. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/81
9 September 1998
(98-3436)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
INFORMATION EXCHANGE IN RELATION TO THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS, GUIDES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Contribution from Thailand
1. In the first Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (G/TBT/5), the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade agreed that anexchange of information on issues associated with participation in the development of international
standards and the use of relevant international standards as a basis for technical regulations, standards
and conformity assessment procedures should be exercised, so that an appropriate communication to
the relevant international standardizing bodies can be made to ensure that they are aware of the
concerns of Members and conduct activities in accordance with the objectives of the Agreement.  Thisdocument summarizes the practical experiences of Thailand as well as difficulties encountered in
relation to international standards, guides and recommendations.
2. As a developing country, Thailand realized the importance of international standards, guides
and recommendations, such as those developed by the ISO, IEC and Codex, in helping improve the
quality of products and in strengthening the capabilities of the industrial sector.  Thailand alsobelieves 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 and such partners as developed countries.  In this regard, Thailand has made every effort in
participating in the development of such internat ional standards and in the use of international
standards, as far as practicable, in establishing national standards.  Up to present, more than
960 ISO/IEC standards have been adopted as Thai national standards (the Thai Industrial Standards or
TISs) e.g. TIS/ISO 9000 series, whereas the following ISO/IEC Guides have been adopted as nationalstandards and certain guides have been implemen ted in procedures for conformity assessment and
accreditation:
• ISO/IEC Guide 22:1996 - General criteria for supplier's declaration of conformity;
• ISO/IEC Guide 25:1990 - General requirements for the competence of calibration and testing
laboratories;
• ISO/IEC Guide 28:1982 - General rules for a model third-party certification system for products;
• ISO/IEC Guide 39:1988 - General requirements for the acceptance of inspection bodies;
• ISO/IEC Guide 43-1:1997 - Proficiency testing by interlaboratory comparisons – Part 1:
Development and operation of proficiency testing schemes;
• ISO/IEC Guide 43-2:1997 - Proficiency testing by interlaboratory comparisons – Part 2:
Selection and use of proficiency testing schemes by laboratory accreditation bodies;
• ISO/IEC Guide 58:1993 - Calibration and testing laboratory accreditation systems – General
requirements for operation and recognition;G/TBT/W/81
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• ISO/IEC Guide 61:1996 - General requirements for assessment and accreditation of
certification/registration bodies;
• ISO/IEC Guide 62:1996 - General requirements for bodies operating assessment and
certification/registration of quality systems;
• ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996 - General requirements for bodies operating product certification
systems.
3. 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.
DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
4. 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 forestablishing 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.
5. 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.
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