G/TBT/W/611  
22 March  2019 
(19-1797) Page: 1/1 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
JAMAICA - TRADE (PLASTIC PACKAGING MATERIALS PROHIBITION) ORDER 2018, 
ADOPTED ON 24 DECEMBER 2018, CONTAINED IN THE JAMAICA GAZETTE  
SUPPLEMENT NO. 146, AND THE NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION  
AUTHORITY ACT (PLASTIC PACKAGING MATERIALS PROHIBITION)  
ORDER 2018, ADOPTED ON 24 DECEMBER 2018, CONTAINED  
IN THE JAMAICA GAZETTE NO. 145  
STATEMENT BY THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC  TO THE COMMITTEE ON  
TECHNICAL  BARRIERS TO TRADE  
6 AND 7 MARCH 2019  
The following communication , dated  21 March  2019, is being circulated at the request of 
the Dominican Republic . 
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1.  Pursuant to Regulations Nos. 145 and 146, issued by the Ministries of Industry, Commerce, 
Agriculture and Fisheries, and Economic Growth and Job Creation, and published in the Jamaica 
Gazette Supplement , the Government of Jamaica has introduced a ban on the production and 
importation of single -use plastic products.  
2.  The Dominican Republic considers that the Jamaican measures constitute a technical regulation, 
as they require certain plastic products to have specific characteristics in order to be sold on the 
Jamaican domestic market.  
3.  The Dominican R epublic is concerned about the consistency of the Jamaican measures with the 
obligation of non -discrimination in Article 2.1 of the TBT Agreement . The fact that these Decrees 
give the Minister the power to grant authorizations opens up a wide range of flex ibilities . Although, 
officially, these flexibilities provide alternatives that may be granted to both importers and domestic 
producers, they could , when applied in practice, lead to violations of national treatment . 
Furthermore, it would not be justifiable  for the same products that are subject to restrictions to be 
considered as safe in certain circumstances . In this regard, the scope of the broad discretion of the 
Minister is not regulated . Furthermore, as can be noted, different treatment is applied to i mports 
and domestic products in terms of grace periods, as one of the Decrees provides for such a period 
and the other does not . This discrimination is also inconsistent with Article III:4 of the GATT 1994 
with regard to national treatment, and Article XX( g) of the GATT 1994 does not provide an acceptable 
justification.  
4.  Moreover, the Dominican Republic doubts that Jamaica's restrictive measures are absolutely 
necessary and that the country has no alternative means of achieving its objectives . The measures 
appear to constitute barriers and distortions to trade, and to be more restrictive than necessary, 
which violates Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement.  
5.  It should be noted that the Government of Jamaica did not give WTO Members prior notice so 
that they could s ubmit relevant comments, and has not yet notified the regulation to the Government 
of the Dominican Republic and the WTO, according to the information available to the 
Dominican  Republic, despite the importance of doing so . It therefore seems that the meas ures taken 
by Jamaica constitute a violation of the transparency provisions contained in the TBT Agreement . 
We would appreciate clarification by Jamaica regarding this concern.  
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