WORLD TRADE G/L/122
28October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4491)
REPORT OFTHE COMMITTEE ONTECHNICAL BARRIERS TOTRADE
ThisReport wasadopted bytheCommittee onTechnical Barriers toTrade on22October 1996,
fortheconsideration bytheSingapore Ministerial Conference.
***
I. INTRODUCTION
1. TheCommittee onTechnical Barriers toTrade wasestablished on1January 1995 under
Article 13.1oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade (TBT). Membership ofthe
TBTCommittee isopentoallWTO Members. Observer governments andobservers from
international intergovernmental organizations were invited toparticipate intheTBTCommittee 's
formal meetings inaccordance withtherelevant Decisions oftheGeneral Council.1
2. TheCommittee helditsfirst, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth andseventh meetings on
21April 1995 (G/TBT/M/1), 14July1995 (G/TBT/M/2), 20October 1995 (G/TBT/M/3),
1March 1996 (G/TBT/M/4), 28June1996 (G/TBT/M/5), 16October 1996 (G/TBT/M/6) and
22October 1996 (G/TBT/M/7) respectively. Atitsfirstmeeting, theCommittee elected
Ambassador C.L.Guarda (Chile) asChairperson. On6-7November 1995, theCommittee helda
special jointmeeting onProcedures forInformation Exchange withtheSPSCommittee to
facilitate theimplementation ofthese procedures byMembers. Noformal decisions were taken at
themeeting, butproposals emanating from thediscussions were brought totheattention ofthe
Committee forconsideration (G/TBT/W/16). On27February 1996, theCommittee heldajoint
informal meeting withtheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment topursue discussions on
eco-labelling.
II. IMPLEMENTATION OFTHE MARRAKESH MINISTERIAL DECISIONS
3. On15April 1994, Ministers inMarrakesh adopted twoDecisions relating tothe
TBTAgreement. They are:(i)Decision onProposed Understanding onWTO-ISO Standards
Information System; and(ii)Decision onReview oftheISO/IEC Information Centre Publication.
Subsequent tothese Decisions, anagreement wasreached between theSecretary-General ofthe
ISOCentral Secretariat andtheDirector-General oftheWTO toestablish aWTO Standards
Information Service operated bytheISOtoprovide information onstandardizing bodies under
Paragraphs CandJoftheCode ofGood Practice forthePreparation, Adoption andApplication
ofStandards contained inAnnex 3oftheWTO TBTAgreement. TheMemorandum of
Understanding agreed upon wascirculated indocument G/L/1.
1Decisions oftheGeneral Council: Participation inMeetings ofWTO Bodies byCertain Signatories oftheFinal Acteligible to
become Original Members oftheWTO (WT/L/27); Guidelines forObserver Status forGovernments intheWTO (WT/L/161 -
Annex 2);andObserver Status forInternational Intergovernmental Organizations intheWTO (WT/L/161 -Annex 3).Representatives
oftheIMF, UNCTAD, ITC(UNCTAD/GATT), ISO,IEC, FAO, WHO, FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, International
Office ofEpizootics, OECD andUN/ECE areinvited toattend meetings oftheTBTCommittee inanobserver capacity.G/L/122
Page2
4. Atitsfirstmeeting, theCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made regarding the
procedures fornotifications under theCode ofGood Practice (G/TBT/W/4/Rev.1) andagreed that
theCommittee Chairperson would inform theChairman oftheBudget Committee ofthefinancial
resources needed bytheISO/IEC Information Centre fortheapplication oftheWTO Standards
Information Service operated byISO.
5. Thefirstannual WTO TBTStandard Code Directory wasprepared bytheISO/IEC
Information Centre atthebeginning of1996, andcontains information received pursuant to
paragraphs CandJoftheCode ofGood Practice, including information onthework programmes
ofstandardizing bodies thathaveaccepted theCode. Attheendof1995, 28standardizing bodies
from 26Members hadaccepted theCode ofGood Practice. Atitsfourth meeting on
1March 1996, theCommittee carried outitsfirstannual review oftheCode ofGood Practice
under theMinisterial Decision onreview oftheISO/IEC Information Centre Publication.
III. STATUS OFIMPLEMENTATION OFTHE AGREEMENT
A. Statements received under Article 15.2from Members onMeasures taken toImplement
andAdminister theAgreement (G/TBT/2 andAdd.1-26)
6. Thisisaone-time notification byeachMember ofthelegislative, regulatory and
administrative actions ithastaken toensure thattheprovisions oftheAgreement areapplied.
Total: 42
ofwhich:
Tokyo Round TBTSignatories (46): 37
NewWTO Members oftheAgreement (79): 5
TheChairperson sentreminders atthebeginning ofMay1996 todelegations whose
statements hadnotyetbeenreceived.
