RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/ALB/15
24September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3788)
Original: English
ACCESSION OFALBANIA
Communication from Albania
Thefollowing information onTechnical Barriers toTrade hasbeenreceived fromtheMinistry
ofIndustry, Transport andTrade oftheRepublic ofAlbania.
_______________
Introduction
Albania isintheprocess ofdeveloping anewlegalframework andnewinstitutions dealing
withtechnical barriers totrade. Reflecting Albania 'sprogram tointegrate thedomestic economy in
theinternational economy, thenewlegalframework andinstitutions havetheobjective ofreforming
theoldsystem, inwhich Albania maintained acomplex setofstandards andtechnical requirements
which applied onlyinAlbania, toanewsystem inwhich Albania looks tointernational standards as
thebasis forAlbanian requirements.
Adraft"Law onStandardization andRelated Activities", which isdescribed inmore detail
below, provides forthedevelopment andapplication of"technical rules" and"standards". Technical
ruleswillbemandatory. They willbeissued byministries andother central public institutions "which
establish thefundamental requirements forlifesecurity, health andenvironmental protection orother
fundamental requirements provided bylawinrespect ofproducts, processes andservices".
Standards aretoserve asareference forthedrafting oftechnical rules. Standards willbe
voluntary except when theyhavebeendeclared obligatory through law. International standards shall
beadopted asAlbania standards "provided theyserve theinterests ofthecountry towards thelifting
oftechnical barriers intrade andintroduction ofstateofthearttechnology".
Itisforeseen thattechnical rulesandstandards willapply tobothAlbanian andforeign products
onanon-discriminatory basis.
Information about standards ismade publicly available bytheDepartment ofStandards and
Certification. Information about technical rulesisavailable fromtherespective ministries, andthrough
acentral Enquiry Point intheMinistry ofIndustry, Transport andTrade.
AcopyinEnglish ofthedraftLawonStandardization andRelated Activities willbeprovided
totheWorking Party.
1. Description ofrelevant laws, regulations, administrative orders, etc., relating tothe
implementation andadministration oftechnical barriers totrade. Allnecessary references
should beprovided.
A.Current legislation andgovernment bodies intheRepublic ofAlbania responsible for
Standardization andassessment ofconformity withtechnical regulations.WT/ACC/ALB/15
Page2
According totheLawNo.7630, dated 28October 1992, theDepartment ofStandards and
Certification(DSC)dealswithstandardization,accreditation,certificationandrelatedactivities.Albanian
standards, referred toas"STASH standards" areprepared byallinterested parties andapproved by
theStandardization Council attached totheDSC. Currently, standards existforasetofabout 4500
products.
Adraftlawisbeing prepared bytheDSC. Itiswaiting tobepassed bytheparliament.
Thisdraft lawwilldefine theprocedures fordrafting andapproval ofAlbanian standards; for
accreditation oftestlaboratories, inspection andcertification bodies; forcertification ofproducts,
processes, services andquality systems, etc.
Articles fourandfiveofthedraftlawdealwiththerightofnatural andlegalpersons regarding
cooperation ondrafting; onreexamining andadopting standards, aswellaspublications procedures.
According tothedraftlawtheDSC willbeanon-profit public institution independent from
ministries andother public agencies. Itwillorganize anddirect thenational system ofstandardization,
accreditation andcertification; approve andadopt standards, etc.Theprovisions oninfringements
arealsoincluded inthelaw.
B.Cooperation withforeign institutions
TheRepublic ofAlbania isamember of,orcooperates andfollows therelevant rulesof,the
following international andEuropean organizations:
1. ISO fullmembership;
2. CEN associate member;
3. UNI bilateral agreement;
4. TSE bilateral agreement;
5. DIN bilateral agreement;
6. BDS bilateral agreement;
7. IRS bilateral agreement;
8. ELOT bilateral agreement.
C.Publications ofDSC
TheDepartment ofStandardization andCertification issues regular publications intheAlbanian
language which informs allinterested entities ofthecurrent regulations, procedures andother relevant
information forthepurpose ofpublic knowledge. Thepublications include thelistsofinternational
standardsadoptedasAlbanianstandards,regionalstandardsadoptedasAlbanianstandards,andAlbanian
standards. Itpublishes alltheamendments totheexisting mandatory andnon-mandatory standards.
Theinformation unitwithin theDepartment isresponsible formaking available toallinterested
parties information onstandardization.
2. Information regarding:
(a)names ofpublications, ifany, onwork relating todraft technical regulations or
standards andprocedures;
(b)thename andaddress oftheenquiry point(s) foreseen inArticles 10.1and10.3of
theWTO Agreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade (TheAgreement) withanindication
astowhether itis/they arefully operations.WT/ACC/ALB/15
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TheEnquiry Point foreseen inArticles 10.1and10.3oftheWTO Agreement willbeasfollows:
Ministry ofIndustry, Transport andTrade
Department ofTrade Policies
Mr.IlirKodra
Director
Telephone: +355 4264668.
(c)Thename andaddress oftheagency dealing withconsultations asforeseen inArticle 14
oftheAgreement.
Thename andtheaddress oftheagency dealing withconsultations asforeseen inArticle 14
oftheAgreement isasfollows:
Department ofStandardization andQuality
Mr.Arben Nati
Director
Telephone: +355 4226255
(d)Thename andaddress oftheagencies thataredealing withother specific functions
foreseen intheAgreement.
There arenoother institutions dealing withthenotification procedures, except theDepartment
ofStandardization andQuality.
(e)Thescope ofresponsibility ofthecentral government authorities inthearea of
notification requirements foreseen inArticle 10.11 oftheAgreement andofindividual
government authorities, iftheresponsibility isdivided among twoormore suchauthorities.
(f)Measures andarrangements toensure thatnational andsub-national authorities
preparing newtechnical regulations orsubstantial amendments toexisting onesprovide
early information ontheir proposals;
Thelawwillbeaccompanied byregulations, dealing mainly withtheimplementation ofthe
law.Measures andarrangements toensure thatnational andsub-national authorities willprovide early
information ontheirproposals areunder consideration.