G/TBT/W/408  
11 May 2015  
(15-2458)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: Spanish  
 
  THAILAND – DRAFT NOTIFICATION OF THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES CONTROL, 
RE: RULES, PROCEDURES AND CONDITIONS FOR 
LABELS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES 
STATEMENT BY MEXICO TO THE COMMITT EE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE 
AT ITS MEETING OF 18-19 MARCH 2015 
The following communication, dated 8 May 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Mexico. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
1.  Mexico wishes once again to submit this trade concern with regard to the "Draft Notification of 
the Alcoholic Beverages Control, Re: Rules, Procedures and Conditions for Labels of Alcoholic 
Beverages", issued by the Government of Thailand and notified to the TBT Committee of the WTO 
on 28 March 2014 in document G/TBT/N/THA/437, considering that, by issuing this technical 
regulation, Thailand may be contravening basic principles of the TBT Agreement, such as those 
relating to proportionality, as contained in Arti cle 2.2 of the TBT Agreemen t, and conformity with 
international standards, as contained in Article 2.4. In particular Mexico asks Thailand to examine its compliance with the principle of proportionalit y provided for in Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement 
in the light of the legitimate objective pursued by this regulation, assuming that the aim is: 
a. First, to establish pictorial warning labels on the harmfulness and toxicity of alcoholic 
beverages, using colour-coded charts authorized by the Alcohol Control Committee of the Department of Disease Control. 
b. Second, to establish prohibitions on the labelling of alcoholic beverages (such as 
messages on product quality or characteristics), instead of promoting measures to help the public obtain accurate information on th e effects of alcoholic beverage consumption. 
c. Similarly, Mexico asks Thailand to provide information on the alternative methods that 
have been considered in order to achieve the objective defined by the technical regulation, such as the use of public information campaigns on the effects of excessive alcohol consumption. 
2.  Furthermore, Mexico considers that these measures could also constitute violations of the 
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intelle ctual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), 
due to the wide range of prohibitions established on the use of images (athletes, artists, singers 
and cartoon pictures), which could unjustifiably complicate the use of trademarks in the ordinary 
course of trade. Accordingly, Thailand is re quested to take due account of the provisions 
of Section 2 of the TRIPS Agreement.  
3.  In addition to the foregoing, Mexico is concerne d about the fact that the measures provided for 
in the technical regulation could seriously affect trade in alcoholic beverages between Thailand and Mexico. It is also concerned that this might set negative precedents as regards measures for the labelling of alcoholic beverages in general. Me xico accordingly submitted formal comments to 
Thailand on 17 February 2015, along with the following requests: G/TBT/W/408 
- 2 - 
  a. To give due consideration to the comments formally submitted by Mexico with respect 
to compliance with the principles that Thailand has undertaken to follow pursuant to the TBT and TRIPS Agreements. 
b. To explain the prohibitions in Article 2 of the draft notification, since these may 
be inconsistent with the provisions of Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement. 
c. To explain why and provide scientific and te chnical evidence of how the application 
of Sections 3.2, 3.3 and 3.6 contributes to the legitimate objective pursued. 
d. To reconsider the restrictions on the images that may be displayed on the labelling, 
in the light of the TRIPS Agreement. 
__________