G/TBT/GEN/346  
31 mars 2023 
(23-2280) Page: 1/2 
Comité des obstacles techniques au commerce  Original:  anglais  
 
  
RENSEIGNEMENTS ACTUALISÉS PRÉSENTÉS PAR LA CEE AU COMITÉ OTC  
RENSEIGNEMENTS COMMUNIQUÉS PAR LA COMMISSION  
ÉCONOMIQUE POUR L' EUROPE (CEE)  
Le présent document contient les renseignements communiqués par la CEE à la réunion du 
Comité  OTC des 8 -10 mars 2023 au titre du point 5 de l'ordre du jour (Renseignements actualisés 
présentés par les observateurs) .1 
 
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1.1.  The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) would like to congratulate the 
WTO on a productive TBT Com mittee meeting . As we have underlined in the past, there are a number 
of topics under development within the UNECE that could be of potential interest to the membership 
of your committee that we would like to briefly present.  
1.2.  The UNECE Commission shall hav e a two -year theme of "digital, green transformations for 
sustainable development ". All relevant subsidiary bodies of UNECE and the secretariat are invited to 
consider how they may contribute to this cross -cutting theme within respective mandates.  
1.3.  In support of this theme, within the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and 
Standardization Policies  (WP.6), work is ongoing on artificial intelligence and especially the market 
surveillance of products with artificial intelligence and their conformity throughout their lifecycle . 
Guidance on this is expected to be released by the end of the year.  
1.4.  WP.6 continues to progress its other main topics of : 
• market surveillance (planning to update its Recommendation M on the contributions of 
market surveillance to the combat against counterfeit products ) and UNECE just updated 
our multilingual glossary of market surveillance terms  (in English, French, Russian and 
Spanish)  
• metrology (with a revision of its Recommendation K on metrology  in close cooperation 
with OIML, BIPM and ILAC)  
• gender -responsive standards (with  the publication of a guidance on developing 
gender -responsive standards  available in English, French, Spanish, Russian and soon also 
in Chinese and Arabic)  
• education on standardization and quali ty infrastructure (having just published an 
e-learning training  with modules on market surveillance, conformity assessment, risk 
management and gender -responsive standards)  
1.5.  The UNECE secretariat continues making  progress on the previous UNECE Commission th eme 
of "circular economy transition and sustainable use of natural resources ." Within the Trade 
Subprogramme, we have launched a multi -stakeholder knowledge -sharing network that helps to 
"step-up" the circular transition, fill gaps and create synergies amo ng the many practical and 
 
1 Dans la langue originale seulement . G/TBT/GEN/346  
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  value -creating initiatives in support of the circular economy . This is through our "Circular Step" 
project  and we invite all those interested to join the network.  
1.6.  Finally, we would like to announce the dates of our Steering Committee on Trade Capacity and 
Standards  which will take place on 26 and 27 June – this is the Monday and Tuesday following the 
next TBT Committee meeting (21 to 23 June) . We would like to invite the members  of the TBT to 
join us for this meeting . Among other points, we will be discussing:  
• demand -driven studies on regulatory and procedural barriers to trade  
• these studies include chapters on standardization policies and regulatory practices.  
• Studies have been done on Albania  (in 2016), Armenia  (in 2019), Belarus  (in 2012), 
Georgia  (in 2018), Kazakhstan  (in 2014), Kyrgyzstan  (in 2015), the Republic of 
Moldova  (in 2017) , Serbia  (in 2021), and Tajikistan  (in 2014)  
• We have launched an updated study on Kyrgyzstan with particular focus on agriculture 
sector and assisting to expand export opportunities.  
• We will also have in -depth discussion on the circular economy dimension in the 
analytical work on regulatory barriers.  
1.7.  If you would like any further information on any of these topics, please don 't hesitate to contact 
us at: regulatory.cooperation@un.org . 
 
 
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