B. Standardizing Bodies accepting theCode ofGood Practice forthePreparation, Adoption
andApplication ofStandards (G/TBT/CS/N/1-60)
7. Itisanobligation under Article 4thatcentral government standardizing bodies accept and
comply withtheCode ofGood Practice. Members shallalsotakesuchreasonable measures as
maybeavailable tothem toensure thatlocalgovernment, non-governmental andregional
standardizing bodies accept andcomply withtheCode. There areestimated tobesomewhat in
excess of600standardizing bodies worldwide.
Total: 60
ofwhich:
Central Government Standardizing Bodies: 23
Others: 37G/L/122
Page3
C. Notifications made byMembers under Articles 2.9.2, 2.10.1, 3.2,5.6.2, 5.7.1 and7.2of
theAgreement since 1January 1995 (G/TBT/Notif.95.1-365 andG/TBT/Notif.96.1-390)
8. These areperiodic notifications ofchanges intechnical regulations andconformity
assessment procedures bycentral governments andlocalgovernments. Alistindicating the
number ofnotifications made byMembers andbyArticles iscontained inAnnex 1.
Total: 755
ofwhich:
Tokyo Round TBTSignatories (46): 31
NewWTO Members oftheAgreement (79): 2
Local Governmental technical regulations andconformity assessment procedures: 3
Non-notified measures raised inTBTCommittee meetings: 1
D. Establishment ofEnquiry Points byMembers under Article 10(G/TBT/ENQ/7)
9. Members arerequired toestablish national Enquiry Points toanswer allreasonable
enquiries ontheirapplication oftrade-related technical regulations, standards andconformity
assessment procedures.
Total: 73
ofwhich:
Tokyo Round TBTSignatories (46): 45
NewWTO Members oftheAgreement (79): 28
E. Notifications made byMembers under Article 10.7oftheAgreement
10. Members areobliged tonotify whenever theyhavereached agreements withanyother
country orcountries onissues related totechnical regulations, standards orconformity assessment
procedures which mayhaveasignificant effect ontrade.
Total: none
F. Overall assessment
11. AttheCommittee 'sfifthmeeting, theChairperson expressed theviewthatimplementation
oftheTBTAgreement wasproceeding slower thanisdesirable inrelation tothesubmission of
statements under Article 15.2andthenumber ofstandardizing bodies thathaveaccepted theCode
ofGood Practice. Totheextent thatthiswasduetorealtechnical difficulties oralackof
awareness oftheobligations under theAgreement, theSecretariat wasencouraged toredouble its
technical assistance work inthisarea. TheSecretariat hasorganized together withtheISOand
withtheITCthree regional seminars in1996 inSouth Africa, Latin America andCentral
America, aiming atproviding technical assistance tonewMembers, inparticular developing
countries, tobetter understand theAgreement sothatitcanbefullyimplemented.G/L/122
Page4
IV. ACTIVITIES OFTHE COMMITTEE SINCE 1JANUARY 1995
A. Decisions andRecommendations adopted bytheCommittee (G/TBT/1/Rev.4)
12. Atitsfirstmeeting, theCommittee adopted itsrules ofprocedure. These were
subsequently approved bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods. Atitssecond meeting, theCommittee
adopted decisions andrecommendations regarding: (i)Statements onimplementation and
administration oftheAgreement under Article 15.2oftheAgreement; (ii)Notification
procedures; and(iii)Procedures forinformation exchange. Atitsthirdmeeting, theCommittee
adopted decisions andrecommendations regarding: (i)Technical assistance; and
(ii)Regional standard-related activities. Atitsfourth meeting, theCommittee adopted certain
changes totheformat fornotifications under Articles 2,3,5and7andagreed toderestrict
TBTnotifications andthelistofenquiry points. Atitsfifthmeeting, theCommittee adopted the
format fornotifications under Article 10.7oftheAgreement andagreed toamend itsdecision
regarding technical assistance tomake special mention ofthetechnical assistance needs oftheleast
developed countries.
B. Main Issues discussed atCommittee Meetings
13. Ateachofitsmeetings, theCommittee heard statements ontheimplementation and
administration oftheAgreement. Anumber ofMembers informed theCommittee ofmeasures
taken toensure theimplementation andadministration oftheAgreement. Several measures were
brought totheCommittee 'sattention byMembers whoraised concerns about thepotential adverse
trade effect orinconsistency withtheAgreement ofthose measures. Anumber ofrequests were
made foradditional information from Members ontheirproposed oradopted technical regulations,
standards andconformity assessment procedures. Inseveral instances theMembers concerned
chose tocommunicate theirreplies tothese requests through theCommittee. (G/TBT/M/1, 5and
6)
14. TheCommittee helddiscussions ontheissue oftechnical assistance (G/TBT/W/26 and
G/TBT/M/1, 3and5).Atitsthirdandfifthmeetings, theCommittee adopted decisions on
technical assistance (G/TBT/1/Rev.4).
