WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/COL/49 
1 March 2004 
 (04-0909) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   COLOMBIA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:     Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism      
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:    Ministry of 
Commerce, Industry and Tourism 
http://www.mincomercio.gov.co/VBeContent/n ewsdetail.asp?id=1516&idcompany=15   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 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):     73.21.11.10.00, 
73.21.11.90.00, 84.19.11.00.00, 84.19.19.10.00 and 84.19.19.90.00      
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:     Draft Resolution 
"Issuing the Technical Regulation on Gas Fuel-F ired Domestic Appliances Manufactured or 
Imported for Use in Colombia" (27 pages).     
6. Description of content:     Purpose: to prevent health and safety risks and practices likely to 
mislead users, Scope of application:  this  Regulation covers th e following domestic gas 
appliances manufactured or imported for use in Colombia: cookers, ovens, continuous-flow 
water heaters and storage water heaters, De finitions and abbreviations, Classification of 
domestic gas appliances, Essential requirements, Specific requirements, Conformity 
assessment procedure, Demonstration of compliance:  prior to marketing, the manufacturers, importers or marketers of products  subject to this Technical Regulation shall 
demonstrate their compliance by way of a certificate of conformity issued by a conformity assessment body accredited or recognized by th e Supervisory Authority for Industry and 
Trade, pursuant to Article 8 of Decree No. 2269 of 16 November 1993 and other existing 
legal provisions, Tariff subheadings, Standards referenced or consulted, Monitoring and 
inspection body, Penalty system, Period of valid ity: this Technical Regulation shall remain 
in force for twelve (12) months as from its date of publication in the Official Journal.     G/TBT/N/COL/49 
Page 2  
 
 7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:     
The Ministry has issued this Technical Regulation in the light of the high degree of explosiveness and extreme inflammability of th e gaseous fuels used to fire domestic gas 
appliances and the high risk of death by asphyxiation from inhalation of carbon monoxide (CO) gas as a result of incomplete combustion,  since it considers it a matter of urgency to 
protect human, animal and plant life and health and the environment and to prevent 
practices likely to mislead consumers.     
8. Relevant documents:  
• European standard EN 89:2000 (European Committee for Standardization).  
 Gas-fired storage water heaters for the production of domestic hot water. 
• EN 125:1991.  Flame supervision devices for gas- burning appliances.  
 Thermoelectric types. 
• Colombian Technical Standard NTC 332:1994-07-27.  Metal piping.  Threads 
 for general-purpose piping.  Dimensions in inches. 
• NTC 888:1997-04-16.  Electrical household appliances.  Storage water 
 heaters.  Installation and required safety devices. 
• NTC 1908:1998-11-25.  Manually opera ted gas valves for appliances, 
 appliance connector valves and hose-end valves. 
• NTC  2104:1996-10-23.  Metal piping.  Pipe threads where pressure-tight 
 joints are made on the threads. 
• NTC  2143:1996-08-21. Metal piping.  Pipe threads where pressure-tight 
 joints are not made on the threads.  Part 1.  Dimensions, tolerances and 
 designation. 
• NTC  2183:2000-10-25.  Safety of household and similar electrical 
 appliances.  Part 1:  General requirements. 
• NTC 2386:1998 (first revision).  Safety of household and similar electrical 
 appliances.  Particular requirement s for cooking ranges, hobs, ovens and 
 similar household appliances. 
• NTC 2832-1:2001-08-29 (third revision).  C ooking appliances.  Part 1.  Safety 
 requirements. 
• NTC 3293:1995-07-26.  Mechanical appliances.  Internal pressure regulators 
 for gas-fired equipment. 
• NTC 3384:1992-09-16.  Mechanical app liances.  Thermostats for gas-fired 
 domestic appliances and industria l equipment for similar use. 
• NTC 3527:1997-05-28.  Definitions and common rules applicable to the 
 testing of gas-fired appliances for domestic and commercial use. 
• NTC 3531:1998-06-24.  Instantaneous g as water heaters for domestic use.  
 Continuous-flow heaters. 
• NTC 3631:1994-07-27.  Gas appliances.  Ventilation of enclosed areas fitted 
 with gas-fired appliances for domestic, commercial and industrial use. 
• NTC 3833:1995-10-18.  Gas pipelines.  Specifications for the design and 
 installation of evacuation systems for combustion products from gas 
 appliances for domestic, commercial and industrial use. 
• Royal Decree No. 1428/92 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and 
 Tourism implementing EC Council Directive 90-396-EEC on appliances  burning gaseous fuels. 
• Royal Decree No. 276/95 amending Royal Decree No. 1428/92. 
  G/TBT/N/COL/49 
 Page 3 
 
 
 8. Relevant documents:  (cont'd) 
• Order of 15 February 1991 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy 
 amending Supplementary Technical Instructions ITC MIE AG6 and ITC MIE  AG11 concerning the Regulations  on gas-fired appliances. 
• Order of 15 December 1988 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy 
 approving Supplementary Technical In structions concerning the Regulations 
 on gas-fired appliances. 
• Order of 7 June 1988 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy 
 approving Supplementary Technical In structions concerning the Regulations 
 on gas-fired appliances. 
• Royal Decree No. 494/88 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy 
 approving the Regulations on gas-fired appliances. 
 
9. Proposed date of adoption: 
Proposed date of entry into force:  29 May 2004    
As from its date of publication in the Official 
Journal  
10. Final date for comments:    28 May 2004     
11. Texts available in:  Spanish 
National enquiry point [  X ]  
Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo 
Dirrección de Regulación Calle 28, N
o 13A-15, primer piso 
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia E-mail: danielrico@mincomercio.gov.co
 
Web site: www.mincomercio.gov.co  
Tel.:   (571) 350-5500, Ext. 713 Fax:   (571) 350-9564  
or address, telephone and fax numbers, e-ma il and web-site addresses, if available of 
the other body:    
Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo 
Dirrección de Regulación Calle 28, N
o 13A-15, primer piso 
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia E-mail: jcrondon@mincomercio.gov.co
 
 gustavoh@mincomercio.gov.co