RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/87
14 September 1998
(98-3468)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
ON THE CONDITIONS FOR ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WTO TECHNICAL
BARRIERS TO TRADE AGREEMENT
Note from the European Community
Background
1. In the light of the results of the Triennial Review and the working programme that emerged
from it (Document G/TBT/5), the European Community  proposes that the subjects dealt with in the
present paper be further examined.
2. In order to enhance international trade, the European Community considers that a greater
emphasis should be laid on the use of international standards, as well as their elaboration.  To achieve
a wider use of international standards, there needs to be progress on three aspects:
− A clear distinction is needed between internat ional standards and other (national or regional)
standards;
− Incentives are required to enhance the use of international standards;
− Finally, bodies making standards that qualify as international should observe a set of
principles of effectiveness, transparency, balance of interests and accountability.
3. In the light of the current debate, this document presents the views of the
European Community for discussion.
I. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
4. Standards are elaborated at national, regional and international level.  The TBT Agreement
privileges only international standards;  it states (Article 2.4) that Members "shall use them … as a
basis for their technical regulations ... except when such international standards ... would be an
ineffective or inappropriate means for the fulfilmen t of the legitimate objectives pursued".  The same
provision applies to standards bodies for their st andards (Annex 3, the "Code of Good Practice").
5. The European Community and its WTO partners have made a commitment - as signatories to
the Agreement - to use international standards in their technical regulation. In view of this
commitment, it is appropriate to seek to determine the standards to which it applies, i.e., to define the
essential features that characterize standards as international.  Furthermore, it is important that the
status of international standards be strengthened, and thus a clear distinction between international
and other standards has to be recognized.  In certain sectors - for example, information technology,electro-technology and telecommunications, a process of internationalization in the market and in
standardization is well advanced.
6. In this respect, the Community suggests that the following principles be observed:G/TBT/W/87
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(i) Apart from the criteria that apply to all standardization whatever its level, the key
criterion for a body to be accepted as producing international standards, which will thus be
privileged under the WTO, is that of internatio nal impartiality; that is, all countries with an
interest in standardization must have access to the work, and international control over the
results, without either discrimination or privilege as to the nationality of the participants.  Thequestion of the difference between participation and membership is not relevant to this
question; for example, for inter-governmental organizations.  The important point is that
whatever the way in which the standards body operates, participation, and where appropriate
membership, should be available on equal terms without discrimination as to nationality.
(ii) Standards bodies cannot claim two different levels of status (national, regional or
international) for their core activity at the same time.  Conflicts of interest and incoherence inthe corpus of standards would arise if regional or national bodies were to act as though they
were international.  Similarly, international bodies would have difficulty in upholding their
claim to that status were their membership not genuinely international.
(iii) The current Code (clause G
1) favours that participation in international
standardization be carried out on a national basis.  In general, it would be expected that the
participants in international standards work would be national delegations, that is, delegations
of national standards bodies or their representatives.  In addition, regional standards bodies
can contribute directly to international work.
II. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDIZATION AND TRADE
7. Compliance with standards is voluntary. In exam ining, as required by the Triennial Review,
why international standards do not exist, or are not used, attention should be paid to the absence of
incentives to use them, and ways to create such ince ntives when they are lacking.  The incentives may
take different forms, and should be developed at different levels.
(i) The political commitment of public authorities to advance the aims of the WTO needs
to be reflected in legislative reform.  This implies promoting the use of international
standards, for example by deregulation and by setting up legislative frameworks that make
reference to voluntary standards.  More tran sparency is necessary, and more information
should be provided, on the regulatory systems that are intended to stimulate the use of
international standards.
(ii) There should be transparency on the application of the Code of Good Practice.
Where Members have more than one standardizing body, they should provide explanations of
the extent to which standardizing bodies are bound by the acceptance, and how they
implement the Code, if one body has accepted on behalf of all of them.
(iii) In order to ensure efficiency and coherence, there is a need for arrangements between
international and regional and national standardization. Arrangements should cover issues
such as common programmes, common technical bodies, common work and common
acceptance of the results.  This also includes transposition of international standards as
regional and national standards.
                                                     
1"For standardizing bodies within the territory of a Member, participation in a particular international
standardization activity shall, whenever possible, take place through one delegation representing all
standardizing bodies in the territory that have adopted, or expect to adopt, standards for the subject matter to
which the international standardization activity relates."G/TBT/W/87
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(iv) The international standardization system should ensure that the corpus of
international standards is coherent.  Were actual conflicting international standards to emerge,
the system would become unworkable, sinc e more than one standard would then be
characterized as international and thus become privileged by the WTO, codifying barriers to
trade.  The activities of international standards bodies, and their results, should becomplementary.  Standards should not conflict , even when the individual standards bodies
that issued them are different.  Improved exchange of information between standards-making
bodies and the WTO is desirable in itself, though not a complete solution.  The emergence of
competing international bodies must be deprecated.
(v) In order to provide transparency and certainty, further progress is required on
designing a mechanism under which bodies are accepted by the generality of signatories tothe WTO Agreement as international standards bodies.
(vi) National and regional standards bodies that participate in international standardization
should act coherently and in accordance with the aims of the Agreement.  The legitimacy of
an international standards body would be demonstrated, inter alia , by acceptance of the Code
of Good Practice by its national and regional members.
8. Effective implementation of these points will require monitoring and collaborative action by
the relevant bodies within the WTO.
III. THE ACTIVITIES AND DISCIPLINE OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS BODIES
9. Whilst the TBT Agreement provides a privilege to international standards, it does not set out
provisions for observance by international standard s bodies.  If, however, international standards are
to play the role assigned to them by the Agreem ent, the international standards bodies should remain
accountable to the entire range of interested parties, and should achieve a high degree of effectiveness.
The commitment to use international standards should be matched by the observance of rules inrelation to accountability on behalf of international standards bodies:
(i) Openness should be provided in the drawing up of programmes, and in the ultimate
results, which should be made publicly available for use.
(ii) There should also be openness to all views, general agreement, absence of sustained
opposition and a process that seeks to reconcile conflicting opinions.
(iii) Standards bodies would have to show that these principles are enshrined in their rules
and be effectively complied with.
(iv) The enhancement of their role also ha s an implication for the responsiveness of
international standards bodies to the needs of the market and of regulators.  Particularly,priorities in international standards work programmes should reflect trade priorities;
up-to-date international standards should be delivered in due time, and the activities of
international standards bodies, and their corpus of standards, both need to be coherent both
internally and with other bodies, and kept up to date.
10. Compliance by international standards bodies with these criteria might be ascertained by the
establishment of some kind of formal code of procedures for observance by international bodies,
along the lines of the undertakings laid on national and regional bodies by the Code of Good Practice.
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