G/TBT/W/652  
 
16 July 2019  
(19-4729) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
EUROPEAN UNION - REGULATION OF THE EUROP EAN PARLIAMENT AND O F THE 
COUNCIL LAYING DOWN RULES AND PROCEDURES  FOR COMPLIANCE WITH  AND 
ENFORCEMENT OF UNION  HARMONIZATION LEGIS LATION ON PRODUCTS A ND 
AMENDING RELEVANT RE GULATIONS  
STATEMENT BY CHINA TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNIC AL BARRIERS TO TRADE  
20 AND 21 JUNE 2019  
The following communication, dated 15 July 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of China. 
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The Chinese Government appreciates the EU 's implementation of WTO  transparency 
commitments by issuing Notice G/TBT/N/EU/542 , providing t he opportunity for members to 
comment, and considering those comments in revising the draft regulation (the " Regulation "). 
We have noticed the latest draft published by the EU dated 30 April 2019. In accordance with 
Article  2.9.4 of the TBT, China would he reby like to provide additional comments, which are set forth 
below:  
1  EXPAND THE CATEGORIE S OF ECONOMIC OPERAT ORS 
The categories of economic operators listed in Article 4.2 of the Regulations only include 
importers, parties authorized by the manufacturers, and fulfillment service centers. The Regulation 
does not contemplate current global supply chains, including manu facturers, wholesalers, traders, 
distributors, retailers, etc. and ignores current patterns of international trade – indicating weakness 
in the legislative evaluation process.  
It is suggested to add "an authorized representative who has a written mandate f rom the 
manufacturer" as a category of economic operator, and to add another category of "other agents in 
the EU that are able to assist market supervision authorities to trace back to the manufacturer".  
2  PERMIT THE USE OF EL ECTRONIC LABELS  
The proposed reg ulations require the application of physical labels, which is contrary to the trend 
of information technology development and violates the EU's vision to promote the development of 
a circular economy and environmental protection. In addition, regulations s uch as the RoHS Directive 
and the RED Directive have labelling  requirements, again requiring the application of physical labels, 
adding unnecessary costs.  
It is proposed to add a clause in Article 4.4 that "allows the enterprise to inform the consumer 
of the name, trademark, contact information and postal address of the economic operator through 
online or electronic means".  G/TBT/W/652  
 
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  3  PROVIDE CLEAR UNIFIE D TESTING ORGANIZATI ON, TEST ENVIRONMENT  AND TESTING 
METHODS  
The Union testing facility is critical to the technica l execution and interpretation of the Regulation, 
ensuring consistency between test standards and test results. However, the EU has not yet 
designated a unified testing organization for any category of products, which makes it difficult for 
companies to co nduct compliance assessments of products in a timely manner in accordance with 
the requirements of the Regulation.  
It is recommended that the EU clarify the operation and cooperation procedures of such testing 
institutions, and publish the unified testing organization and its testing environment and testing 
methods in a timely manner.  
4  PREPARE THE IMPLEMEN TING RULES AND GUIDE LINES FOR THE REGULA TION  
In order to facilitate proper implementation of the Regulation, it is recommended that the EU 
promptly issue t he implementation rules and guidelines for the following provisions:  
a. Definition of Article 3 "Security Risk".  
b. Article 18.3: The starting date of "10 working days or more" and it is recommended that 
the EU calculate from the date on which the economic pract itioner receives the notification 
from the market regulator.  
c. The unified testing body of Article 21.  
d. Penalty for section 41.  
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