. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/90
24 September 1998
(98-3692)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
US PROPOSALS REGARDING G/TBT/1/REV.5:  FOR CONSIDERATION
BY THE COMMITTEE
Submission by the United States
1. In an effort to improve and clarify the rules of procedure and the interpretation,
implementation and administration of the Agreement, the United States proposes that enquiry pointofficials give consideration to the following clarif ications concerning G/TBT/1/Rev.5, "Decisions and
Recommendations Adopted by the Committee Since 1 January 1995", and, if appropriate, make
recommendations to the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade.
I. NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES
A. I
TEM 1:  D ECISIONS ON FORMAT AND GUIDELINES (G/TBT/1/R EV.5, PAGES 10-11)
2. There has been some confusion by WTO Members concerning what types of technical
regulations are to be reported under the notification procedures.
3. We propose that the phrase "adopted technical regulations" be amended to read "technical
regulations adopted for urgent problems"  under Articles 2.10.1 and 3.2;  and the phrase "adopted
procedures for assessment of conformity" be similarly amended to read "conformity assessment
procedures adopted for urgent problems"  under Articles 5.7.1 and 7.2 in the description section of the
notification form (Item (iii) Notified under).
4. This will ensure only those technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures
adopted as a result of urgent problems of safety, health and environmental protection or national
security are notified.
B. ITEM 4:  R ECOMMENDATION ON TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO
NOTIFICATIONS AND ADDRESS OF BODY SUPPLYING THE DOCUMENTS (G/TBT/1/R EV.5,
PAGE 16)
5. We propose that an additional sentence be added to the end of the recommendation
paragraph:
Members may voluntarily make unofficial translations of proposed rules available - whether
translations are of their own proposals or those of another Member - and could inform theSecretariat of the availability, language, and location of the translation on the Internet.  The
WTO could provide this information (notification, availability, language and location) to
WTO Members generally through existing electronic systems on the WTO Home Page.G/TBT/W/90
Page 2
C. ITEM 5:  R ECOMMENDATIONS ON PROCESSING OF REQUESTS FOR DOCUMENTATION
(G/TBT/1/R EV.5, PAGE 16)
6. We suggest that the following new items be added under Recommendations to improve the
exchange of documentation on notified technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures:
(c) E-mail requests for documentation should include name, organization, address,
telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address in the request;
(d) Electronic delivery of documentation is encouraged and requests should indicate
whether an electronic version is desired.
D. ITEM 7:  RECOMMENDATIONS ON HANDLING OF COMMENTS ON NOTIFICATIONS
(G/TBT/1/R EV.5, PAGE 17)
7. We suggest the following new statement be added under Recommendations:
(c) In order to facilitate a broader understanding of the implications of regulatory
proposals, Members may wish to post their comments on the proposals on the
Internet and make their Internet address known to other Members on the National
Enquiry Point List.
II. PROCEDURES FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE
A. ITEM 2:  R ECOMMENDATIONS ON BOOKLETS ON ENQUIRY POINTS (G/TBT/1/R EV.5, PAGE 19)
8. We would propose amending under Recommendations:  (b) (i) to include the following
information:
Objective, name, address, telephone numb er, fax number, e-mail address and Internet
address of WTO TBT enquiry point(s).
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