WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.636
7October 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4267)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry forDomestic Affairs
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Placards, facade signs,
signboards, flagsandstickers
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Regulation ofthe
Minister forInternal Affairs Establishing Rules Relating tothePolice Logo (Regulation
Governing Police Logo)
6. Description ofcontent: TheRegulation ofpoint 5stipulates rules withregards tothe
application oftheDutch Police logotovehicles, uniforms andsuchlikewhich areused
bytheDutch Police andwithregard tothehouse style oftheDutch Police relating to
3October 1997 stationery, forms andthelike. TheRegulation onlyapplies toregional
police forces. TheNational Police Agency (NPA) Regulation is,correspondingly,
deemed applicable inaseparate Regulation. TheRegulation governing thepolice logo
specifies howthepolice logoshould appear andthose items towhich itmust inallcases
beapplied (Articles 2and3)aswell how thepolice house style should appear
(Article 4).Thehouse styledoesnothavetobeusedbutifitistobeusedthenitmust
conform tothedescription andpictures contained inthehandbook. Thisso-called house
styleandpolice logohandbook forms anappended section totheRegulation governing
thepolice logo. According totheDutch Government, thisRegulation ofpoint 5
probably contains technical regulations within themeaning theWTO Agreement on
Technical Barriers toTrade (Marrakesh April 15,1994). Anindicative summary of
these regulations appears below:
- Thepolice logoandother distinguishing marks (e.g.differently coloured stripes)
which areapplied topolice vehicles andaircraft areformed using so-called
placards. Specification thereof relating todifferent (seeparticularly pages 09.01,
09.03, 09.05, 09.07, 09.08, 09.09, 09.10, 09.11, 09.12, 09.14, 09.16);
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.636
Page2
Description ofcontent: (cont'd)
- Chapter 8issues Regulations indicating "POLICE" onpolice buildings. It
contains Regulations forboards anddetachable letters (shape, material, lighting);
- page10-01: requirements relating tothepolice flag(material, size);
- page10-03: the"06-11 sticker" (thisrelates tothepolice alarm number).
7. Objective andrationale: IfthedraftRegulation contains quantitative import restrictions
ormeasures ofequal effect thensuchmeasures arejustified, within theframework of
upholding public order, toensure arecognizable, permanent anduniform appearance of
items (vehicles, buildings, uniforms andsuchlike)usedbythepolice intheexercise of
theirduties. Above all,ensuring uniformity inthewayinwhich thepolice areseento
actisthefocal point fortheregulations onthismatter. Thetechnical regulations of
point 8apply without distinction tonational andimported products.
8. Relevant documents: SeeRegulation governing thepolice logo, house-style andpolice
logohandbook, police clothing Regulation; there isnoexplanatory notetotheoriginal
Regulation.
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 20November 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 21November 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 19November 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetime-limit havebeenreceived fromother
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: