WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.458
22September 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-3854)
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 ofJustice
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): Equipment usedinthe
participation, determination ofprizes andestablishment ofwinners ofthePostcode
Lottery
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Decision Governing
theGranting ofaLicence toOrganize aPostcode Lottery (Decision onthePostcode
Lottery) (available inEnglish)
6. Description ofcontent: Article 1oftheBetting andGaming Actbanstheorganization
ofgames ofchance, unless alicence hasbeengranted forthispurpose. Article 3ofthe
Actstipulates thatalicence canbegranted iftheproceeds areused foracause of
general interest.
Article 6oftheActspecifies that,byOrder inCouncil, further rules maybe
drafted regarding regulations which mayunderlie agame ofchance inaccordance with
Article 3oftheAct.These rules arelaiddown intheBetting andGaming Decree.
Article 5,paragraph 1,oftheBetting andGaming Decree stipulates thattheprizes ina
game ofchance willbedetermined such thatthecharacter ofchance ofthegame of
chance isguaranteed. Paragraph 3ofArticle 5specifies thatifmechanical, electrical or
electronic processes areusedinthedetermination ofprizes andthesumoftheprizes and
premiums ismore than onehundred thousand Guilders, themethod ofprize
determinations issubject topreliminary approval byanindependent expert orinspection
institute appointed byourMinister. Ifequipment isusedtodetermine theprizes, this
equipment istobeinspected before useinorder toguarantee suchcharacter ofchance.
Inspection requirements arenotspecified. Thetypeofequipment usedisirrelevant, as
longasthecharacter ofchance isguaranteed when using theequipment inquestion.
Regarding thePostcode Lottery, theprovision ofArticle 5,paragraph 3oftheBetting
andGaming Decree iscontained inArticle 10oftheDecision onthePostcode Lottery,
which Article could possibly bedeemed tobeatechnical regulation. Inaddition,
Article 10oftheDecision stipulates inthecase ofthePostcode Lottery thatthis
provision alsoapplies regarding participation andtheestablishment ofwinners.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.458
Page2
7. Objective andrationale: Therequirements prescribed forequipment used inthe
participation, determination ofprizes andestablishment ofwinners ofthePostcode
Lottery will-without distinction -apply toequipment ofDutch orforeign origin. The
Betting andGaming Decree andtheDecision onthePostcode Lottery donotprovide for
aclause ofmutual recognition used intheparticipation, determination ofprizes and
establishment ofwinners. Indeed, there arenorequirements forthetrade insuch
equipment.
Only atthetimewhen suchequipment isusedintheparticipation, determination
ofprizes andestablishment ofwinners, willitbechecked whether thecharacter of
chance thereof isguaranteed. Theprovisions contained intheDecision onthePostcode
Lottery arejustified bythenecessity toprotect players against fraud andabuse (public
order andconsumer protection).
8. Relevant documents: TheDecision ontheBank Lottery andGiroLottery isbased on
Article 3oftheBetting andGaming Actand-insofar asrelevant here-Article 5ofthe
Betting andGaming Decree. SeethedraftoftheBetting andGaming Decree.
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:26October 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 25October 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after
45daysifnocommentsorrequestsforextensionofthetime-limithavebeenreceived
from other Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: