G/TBT/GEN/369  
 
11 January 2024  
(24-0236) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
UNECE UPDATE TO THE TBT COMMITTEE  
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE  
(UNECE)  
This document contains information provided by UNECE  at the TBT Committee meeting of 
8-10 November  2023 under Agenda Item 4 (Update by Observers).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 Committee meeting. As we have underlined in the past, there are a number 
of top ics 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 Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies (WP.6) will hold its 
33rd Annual Session from 23 to 24 November 2023, during which it will host a conference on “ How 
to target continuous compliance: Conformity assessment, legal metrology and market surveillanc e 
tools for the changing dynamic of digital goods .” As we move towards more and more products with 
artificial intelligence and other imbedded technologies, it is important to assess the compliance of 
these goods not only  at the time of the entry onto the market, but throughout their lifecycle, 
particularly after remote updates which may be coming from outside of the country. This conference 
will be exploring the topic from a regulator point of view, an industry point of v iew and in light of 
transversal themes like digital divide. We hope to see you all at this conference at the Palais des 
Nations Thursday 23 November in the afternoon and Friday 24 November in the morning. 
Registration is open on the WP.6 website . 
1.3.  WP.6 is also in the process of publishing a collection of articles entitled “The Basics of Quality 
Infrastructure for Trade” which provides an overview of the key elements of quality infrastructure 
and some of the key challenges today. The publication should be available by the end of the month.  
1.4.  WP.6 has also drafted a revision of Recommendation M on the contributions of market 
surveillance to the combat against cou nterfeit products. The final draft will be published in the 
coming days for a public review period of 30 days.  
1.5.  The last session of the UNECE Steering Committee on Trade Capacity and Standards, the parent 
body of WP.6, held in Geneva in June 2023, featured discussions of relevant to the TBT Committee, 
including in the context of the UNECE Studies on Regulatory and Procedural Barriers to Trade 
(RPBTs) requested by transition economies in the region . We would like to thank the TBT Committee 
Chair, Anna Vitie, for her contribution to that event.  
1.6.  Country specific RPBTs have included dedicated chapters on standardization, conformity 
assessment and metrology, identified gaps in the regulatory frameworks and provided tailor -based 
recommendations. 10 country studies  have been completed, and the UNECE will launch a new Study 
for Turkmenistan in the upcoming months.  All completed studies conducted to date are available at 
the UNECE webpage . 
 
1 In original language only.  G/TBT/GEN/369  
 
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  1.7.  The Steering Committee session in June discussed the lessons learned from the Studies  and 
the way forward, especially in the context of the novel cross -cutting issues such as the circular 
economy, digitalization and green transformations. UNECE member States reiterated the importance 
for updating analytical tools in the context of these cro ss-cutting issues.  All Steering Committee 
documents are available on the UNECE webpage . 
1.8.  UNECE stands ready to continue its demand based technical assistance for d eveloping countries 
and countries with economies in transition, including,  and mainstreaming new agendas.  
1.9.  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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