. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/142
4 August 2000
(00-3211)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  Spanish
RESULTS OF THE WORKSHOP ON TRADE FACILITATION,
REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS:  THE DEVELOPMENT
CHALLENGE IN CENTRAL AMERICA1
Communication from Panama
I. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
1. This workshop was held in the context of the technical assistance programme to support
developing countries in better implementing th eir trade commitments under the WTO Agreements,
particularly with regard to the mechanisms for preparing technical regulations, applying standards and
assessing the conformity of technical regulations, and the needs and difficulties faced by developingcountries in fulfilling their trade obligat ions, including institutional capacity-building.
2. The workshop was attended by 55 directors and specialists from the standards bureaus of the
Governments of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama,
experts from the World Bank, IDB, OAS, ISO, WTO and specialized academic institutions.
3. In the course of the workshop, most of the representatives of the standards bureaus of the
Central American region outlined their experience in specific areas relating to the preparation and
implementation of standards and technical regulations in their governmental and private institutions,
as well as their relations with the standardization institutions of the region.  The meetings enabled
participants to explore the specific relationship be tween standards and regulations and their impact on
enhancing production, competition and market access.
4. The workshop achieved the fundamental objective of guiding the governments represented in
identifying priority needs at national and regional level in connection with the application of standardsrequiring technical assistance so as to strengthen the institutional and human resource capacities of
their standards bureaus.
II. RESULTS RELATING TO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE NEEDS
In general terms, the representatives of the standards bureaus of the region stated converging
positions on the specific issues to be addressed by technical assistance programmes at the nationallevel in Central America and the Dominican Republic within the framework of the Second Triennial
Review of the Operation and Implementation of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, in
accordance with Article 15:4, as referred to in paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Secretariat Document
No. 4481, dated 17 July 2000.  The priority issues to be covered by technical assistance programmes
are the following:
(1) Technical assistance for institutional capaci ty-building for standardizing bodies in the
areas of regulation and implementation and standards.
                                                     
1 Sponsored by the World Bank with the Support of the Organization of American States held in
Panama City on 27-29 June 2000.G/TBT/W/142
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(2) Technical assistance for the operation of an information system on standardization
and technical regulation for the private and public sector.
(3) National and regional training on the implementation of the Code of Good Practice.(4) Training for institutional and human resour ce capacity-building relating to conformity
assessment and its relationship with product and service quality and technical
regulations.
(5) Financing for the participation of developing-country experts in specialized meetings
on the development, preparation and approval of standards in regional andinternational standardizing forums.
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