RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/W/45
13June1997
ORGANIZATION(97-2432)
Original: French Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
FIRST TRIENNIAL REVIEW OFTHE OPERATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
OFTHE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION AGREEMENT ON
TECHNICAL BARRIERS TOTRADE (TBT)
Submission bySwitzerland
Thefollowing communication, dated 10June1997, concerning theTriennial Review ofthe
Agreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent Mission ofSwitzerland
withtherequest thatitbecirculated tomembers oftheCommittee.
_______________
I. INTRODUCTION
TheCommittee appears notyettohaveanoverall picture oftheimplementation oftheTBT
Agreement. Itistherefore essential fortheCommittee togather information onthemechanisms put
inplace toimplement theAgreement from those Members which havenotyetsupplied any. The
Committee should alsoclarify certain aspects oftheAgreement andencourage certain behaviour which
thetreaty recommends.
Accordingly, Switzerland proposes thatthefirstTriennial Review oftheTBTAgreement should
concentrate onthefollowing questions, intheawareness thatwhereas some ofthemcould leadtoquick
results, others represent alonger-term objective.
II. PROPOSALS
1. Notification procedure
According toArticles 2.9and5.6oftheWTO Agreement, technical regulations andconformity
assessment procedures mustbenotified inthedraftstage. AstheTBTAgreement itselfdescribes this
procedure onlyinverygeneral terms, theCommittee should supplement theexisting decisions and
recommendations relating tothenotification procedure incertain respects.
- Eachnotification should include, under item6(content) ofthenotification form, amoreexplicit
summary ofthedraft(translated intooneoftheofficial languages oftheWTO) thanatpresent.
Thiswould enable theinterested parties inthecountries receiving thenotification todetermine
more reliably whether thedraftintroduces technical obstacles ormeasures thatdiscriminate
against them.
- ThenotifyingMembershould,inprinciple,observearecommendedstatusquoperiodof60days
following publication bytheSecretariat within 10daysofreceipt ofthenotification. The
10-day period should ensure rapid publication ofthenotification.G/TBT/W/45
Page2
- Therighttoraisequestions ormake comments should beaccompanied bytherighttoreceive
replies tothose questions orcomments fromthenotifying Member before thedraftisadopted.
Questions concerning notifications should notgounanswered andthenotifying Member should
respond either byamending itsdraftorexplaining whyitintends toleave itunchanged.
- Every notification should include, inaddition tothename oftheauthority responsible for
notification andthename ofthatresponsible forthedraft, ifdifferent, theaddresses ofthe
respective authorities.
- Other members should beabletoissue acounter-notification when aMember which should
havegiven notification failstodoso.Ofcourse, anattempt should firstbemade tosettle the
dispute bybilateral consultation.
2. Conformity assessment procedures
2.1 Autonomous recognition ofcertificates
Little information relating tothisquestion hasbeengathered sincetheTBTAgreement entered
intoforce. Itwould therefore bedesirable fortheCommittee toobtain information about whatisbeing
donewithregard totheautonomous recognition ofcertificates. Foritspart,Switzerland hasintroduced
intoitsnational legislation aprovision establishing theautonomous recognition ofcertificates issued
bybodies thatmeetcertain objective criteria (equivalence ofprocedures andqualification ofthebodies).
Article 6.1oftheTBTAgreement requires Members toensure, whenever possible, thatthe
results ofconformity assessment procedures, orcertificates, ofotherMembers arerecognized, provided
thattheyaresatisfied thatthose procedures offeranassurance ofconformity withapplicable technical
regulations orstandards equivalent totheirownprocedures. Tomake thisautonomous recognition
possible, theadequate andenduring technical competence oftheconformity assessment body inthe
exporting Member must beaccepted. Accordingly, itisimportant thatsuchcompetence should be
assessed inaccordance withinternational standards inorder tocreate apresumption infavour ofthe
qualities expected ofthebody. Thisapproach alsopromotes theestablishment ofthenecessary
confidence inthequality ofthecertificates issued bysuchbodies, thereby facilitating theirautonomous
recognition.
- TheCommittee should invite Members toprovide, within atime-limit tobeagreed, information
onthemechanisms theyhaveputinplace forthepurposes ofautonomous recognition.