15. Theissue ofeco-labelling wastaken upatvarious meetings oftheCommittee
(G/TBT/M/2-6) andalsoataspecial jointinformal meeting withtheCommittee onTrade and
Environment. Discussions focused onenvironmental labelling (eco-labelling) programmes and
measures andtheirrelationship totheprovisions oftheTBTAgreement. While there isno
consensus onthecoverage bytheTBTAgreement ofeco-labelling schemes andthecriteria, based
onnon-product related processes andproduction methods, itisgenerally feltimportant toreview
thoroughly theprocess ofeco-labelling, from itsdesign stages toitsapplication inpractice, against
principles anddisciplines oftheAgreement relating totransparency, harmonization,
non-discrimination, theavoidance ofunnecessary obstacles totrade, andspecial anddifferential
treatment ofdeveloping country Members. Inresponse toarequest atthemeeting ofthe
Committee onTrade andEnvironment on21June1995, theSecretariat prepared anoteon
Negotiating History oftheCoverage oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade withregard
toLabelling Requirements, Voluntary Standards, andProcesses andProduction Methods
Unrelated toProduct Characteristics (G/TBT/W/11). Discussions ontheissue havebeenenriched
bypresentations ofseveral existing eco-labelling schemes atthejointinformal session ofthe
TBTCommittee andtheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment (G/TBT/W/23). Papers anda
draftdecision were presented bythedelegation ofCanada (G/TBT/W/9, 21and30)topromote
discussion oftheissue. Aproposal wasmade bythedelegation oftheUnited States regarding
further work ontransparency ofeco-labelling (G/TBT/W/29).G/L/122
Page5
16. Several Members expressed interest inandrequested further information ontheISO9000
andISO14000 standards series onquality management andenvironmental management
(G/TBT/M/2-4). Apresentation wasmade andacommunication wasreceived from theISOin
thisregard (G/TBT/W/20).
C. Other Activities andReviews conducted bytheCommittee
17. Atitsfourth meeting, theCommittee carried outitsfirstannual review ofthe
implementation andoperation oftheAgreement under Article 15.3based onbackground
documentation contained inG/TBT/3 andCorr.1. Theneedforimproving implementation was
emphasized.
18. Atitssixth meeting, theCommittee conducted aperiodic examination ofthespecial and
differential treatment granted todeveloping country Members under Article 12.10 ofthe
Agreement (G/TBT/M/6).
19. TheCommittee helddiscussions ondecisions andrecommendations onconformity
assessment procedures andheard representations from theISOonlatest developments inISO/IEC
work relating torules andguides inconformity assessment activities; from theInternational
Laboratory Accreditation Conference (ILAC) onaccreditation activities intheconformity
assessment area; andfrom theUnited Nations -Economic Commission forEurope onrules and
work oftheUN/ECE.
V. PROGRESS CONCERNING WORK UNDER THE BUILT-IN AGENDA
20. Under Article 15.4oftheAgreement, theCommittee willcarry outitsfirsttriennial
review oftheoperation andimplementation oftheAgreement notlaterthantheendof1997,
including theprovisions relating totransparency, withaviewtorecommending anadjustment of
therights andobligations oftheAgreement where necessary toensure mutual economic advantage
andbalance ofrights andobligations. Having regard totheexperience gained inthe
implementation oftheAgreement, theCommittee shall, where appropriate, submit proposals for
amendments tothetextoftheAgreement totheCommittee forTrade inGoods.
21. Itisfeltimportant toensure thatathorough examination ofallaspects ofthe
TBTAgreement relevant totechnical regulations, standards andconformity assessment procedures
canbecarried outatthetriennial review inorder tostrengthen implementation oftheexisting
disciplines andfurther theAgreement withtheaimoffacilitating trade through more efficient and
effective regulation. Issues suggested byMembers forthereview include: theCode ofGood
Practice forthePreparation, Adoption andApplication ofStandards; international standards;
notification procedures; mutual recognition agreements andequivalence; measures notmore
trade restrictive thannecessary; andconformity assessment procedures.G/L/122
Page6Annex 1
Notifications made in1995 and1996 byMembers andbyrelevant Articles oftheAgreement
Members Number of
notifications
made in
1995Number ofnotifications made under therelevant
Articles in1995Number of
notifications
made in
1996Number ofnotifications made under therelevant
Articles in1996
2.9 2.10 3.2 5.6 5.7 7.2 not
specify.2.9 2.10 3.2 5.6 5.7 7.2 not
specify.
