WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.494
23September 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-3923)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofJustice
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Equipment usedinthe
participation, drawing ofprizes anddetermination ofwinners oftheSponsor Lottery
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Decision Granting a
Licence toOrganize aSponsor Lottery (Sponsor Lottery Decision)
6. Description ofcontent: Article 1oftheBetting andGaming Actprohibits theorganizing
ofgames ofchance, unless apermit tothateffect hasbeengranted. Article 3oftheAct
stipulates thatalicence maybegranted iftheproceeds areusedforaclause ofgeneral
interest.
Article 6oftheActstipulates that,byorder inCouncil, further rules maybe
drawn upregarding licence Regulations which pertain togames ofchance inaccordance
withArticle 3oftheAct.These rules havebeenlaiddown intheBetting andGaming
Decree. Article 5,Paragraph 1oftheBetting andGaming Decree stipulates thatprizes
shall bedrawn ingames ofchance insuchawayastoguarantee thechance nature of
such agame. Paragraph 3ofArticle 5specifies thatifmechanical, electrical or
electronic processes areused when prizes aredrawn andthesumoftheprizes and
premiums exceed avalue ofonehundred thousand Guilders, themethod ofdrawing
prizes shall besubjected toprior approval byanindependent expert orinspection
institute appointed byourminister. Ifequipment isusedtodraw prizes, suchequipment
shall beinspected before useinorder toguarantee itschance nature. Noinspection
requirements arespecified. Thekindortypeofequipment usedisirrelevant, aslongas
itschance nature remains guaranteed during theuseoftherelevant equipment.
Regarding theSponsor Lottery, theRegulation inArticle 5,Paragraph 3,oftheBetting
andGaming Decree iscontained inArticle 13oftheSponsor Lottery Decision, which
Article maybeconsidered atechnical Regulation. Inaddition, Article 13oftheDecision
stipulates thatthisRegulation alsoapplies totheSponsor Lottery regarding participation
anddetermination ofwinners.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.494
Page2
7. Objective andrationale: Therequirements tobemetbytheequipment used inthe
participation, drawing ofprizes anddetermination ofwinners oftheSponsor Lottery,
shall apply without distinction toequipment ofDutch andforeign origin. TheBetting
andGaming Decree andtheSponsor Lottery Decision donotprovide foraclause of
mutual recognition regarding equipment usedintheparticipation, drawing ofprizes and
determination ofwinners. Indeed, norequirements areprescribed forthetrade insuch
equipment. Only atthetime when such equipment isused itisnecessary tocheck
whether thechance nature thereof isguaranteed during participation, drawing ofprizes
anddetermination ofwinners. Theprovisions oftheBetting andGaming Decree andthe
Sponsor Lottery Decision arejustified onaccount oftheneedtoprotect players against
fraud andabuse (public order andconsumer protection).
8. Relevant documents: TheSponsor Lottery Decision isbased onArticle 3oftheBetting
andGaming Actandinsofar asrelevant hereArticle 5oftheBetting andGaming
Decree. Wewould referyoutothedraftBetting andGaming Decree.
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 29October 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 30October 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 28October 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetime-limit havebeenreceived from other
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: