WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/2/Add.75
6 August 2003
(03-4132)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE AGREEMENT
ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
Communication from the Republic of Armenia
Addendum
The following statement under Article 15.2 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade
has been received from the Republic of Armenia.
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1. The Republic of Armenia (hereinafter RA) has taken steps to establish and develop its
national systems of standardization, metrology and conformity assessment.  Relevant laws regulating
those systems are the Law on Uniformity of Measurements  adopted by the National Assembly on
30 April 1997, and the Law on Standardization and the Law on Conformity Assessment of
Products and Services to the Normative Requirements (hereinafter Law on Conformity
Assessment)  both adopted on 9 November 1999.  The three laws incorporate the core principles of the
WTO TBT Agreement.
2. The Law on Uniformity of Measurements defines the legal basis for ensuring the
uniformity of measurements, regulates the relations of the bodies of State governance with
enterprises, institutions and private entrepreneurs on issues relating to the production and issuance of
measurement instruments, and the use and repairs thereof.  It is directed at protecting the rights and
rightful interests of consumers and the State from the negative impact of inaccurate results ofmeasurements.
3. The Law on Standardization provides the legal basis in RA for the standardization as well
as certification of products, services, labour (processes) and quality systems.  This is applicable to the
bodies of State governance, enterprises, institutions and private entrepreneurs, and defines the means
for the protection of interests of consumers and the State through the elaboration and application ofnormative documents on standardization.  It also defines the rights, obligations and responsibilities of
the participants in the certification process.  The Governmental Decree No 9 of 11 January 2000 on
Preparation, Adoption and Application of Technical Regulations was also adopted.  Definitions of
standards and technical regulations in these acts are in full compliance with respective definitions in
Annex 1 to the TBT Agreement.  Relevant Ministries are held responsible for the preparation oftechnical regulations according to the Law on Standardization.  Non-discrimination principle as it
concerns the treatment of domestic and foreign products and services, as well as the principle of
equivalency of other countries’ regulations are foreseen by the Decree.  International and regional
standards, directives and guidelines should be taken into account while elaborating national standards
and regulations.
4. The Law on Conformity Assessment regulates the activities for voluntary and mandatory
conformity assessment of production processes, goods, labour, services and quality systems to
normative requirements, establishes legal bases for state control in this field, as well as determines
modules for conformity assessment, conditions of product marketing, and the rights and obligations ofG/TBT/2/Add.75
Page 2
parties to conformity assessment.  The conformity assessment mechanisms are fixed in this law.  Such
less expensive and less trade restrictive methods of conformity assessment, as manufacturer’s
declaration and conformity mark, are also included in the law.  According to this Law, a certificate on
conformity and a registered declaration on conformity have the same legal power, and domestic and
foreign manufacturers and service providers are gran ted similar rights in applying declarations on
conformity of products or services.  Mandatory certification activities are coordinated by the
Department for Standardization, Metrology and Certification (SARM), which was reorganized by
joining the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development as Department of Standardization,
Metrology and Conformity Assessm ent (Hereinafter Department) and conducted by the accredited
certification bodies and testing laboratories.
5. Taking into consideration the necessity of the control over the safety of products, labour,
services for the national environment, the human life and health, as well as the protection of consumerrights some products are subject to mandatory conformity assessment according to the Decree No 239
of the Government “On Mandatory Conformity Assessment of Products and Services in the
Republic of Armenia” , which provides the descriptions and CN codes of the products involved.
These products were selected taking into consideration the reports received from the inspection
bodies, the Ministry of Agriculture, Sanitary-A nti-Epidemiological State Department, consumers,
based also on data of research institutes and laboratories.  Requirements for products covered by
mandatory conformity assessment in Armenia are kept to minimum.  Mandatory certification
procedures are the same for both imported and domestic products.  Certificates are issued for product
types based on testing of samples, analysis of production system, quality system certification or
declaration of supplier depending on the scheme of certification.
6. These internationally accepted certification schemes were fixed by AST 5.3.  Procedures on
recognition of certificates issued by foreign certification bodies are regulated by the Decree N 247, 18
May 2000 of the Government.  In the absence of agreements on mutual recognition, the Decree
allows for simplified procedures on acceptance of certificates and conformity marks issued by
certification bodies of other countries, if Armenian authorities are satisfied that conformity assessmentprocedures in those countries offered adequate assurance of conformity.
7. All relevant laws in RA relating to Technical Barriers to Trade will be brought into
conformity with the requirements of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade through a
transition period ending on 31 December 2004.
(a) Standards’ Guide (three-month periodicity ) and Catalog on Standards (annually) are
published, which provide current information on issues related to standards and
certifications.
(b) Technical regulations shall be enacted at least two months after their promulgation
and notification to the relevant international organizations and national bodies.
(c) The Department of Standardization, Metrology and Conformity Assessment was
denoted as the coordinator of standardization, metrology and conformity assessment
activities in Armenia, and its rights and obligations are defined by the Law on
Standardization,  the Law on Uniformity of Measurements and the Law on
Conformity Assessment .  The three Laws serve as the legal basis for development of
Quality Standardization, Metrology and Conformity Assessment Policy pursued bythe Department.  Being the national body in charge of the administration related to
standardization, certification and metrology in Armenia its responsibilities include the
creation and administration of national standardization and certification systems; the
adoption of national standards and classifications; the application of international
standards;  the publication of official information in the fields of standardization andcertification etc.G/TBT/2/Add.75
Page 3
8. The National Standards Institute CJSC was established under the former SARM to perform
standardization activities.  The main provisions of National Standardization system and its procedures
for preparation, adoption and application of Armenian standards were established by national basic
standards of AST 1 series.  About 270 Armenian standards have been developed by the technical
committees and adopted by the former SARM since 1993.  The great part of the standards applied inArmenia care international and regional (GOST) standards.  More than 18000 interstate standards of
CIS countries are included in the national fund of standards.  Fifty per cent of national standards were
aligned to international standards by 2002.
9. The Department cooperates with standards organizations in other countries and is a member of
the International Organization for Standardiza tion from 1 January 1997.  Presently, Armenia is a
member of ISO, EASC, which enables Armenia to pa rticipate in the elaboration of international and
regional standards through technical committees  and to apply these standards in Armenia.
10. The only Enquiry Point operating in Armenia is Department of Standardization, Metrology and
Conformity Assessment of the Ministry of Tr ade and Economic Development of the Republic of
Armenia, which will implement the obligations es tablished in accordance with Article 10 of the
TBT Agreement.
The address of the Department is:
Department for Standardization, Metrology;  and
Conformity Assessment of the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development of the
Republic of Armenia5, M. Mkrtchyan street
375010, Yerevan,
Republic of Armenia
Tel.: (3741) 56 69 25,
Fax.: (3741) 52 65 77
The address of the WTO Notification Agency in the Republic of Armenia is:
WTO Notification Agency in RA
5, M. Mkrtchyan
Yerevan, 375010Republic of Armenia
Tel.: (3741) 54 39 81, (3741) 54 39 82
Fax.: (3741) 54 39 83
E-mail: wtonc@wtonc.am
11. According to the paragraphs 5 and 6 of Article I of the Procedure of Preparation, Adoption
and Application of Technical Regulations approved by the Governmental Decree No 9
of 11 January 2000 the bodies authorized to prepare technical regulations should provide the
WTO Notification Agency in RA with early information on their proposals to prepare new technicalregulations along with justifications, so that the Agency could fulfill the obligation on corresponding
notifications.
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