RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/W/39
15April 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1614)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTE FROM THE GOVERNMENT OFJAPAN
ThefollowingpaperwithrespecttotheTriennialReviewoftheAgreementonTechnicalBarriers
toTrade hasbeenreceived fromthedelegation ofJapan withtherequest thatitbecirculated toMembers
oftheCommittee.
_______________
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Under thecircumstances where globalization isinprogress andthespeed ofdeveloping new
products isbeing accelerated, itisnecessary tointroduce simplified conformity assessment systems
tofacilitate international transactions. Inparticular, astheintroduction ofhigh-technology products,
proceduresforassessmentofconformitydifferamongcountries,andthecostsandtimefortheprocedures
maybeincreased. Fundamental changes indesign which mayberequired duetodifferences inbasic
principles among respective regulatory authorities would make thecosts skyrocket.
Inorder toreduce suchnon-tariff barriers andpromote international trade, theGovernment
ofJapan considers thatMembers should observe theTBTAgreement inanefficient andeffective way.
II. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
2. Toreduce technical barriers totrade, theacceptance ofAnnex 3totheTBTAgreement, "Code
ofGood Practice forthePreparation, Adoption andApplication ofStandards", isveryimportant for
Members. Thatwillcontribute toensuring transparency andfairness indeveloping standards andto
theharmonization ofstandards among Members byrequiring aMember touseinternational standards
asabasis forthestandards itintends todevelop.
3. Inpromoting alignment workwithrelevant international standards, thoseinternational standards
which aresubject tosuchwork should bespecified. However, theTBTAgreement doesnotarticulately
define theinternational standards while quoting theISO/IEC Guide 2which stipulates general definition
ofinternational standardization andrelated activities.
4. Activities ofinternational standardizing bodies involve thefollowing problems:
There existquite anumber ofinternational standards withwhich national standards cannot
bealigned, duetothefactthattheyneither reflect up-to-date technological information norproperly
meettherealneeds ofthemarket. These standards should berevised.
Inaddition, development procedures ofinternational standards takesolong, e.g.incertain
cases more than10years arerequired todevelop themthatthecontemporary needs ornewtechnologies
might notbefullytaken intoconsideration.G/TBT/W/39
Page2
5. Inorder tosolvetheabove mentioned problems, theGovernment ofJapan would liketopropose
thatinternational standardizing bodies berequired toabide bythefollowing points:
(a) dueprocedures suchasensuring prior notification, publication ofwork programmes and
opportunity forinterested parties tosubmit comments asstipulated inAnnex 3should be
observed;
(b) when preparing standards under international standardizing bodies, equal opportunities should
beaccorded toeachMember; and
(c) aperiodic review from theviewpoint ofmarket prevalence should beconducted, and
inappropriate international standards should besubject totherevision inaccordance withthe
result ofthereview.
TheTBTCommittee willreview theactivities ofinternational standardizing bodies inlight
oftherequirements asmentioned above, beentrusted torequest particular actions where necessary.
6. Toharmonize technical regulations andstandards, itisnecessary touserelevant international
standards asabasis, when theyareappropriate. Inorder topromote harmonization itisencouraged
thatvoluntary international anddomestic standards should beusedintechnical regulations except where
suchstandards orrelevant parts would beanineffective orinappropriate means forthefulfilment of
thelegitimate objectives pursued.
III. ESTABLISHMENTOFCONFORMITYASSESSMENTSYSTEMSINACCORDANCEWITH
RELEVANT GUIDES ORRECOMMENDATIONS ISSUED BYANINTERNATIONAL
STANDARDIZING BODY
7. Withregards totheconformity assessment system, self-declaration ofconformity bysuppliers
isnormally considered tobetheleast trade-restrictive manner. Such manner isconsequently
recommended asthefirstchoice fortheconformity assessment system, except where suchasystem
isinappropriate fortheMembers concerned. Itisalsorecommendable toobserve relevant guides or
recommendations issued byaninternational standardizing body inadopting conformity assessment
procedures.
8. Inordertofacilitatetrade,itisimportantnotonlytodevelopsystemsofgovernment-certification
andthird-party certification, butalsotoencourage Members toaccept conformity assessment systems
which useinternational guides orrecommendations suchasISO/IEC Guides asabasis, except where
suchsystems areinappropriate fortheMembers concerned. SotheGovernment ofJapan expects a
fruitful outcome ofanexpert levelmeeting onthequotation ofISO/IEC Guides relating toconformity
assessment systems.
IV. COOPERATION AMONG STANDARDIZING BODIES
9. While cooperation among international, regional andnational standardizing bodies isuseful
ineliminating duplicate activities andshortening theduration ofdevelopment work, thebasisprinciple
should bemaintained thatinterests ofallparticipating Members should bedulyreflected intheprocess
ofdevelopment work. Therefore, inconsidering theelimination ofduplicate activities, transferring
thestandardization work fromonestandardizing bodytointernational standardizing bodies should in
principle bepreferred.G/TBT/W/39
Page3
Inthecasewhere standardization work istobetransferred from international standardizing
bodies toother standardizing bodies, thefollowing principles should beobserved:
(a) otherstandardizingbodiesadoptproceduresindevelopingstandardswhichareequivalent
tothose adopted byinternational standardizing bodies; and
(b) other standardizing bodies provide transparent andfairprocedures tobothdomestic
andforeign bodies.