Argentina - 1 1
Australia 20 20 14 14
Belgium 17 17 13 13
Brazil - 7 2 3 2
Canada229 27 2 18 18 1
Czech
Republic 12 12 13 13
Denmark228 20 10 7 6 10 5 5
ElSalvador 1 1 -
European2
Community 32 32 36 34 8 1
Finland 4 4 3 3
France 1 1 1 1
Germany 2 2 1 1
Hong Kong 6 5 1 4 3 1
India 11 10 1 14 14
Korea,
Rep. of213 8 1 4 8 8 2
2Thenumber ofnotifications made under therelevant Articles doesnotcorrespond tothetotalnumber ofnotifications made during thecurrent period since certain notifications were made under more than
oneArticle.G/L/122
Page7Members Number of
notifications
made in
1995Number ofnotifications made under therelevant
Articles in1995Number of
notifications
made in
1996Number ofnotifications made under therelevant
Articles in1996
2.9 2.10 3.2 5.6 5.7 7.2 not
specify.2.9 2.10 3.2 5.6 5.7 7.2 not
specify.
Jamaica - 1 1
Japan248 41 1 6 34 31 1 3
Malaysia 1 1 19 5 14
Mexico 29 28 1 20 20
Netherlands 33 33 29 29
New
Zealand 1 1 1 1
Norway 6 6 25 25
Philippines2- 11 11 1 1
Singapore 8 8 -
Slovak
Rep. 14 9 5 4 3 1
Spain 4 4 6 5 1
Sweden25 4 1 26 26 1
Switzerland 4 4 9 9
Thailand 7 7 9 3 4 2
United
States 29 29 34 34
TOTAL 365 332 14 2 19 6 - 7 371 331 10 1 16 1 - 26G/L/122
Page8
Annex 2
Notifications under Article 15.2andoftheEstablishment ofEnquiry Points under Article 10
byMembers; andoftheAcceptance oftheCode ofGood Practice forthePreparation,
Adoption andApplication ofstandards bystandardizing bodies
MEMBER ARTICLE 15.2 ACCEPTANCE OFTHE
CODE OFGOOD
PRACTICEENQUIRY POINTS
Antigua andBarbuda
Argentina x x
Australia x 1 x
Austria x 2 x
Bahrain x x
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium x x
Belize
Benin x
Bolivia x
Botswana
Brazil x 1 x
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada x x
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile x 1 x
Colombia x 1 x
Costa Rica x
Côte d'Ivoire
Cuba x 1 x
Cyprus x
Czech Republic x 1 x
Denmark x 1 x
Djibouti
DominicaG/L/122
Page9
MEMBER ARTICLE 15.2 ACCEPTANCE OFTHE
CODE OFGOOD
PRACTICEENQUIRY POINTS
Dominican Republic x
Ecuador 1
Egypt 1 x
ElSalvador x
European Community x 3 x
Fiji x
Finland x 1 x
France x 1 x
Gabon
Gambia
Germany x 1 x
Ghana x
Greece x x
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong x x
Hungary 1 x
Iceland x
India 1 x
Indonesia x 1 x
Ireland x x
Israel x
Italy x 2 x
Jamaica 1 x
Japan x 4 x
Kenya 1 x
Korea x
Kuwait
LesothoG/L/122
Page10
MEMBER ARTICLE 15.2 ACCEPTANCE OFTHE
CODE OFGOOD
PRACTICEENQUIRY POINTS
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg x x
Macau x
Madagascar
Malawi x
Malaysia x 1 x
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius x
Mexico x x
Morocco x
Mozambique
Myanmar x
Namibia
Netherlands x 1 x
New Zealand x 1 x
Nicaragua
Nigeria x x
Norway x 1 x
Pakistan x
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru 1 x
Philippines x 1 x
Poland 1
Portugal x x
Qatar
Romania x 1 x
Rwanda
Saint Kitts andNevis
Saint LuciaG/L/122
Page11
MEMBER ARTICLE 15.2 ACCEPTANCE OFTHE
CODE OFGOOD
PRACTICEENQUIRY POINTS
Saint Vincent &
theGrenadines
Senegal 1
Sierra Leone
Singapore x 1 x
Slovak Republic x 1 x
Slovenia x 1 x
Solomon Islands
South Africa 1 x
Spain x 1 x
SriLanka x
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden x 9 x
Switzerland x 3 x
Tanzania x
Thailand 1 x
Togo
Trinidad andTobago 1 x
Tunisia x 1 x
Turkey 1 x
Uganda x x
United Arab Emirates
United Kindgom x x
United States x x
Uruguay
Venezuela 1
Zambia x
Zimbabwe 1 x
Total 42 60 73