. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/N/EEC/5
9 August 2001
(01-3964)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible:   European Commission
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:
European Commission
EC-TBT Enquiry Point
Fax: +32 2 299 57.25
Email: ec-tbt@cec.eu.int
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [     ], 2.10.1 [    ], 5.6.2 [ X], 5.7.1 [    ], other:           
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):           
1 Water meters,
2. Gas meters,
3. Active electrical energy meters and measurement transformers,
4. Heat meters,
5. Measuring systems for the continuous and dynamic measurement of quantities
of liquids other than water,
6. Automatic weighing instruments,
7. Taximeters,
8. Material measures,
9. Dimensional measuring instruments,10. Evidential breath analysers,
11. Exhaust gas analysers.
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Proposal for a
Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on measuring instruments
(150 pages)
DA, DE, EL, EN, FR, ES, IT, NL, PT, FI, SV
6. Description of content:   A number of measuring instruments have been harmonised in the
seventies: whereby Member States were allowed to maintain national regulation alongside
the harmonised Community regulation.  The Community regulation has not been updatedfor technological progress.
Meanwhile Member States have to different degrees expanded national technical
regulations, often based, wholly or in part, on international recommendations.G/TBT/N/EEC/5
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It is therefore necessary to update Community regulation, achieve full harmonization,
expand the scope of Community harmonisation and modernise conformity assessment
procedures to include an approved and supervised Quality System as an alternative to third
party verification of products.
The proposal concerns the placing on the market and putting into use of legally controlled
measuring instruments.  The proposal repeals 11 existing directives.
The proposal does not harmonise national law that imposes legal measurement.  This
remains the competence of the Member State and hence may differ from one to another.
However, when measurement is imposed, it can only be carried out by means of aninstrument conforming to the proposal.
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:
To implement international standards in order to remove barriers to trade.
8. Relevant documents:   COM(2000) 566
9. Proposed date of adoption:  1 July 2001 (expected)
Proposed date of entry into force:  1 July 2004 (i.e. 2 years after adoption)
10. Final date for comments:   31 October 2001
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:
http://europa.eu.int/prelex/detail_dossier_real.cfm?CL=en&DosId=158638