do not create trade and markets distortions and
thereby confuse consumers.
2. It is essential to have a transparent, concerted and non-discriminatory policy on voluntary
eco-labelling, which makes allowance for the circumstances of exporting and importing countries so
that environmental and trade policies may really complement each other and satisfy both business andenvironmental interests.
3. Hence, it is necessary to guarantee transparency in the conception and application of
eco-labels, to ensure that they are non-discriminatory and that the parties concerned can participate in
developing them, designing the programmes, choosing their product coverage, selecting the criteria on
which they are based and in working out any audit procedures."
4. "Therefore, Colombia once again underscores the importance of implementing paragraph 185
of the Report of the Committee on Trade and Environm ent to the Ministers at Singapore, which reads:
As stated above, the CTE’s discussion on eco-labelling has focused primarily on voluntary
eco-labelling schemes/programmes and in particular on the transparency of such
schemes/programmes. Without prejudice to the view s of WTO Members concerning the coverage and
application of the TBT Agreement to certain aspects of such voluntary eco-labelling
schemes/programmes and criteria, i.e. those aspects concerning non-product-related PPMs, andG/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 19
therefore to the obligations of Members under this Agreement regarding those aspects, the CTE
stresses the importance of WTO Members following the provisions of the TBT Agreement and its
Code of Good Practice, including those on transparency.  In this context, the CTE underlines the
particular importance of ensuring fair access of foreign producers to eco-labelling
schemes/programmes.”
II. FORESTS:  A NATIONAL EXPERIENCE (G/T BT/W/61) - Contribution from Canada
1. This paper by Canada on its experience in the forestry sector is designed to complement the
Secretariat paper (WT/CTE/W/67 7 November 1997) Section V: Forestry and follow-up to the
Technical Barriers to Trade Report to the Singapore Ministerial (G/L/122 28 October 1996,
paragraph  15 and the TBT Triennial Review (G/TBT/5 19 November 1997, paragraphs 18 and 22
(b)). The main focus of the paper is Canada’s experience with standards-related issues.  The paperreinforces the general premise that, given a sound domestic regulatory framework, the impact of trade
barriers, including tariff escalation, on the environment is generally negative given that trade barriers
impede efficient resource allocation and thus increase the overall impact on the environment.
2. This paper is not a position paper given that Canada’s position on environmental labelling and
related standards issues is well known (WT/ CTE/W/21 G/TBT/W/21 21 February 1996, G/TBT/W/41
25 April 1997).  This paper is designed rather to  illustrate national experiences in dealing with
non-product related PPM standards and labels.G/TBT/SPEC/11
Page 20
Annex 1
G/TBT/W/60 9 March 1998 Environmental Labels and Market Access:  Case
Study on the Colombian Flower-Growing Industry –
Contribution from Colombia
G/TBT/W/61 11 March 1998 Forests:  A National Experience – Contribution from
Canada
G/TBT/W/63 7 April 1998 Conformity Assessment Procedures:  Supplier's
Declaration of Conformity – Contribution from the
United States
G/TBT/W/64 2 April 1998 Transparency in International Standards
Development – Contribution from the United States
G/TBT/W/70 23 June 1998 ISO/IEC Guides on Conformity Assessment - Note
from the European Communities
G/TBT/W/71 24 June 1998 National Experiences with Technical Regulations –
Contribution from Canada
G/TBT/W/74, andAdd.130 June 1998
10 August 1998TBT Agreement Code of Good Practice,
Paragraph J:  Publication of the Work Programmesof Standardizing Bodies - Note from the European
Communities
G/TBT/W/75 30 June 1998 Transparency in International Standards - Draft U.S.
Proposal for Decision
G/TBT/W/79 3 Sept. 1998 Autonomous Recognition of the Results of Foreign
Conformity Assessments – Communication fromSwitzerland
G/TBT/W/80 9 Sept. 1998 Information Exchange in Relation to the
Preparation, Adoption and Application of TechnicalRegulations – Contribution from Thailand
G/TBT/W/81 9 Sept. 1998 Information Exchange in Relation to the use of
International Standards, Guides andRecommendations - Contribution from Thailand
G/TBT/W/82 14 Sept. 1998 Information Exchange in Relation to the
Acceptance, Implementation and Operation of the
Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoptionand Application of Standards by StandardizingBodies – Contribution from Thailand
G/TBT/W/83 14 Sept. 1998 Information Exchange on the Implementation of
Article 2.7 relating to Equivalency of TechnicalRegulation – Contribution from Thailand
G/TBT/W/84 9 Sept. 1998 Information Exchange in Relation to the Operation
and Implementation of Notification Procedures
under Articles 2, 3, 5 and 7 – Contribution from
Thailand
G/TBT/W/85 9 Sept. 1998 Information Exchange in Relation to Members'
Experience in the Various Types of ConformityAssessment Procedures – Contribution fromThailand
G/TBT/W/87 14 Sept. 1998 The Conditions for Acceptance and Use of
International Standards in the Context of the TBT
Agreement – Note from the European Community
G/TBT/W/88 9 Sept. 1998 Equivalency of Standards:  An Interim Measure to
Facilitate Trade in the Absence of Relevant
International Standards – Note from New Zealand
G/TBT/W/93 24 Sept. 1998 India's Experience on TBT Notification System and
Procedures for Information Exchange – Contributionfrom India
G/TBT/W/99 17 Nov. 1998 National Experiences with Standards and Technical
Regulations – Contribution by Australia
__________