. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/Notif.99.84
5 March 1999
(99-0895)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  THE NETHERLANDS
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Justice
Agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification shall be
indicated if different from above:  National Enquiry Point – EC WTO-TBT Enquiry Point
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):  Breathalyser
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Regulation of the
Minister of Justice Dated …., No. …, Designating Types of Appliances to Carry Out Breath
Tests (Regulation on the type designation for Breathalyser 2)
6. Description of content:  In accordance with the 1994 Road Traffic Act, a person who is
suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol may be requested to take a breath test
(by blowing into a breathalyser).
Article 3 of the Alcohol Tests Decree stipulates that, for these breath tests, an
appliance is used which belongs to the type designated by the Minister of Justice.
Article 2 of the Breath Test Regulation also stipulates that a breathalyser is only
designated once it has been approved by an inspectorate based on the specifications
included in the appendix to the Regulation.  Both the above Decree and the above
Regulation have been notified before.
In the Regulation on the type designation of breathalysers, the so-called Alcotest
was designated.  This regulation was also notified because the designation of a breathalyser
type to be used can be deemed as a technical regulation within the meaning of the
TBT Agreement.
Unfortunately, the fact was overlooked that, in the past, a different type of
breathalyser had been designated as well, namely the "Datamaster".  In addition, (in 1988) a
previous model of Alcotest was also designated.  These type designations have therefore
mistakenly never been notified.G/TBT/Notif.99.84
Page 2
6. Description of content: (cont'd):
In order to still meet the obligations of the TBT Agreement, they are now notified
to the WTO/TBT Secretariat in the form of a draft regulation.
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  The
draft decree has been written in the interest of maintaining public order and safety.
For the benefit of foreign products which meet the requirements, laid down in the
country of origin, Article 1, paragraph 2 of the Regulation contains a clause of mutual
recognition.
8. Relevant documents:  The Alcohol Tests Decree, the Breath Test Regulation and the
regulations which mistakenly have not been notified (Decision by the Minister of Justice of
25 September 1987, No. 415/687, designating breathalysers of the National PatentAnalytical Systems Inc. BAC Datamaster II type (Official Gazette 1987, 187) and the
Decree by the Minister of Justice of  17 August 1988, No. 364/688, designating
breathalysers of the Draeger Alcotest 7110-NL type (Official Gazette 1988, 190)).
9. Proposed date of adoption:  15 May 1999
Proposed date of entry into force:  1 June 1999
10. Final date for comments:  30 April 1999
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ X ] or address, e-mail and telefax number of
the other body: