G/TBT/W/745  
 
28 April 2021  
(21-3603) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
PROPOSALS ON CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT, ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE, 
TRANSPARENCY, DIGITAL PRODUCTS, AND MICRO, SMALL AND  
MEDIUM -SIZED ENTERPRISES (MSME)  
NINTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW  
Submission from Canada  
The following submission, dated 27 April 2021, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of Canada . 
 
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1  CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT  
1.1.  Electronic commerce (e -commerce) has increasingly become a household practice for obtaining 
goods in today 's world. Approximately one -quarter of the world 's pop ulation aged 15 and older made 
an online purchase in 2018, totalling over USD 25 trillion1. COVID -19 has accelerated the uptake of 
e-commerce. According to the OECD, the pandemic has made the e -commerce landscape more 
dynamic by expanding the scope of e -commerce away from luxury goods and services towards 
everyday necessities. This expansion of consumer segments (e.g. elderly) and products 
(e.g. groceries) is expected to be long -term as people have adapted their purchasing habits to 
include e -commerce2. 
1.2.  The proliferation of e -commerce poses particular challenges from a TBT perspective. 
Specifically, compliance with technical regulations is increasingly difficult to implement and verify as 
consumers are purchasing products online directly from manufacturers  located anywhere in the 
world, and the products are shipped directly from overseas to the buyer's address. Goods entering 
the market in this manner creates the possibility to bypass existing systems for verifying compliance 
with local technical regulation s. Furthermore, traditional post -market surveillance approaches for 
conformity assessment become less effective since products cannot be found on shelves.  
1.3.  Indeed, as many products are purchased through third party vendors, it is not always clear if 
certification information is verified, accurate or available, leaving consumers in a precarious position 
of purchasing products that may not be safe, posing a ris k to health and safety. Lastly, e -commerce 
challenges the established chain of liability as it may not be clear who is responsible when there is 
a safety incident. As the TBT Agreement plays a central role in establishing disciplines for the use 
and applic ation of conformity assessment, this issue is of critical importance since e -commerce is 
reinventing the way goods and services are obtained.  
1.4.  Possible outcome : A thematic session focussing  on current issues and best practices for 
addressing and mitigating issues related to the conformity assessment of goods and services 
obtained through e -commerce.  
 
1 UNCTAD Press Release Global e -Commerce hits $25.6 trillion – latest UNCTAD estimates | UNCTAD  
2 OECD report E-commerce in the time of COVID -19 - OECD (oecd -ilibrary.org)  G/TBT/W/745  
 
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  2  ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE  
2.1.  Taking action to protect the environment, foster a more circul ar economy and combat climate 
change is a top priority for many WTO Members striving to meet their commitments to reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate global warming. Some WTO Members have developed 
ambitious national plans and initiatives to make progress on climate action and promote a circular 
and climate resilient economy. The implementation of such ambitious plans will likely require a range 
of regulatory measures, including technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment 
procedures . 
2.2.  The WTO TBT Agreement recognizes, in its Preamble, that "no country should be prevented 
from taking measures necessary to ensure (…) the protection of (...) the environment (…) at the 
levels it considers appropriate ", provided that these measures are non -discriminatory and do not 
represent a disguised restriction on international trade. The Agreement further mandates regulators 
to ensure that technical regulations are not more trade restrictive than necessary to fulfil legitimate 
objectives – which includ e the protection of the environment.  
2.3.  Possible outcome : A thematic session for sharing information, best practices and innovative 
ideas related to technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures that foster 
the attainment of environme ntal goals and contribute to addressing climate change, thereby 
contributing to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, while being the least trade restrictive 
possible.  
3  TRANSPARENCY  
3.1.  Canada continues to view the TBT Agreement's provisions on transparen cy as key for achieving 
the Agreement's overarching goal, which is to foster a predictable international legal framework for 
the development of technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures while 
ensuring that such measures do not c reate unnecessary obstacles to international trade. Canada 
therefore believes that the instruments put in place and used by Members to conform with these 
provisions, such as the notification process, merit a particular attention to consider how they can be  
improved.  
3.2.  One of the key challenges that Canada is facing with respect to transparency relates to 
measures that are being duly notified by Members, but which are not published in one of the three 
WTO working languages. While Canada fully understands - and does not intend to challenge - the 
right of Members to publish measures in their official language(s), Canada believes that the 
notification template, which already includes a field for a description of the content of the notified 
measure, should be bette r used where a measures is notified in a language other than English, 
French or Spanish, and that Members should consider specific parameters for such description.  
3.3.  The Committee previously looked at the issue and agreed on a number of recommendation to 
facilitate the availability and sharing of translations of measures that are not available in one of the 
WTO's working languages3.  
3.4.  Possible outcome : a recommendation that would set additional specific parameters and 
elements to be included in the field "Description of content " for measures that are notified and which 
are publish originally in a language other than English, French or Spanish.  
4  DIGITAL PRODUCTS  
4.1.  Intangible digital products are an important part of the modern economy and international 
trade. Art ificial Intelligence (AI), enterprise applications, cyber security, financial technology, health 
IT, telecommunications, digital media software, and software as medical devices are examples of 
the wide range of intangible digital products traded today. For  example, AI is often a key part of the 
suite of technologies built into physical objects to create the Internet of Things, which uses sensors, 
software, and other systems to connect and exchange data with other devices over the internet. In 
 
3 See section 6.6.1.3 of G/TBT/1/ Rev.14 .   G/TBT/W/745  
 
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  addition, soft ware includes apps for mobile devices, downloaded from an online app store, that are 
now ubiquitous.  
4.2.  Just as the emergence of new goods in the 1940s and 1950s necessitated the creation of 
relevant new standards, technical regulations and conformity assessm ent procedures, so too the 
emergence of intangible digital products is spawning the development of applicable novel regulatory 
measures. As in the past, these measures are needed to support new technologies, facilitate trade 
and ensure health, safety and i nteroperability. For example, consideration is being given in many 
WTO Members to regulatory measures that would apply to AI (e.g. the quality and privacy of data 
sets, transparency and disclosure of algorithms, human oversight and accountability mechanism s). 
4.3.  Traditionally, trade disciplines on technical barriers have been applied either to goods, through 
TBT provisions, or services through either Cross -Border Trade in Services (CBTS) obligations or in 
FTAs' Domestic Regulation commitments. More recently, l imited requirements that potentially 
discipline technical barriers have been included in the digital trade provisions in certain FTAs and 
digital agreements, which cover digital products more generally4. 
4.4.  Moving forward, Members may wish to consider how be st to facilitate international trade by 
ensuring the application of technical barrier disciplines to standards, technical regulations and 
conformity assessment procedures covering intangible digital products. One option may be to clearly 
specify that intan gible digital products are covered by the obligations in TBT provisions. Another 
possibility may be to replicate TBT provisions in digital agreements.  
4.5.  Possible outcome : a thematic session  which could focus on the impacts that technical barriers 
to trade ca n have on the trade in intangible digital products and how they can be minimized.  
5  MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM -SIZED ENTERPRISES (MSMES)  
5.1.  Micro, small and medium -sized enterprises are significant drivers of economic activity. 
According to the OECD, MSMEs traditi onally employ between 60 and 70% of workers in most 
countries. Yet, when it comes to international trade, MSMEs are traditionally under -represented vis -
à-vis their economic footprint. This is due, in part, to the fact that MSMEs are not as well resourced 
as larger companies and therefore have more difficulty meeting the costs associated with 
international trade5. 
5.2.  Compliance with TBT requirements can represent significant challenges for MSMEs. According 
to the results of business surveys conducted by the International Trade Center, over 50% of trade 
obstac les encountered by MSMEs relate  to TBT or SPS measures6. In this context, e nsuring that 
MSMEs have ready access to relevant TBT -related measures is a priority. The ePing website is an 
example of a n inter national  tool that provides MSMEs with access to TBT measures.  
5.3.  Going forward, members may wish to consider how to further facilitate access to TBT -related 
measures for their MSMEs interested in exporting. Members could, for example, exchange best 
practice s and experiences in helping MSMEs search for and access relevant standards and 
 
4 For example, the WTO Electronic Commerce Negotiations Conso lidated Negotiating Text – December 
2020 Revision  contains obligations covering the measures  the Parties can apply to products that use 
cryptography (pages 54 -55).  The Digital Economic Partnership Agreement (DEPA) between New Zealand, 
Singapore and Chile requires each Party to base its measures, related to e -invoicing, on international 
standards, guidelines or recommendations, where they exist ( Article 2.5 (2)).  The C PTPP proscribes regulations 
inhibiting the cross -border transfer of information by electronic means and the localization of computing 
facilities.  Such regulations must achieve a legitimate public policy objective and be no more restrictive than 
necessary to achieve the objective ( Chapter 14 – Electronic Commerce , Articles 14.11 and 14.13).  The 
Canada -United States -Mexico FTA ( Chapter 19 - Digital Trade , Article 19.5 (2a) and the DEPA ( Article 2.3 ) 
oblige each Party to endeavor to avoid unnecessary regulat ory burden on electronic transactions.  In the 
Canada -EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the Parties recognise the importance of clarity, 
transparency and predictability in their domestic regulatory frameworks in facilitating, to the maximum ex tent 
possible, the development of electronic commerce (Chapter 16 - Electronic commerce , Article 16.5(a)).  
5 https://www.oecd.org/trade/topics/small -and-medium -enterp rises-and-trade/   
6 https://www.intracen.org/news/eping -cooperating -to-give-smes-real-time-information -about -non-
tariff-measures/   G/TBT/W/745  
 
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  regulations. Members may wish to consider how a discussion in this area could complement other 
discussions in the WTO, including those in the committee on trade facilitation.  
5.4.  Possible Outcome : a thematic discussion exchanging national experiences and perspectives on 
working with MSMEs to ensure that they are aware and have access to the relevant technical 
information necessary to export their goods to foreign markets. The prese ntations on national 
experiences could be complemented by a presentation(s) by the Secretariat and/other partners 
(e.g. the International Trade Center).  
 
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