G/TBT/W/534  
 
6 June  2018 
(18-3471) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 
 MANDATORY MARKING AN D LABELLING REQUIREM ENTS ON IMPORTED PRO DUCTS: 
PRACTICAL COMPLIANCE  ISSUES  
EIGHTH TRIENNIAL REV IEW 
Submission from the European Union  
The following submission, dated 6 June  2018, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the European Union . 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  Marking and labelling requirements affect a very large portion of global trade since most of 
the goods placed on the market are subject to regulati ons on labelling. The growing complexity in 
labelling practices should also be taken into account. It can therefore be acknowledged that 
marking and labelling requirements can have a significant impact on trade.  
1.2.  Marking and labelling requirements are expli citly mentioned in the definitions of "technical 
regulation" and "standard" in Annex 1 of the TBT Agreement. Measures laying down this kind of 
requirements are the subject of a significant share of Specific Trade Concerns (STCs) discussed in 
the TBT Commit tee.1 
1.3.  Marking and labelling is potentially a very wide topic, which is relevant for several different 
sectors and may concern mandatory and voluntary measures. Such requirements can be based on 
the characteristics of the product, on its use/consumption/dis posal, or on process and production 
methods. They can have different rationales: amongst others, indicating the product's conformity 
with mandatory technical requirements, indicating the identity of manufacturers, informing 
consumers about safety, health a nd environmental issues, informing consumers about product 
ingredients, the origin of the products and/or their ingredients (and therefore ensuring 
traceability), or the quality of products. Members are likely to attach great importance to the policy 
objec tives underlying these requirements.  
1.4.  Taking into account the legitimate objectives pursued by WTO Members when regulating 
aspects linked to marking and labelling, the present submission proposes to focus exclusively on 
practical aspects of compliance with mandatory marking and labelling requirements affecting 
imported products.  
1.5.  The objective would be to promote measures and practices that enable producers to fulfil the 
legitimate objectives pursued by mandatory marking and labelling requirements in the leas t costly 
and burdensome way possible, thereby facilitating trade.  
2  FACILITATING IMPORTE RS' COMPLIANCE WITH MANDATORY MARKING AN D 
LABELLING REQUIREMEN TS 
2.1.  In laying down mandatory marking and labelling requirements falling under the definition of 
technical reg ulations, Members have to fulfil the "necessity" and "proportionality" obligations under 
Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement.  
                                                
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  2.2.  One aspect that marking and labelling requirements usually regulate is the kind of 
information that needs to be affixed on the label of the product. To facilitate compliance by 
producers and therefore minimise the restrictive impact on trade, the scope of these requirements 
should be limited to information which is relevant for consumers or users of the product, or which 
is needed to in dicate the product's conformity with mandatory technical requirements.  
2.3.  Mandatory marking and labelling provisions should not require that the marking and labels 
themselves are subject to prior approval, registration or certification, nor to any fee disburs ement, 
as a precondition for placing products on the market that, otherwise, comply with its mandatory 
technical requirements, unless it is necessary in view of the risk that a product may pose in terms 
of human, animal or plant health or life, the environ ment or national security.  
2.4.  The existence of different marking and labelling requirements in different countries imposes 
costs for producers who wish to supply several markets. To address this issue, it would be 
important to allow the use on the label of: i nformation in other languages in addition to the 
language required in the importing Members; internationally -accepted nomenclatures, pictograms, 
symbols or graphics; and additional information to that required in the importing Member. This 
possibility shou ld be allowed unless this is misleading, contradictory or confusing in relation to the 
information required in the importing Member, or not in line with specific legal requirements in the 
importing Member.  
2.5.  Finally, practical issues such as the method and t iming of label application can have a 
significant impact on compliance costs for businesses. In this respect, the following three aspects 
should be highlighted:  
a. To facilitate compliance and minimise the impact on trade, it should be accepted that 
labelling , including supplementary labelling and/or corrections to labelling, take place 
under customs supervision in customs warehouses or other designated areas in the 
customs territory of the importing party, as an alternative to labelling in the customs 
territo ry of the exporting party or of the party where products originate. This may, 
however, not be possible for higher risk products.  
b. The acceptance of non -permanent or detachable labels, or marking or labelling in the 
accompanying documentation rather than phy sically attached to the product, also 
facilitates trade. This should be used when possible without undermining the policy 
objectives pursued by the requirements, including the ability of competent authorities to 
easily and efficiently perform visual checks  of the products.  
c. Concerning the timing for the application of labelling requirements, economic operators 
should have sufficient time to adapt the labels of their products, taking also into account 
the costs of modifying the labels and the need to exclude products already placed on the 
market from the application of new labelling requirements.  
3  PROPOSAL  
3.1.  The EU proposes to discuss in the TBT Committee how to facilitate compliance with 
mandatory marking and labelling requirements on imported products, with a v iew to developing 
recommendations or other guidance documents to support Members in the implementation of the 
TBT Agreement and, in particular, Article 2.2. The guidance and recommendations should aim at 
addressing in particular:  
a. The method and timing of label application, and notably the possibility of labelling 
products at the country of import before they are placed on the market/in free 
circulation, without jeopardising the traceability of products;  
b. The use of multiple languages on labels.  
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