- Moreover, themaximum possible useoforreference tointernational standards forqualifying
conformity assessment bodies should beencouraged, inorder tofacilitate theautonomous
recognition ofcertificates issued bythelatter. Thiscallsforatwo-phase procedure:
- theidentification (within theexisting ISO/IEC Guides technical group) ofthepertinent
international standards inthevarious sectors andtheexisting solutions;
- theCommittee should encourage therecognition ofthecompetence ofbodies -and
hence thecertificates theyissue -when thishasbeendemonstrated onthebasis of
international standards andshould consider theextent towhich theactivity ofsuch
bodies might benefit from apresumption ofconformity.G/TBT/W/45
Page3
2.2 Manufacturer 'sdeclaration ofconformity
Themanufacturer 'sdeclaration ofconformity makes itpossible tocircumvent theproblems
ofconformity assessment procedures which industry often feelsdonotprovide satisfactory protection
fortrade secrets. Itshould therefore beencouraged rather thanremaining theexception.
- Atpresent, theconditions donotseemrightforthegeneralized introduction ofamanufacturer 's
declaration. However, anexamination oftheconditions necessary fortheuseofthe
manufacturer 'sconformity declaration inthesectoral legislation could clearthewayforabig
stepforward. Thestudy should alsoinclude thequestion ofwhythemanufacturer 'sdeclaration
ispossible insome sectors andnotinothers. Itshould, however, avoid anyduplication of
effort andbebased onthework doneinother bodies. Among thenecessary conditions for
theacceptance ofamanufacturer 'sconformity declaration thefollowing, inparticular, could
beexplored:
- Thesubmission bythemanufacturer ofthedocumentation required bynational
legislation anddemonstration ofthemeasures hehastaken toensure thatthe
manufacturing process guarantees theconformity oftheproducts;
- aneffective system ofproduct liability;
- adequate supervision ofthemarket orindependent monitoring oftheproducts marketed
toensure thattheymeettherelevant requirements.
3. Harmonization oftechnical regulations
There hasbeengreat dealofharmonization atstandard levelandthere isnowaconsiderable
number ofinternational standards. Together withtheautonomous recognition offoreign certificates,
harmonization promotes "onestop,one-time certification". Accordingly, technical regulations should
alsobeharmonized.
Starting withindustrial products, theCommittee should:
- Identify thevarious types ofexisting harmonization (minimum standards fortrade,
safety standards taken overastheystand, etc.), while profiting from theexperience
acquired inthefieldofprivate-standard harmonization;
- determine thetypes ofharmonization which bestmeettheneeds ofWTO Members
withrespect toregulatory harmonization, while avoiding duplication ofthework being
doneinother bodies.
4. Standardization
Atpresent, theCommittee doesnothaveanoverall picture, either interms oftrade volume
orinterms ofthesectors concerned, oftheposition asregards recognition oftheCode ofGood Practice
forthepreparation, adoption andapplication ofstandards. National standards maybebeing prepared
without following theprinciples ofthisCode, which canoften leadtothecreation ofunnecessary
obstacles totrade while atthesame timeincreasing costs.
- Itwould bedesirable forMembers toprovide, within atime-limit tobeagreed, alistofall
thestandardization bodies ontheir territory. This listcould thenbecompared, bothG/TBT/W/45
Page4
quantitativelyandqualitatively,withthatofthebodieswhichhaveacceptedtheCodeofPractice.
Itwould thenbepossible totakethemeasures necessary toimprove acceptance oftheCode.
III. CONCLUSIONS
1. Inorder togivetheCommittee anoverview oftheimplementation oftheAgreement, Members
should, asfaraspossible, provide itwiththenecessary information.
2. Aspointed outintheintroduction, theproposals forclarifying theTBTAgreements cannot
allleadtoresults equally quickly. Consequently:
- Decisions andrecommendations forthenotification procedure (item 1),autonomous
recognition ofcertificates (item 2.1)andstandardization (item 4)should bearrived
atwithin theframework ofthefirstTriennial Review;
- thequestions ofmanufacturer 'sdeclaration ofconformity (item 2.2)andharmonization
(item 3)should beexamined onalonger-term basis.
3. Given theconsiderable increase intechnical regulations andstandards ininternational trade,
technical assistance fordeveloping Members andMembers intransition should alsobestrengthened,
particularly inrelation tothegroup ofquestions raised within thecontext ofthisfirstTriennial Review.
Consideration should alsobegiven tothepossible usefulness ofanexchange ofinformation atMember
levelonthetechnical assistance provided anditsresults.