G/TBT/W/537  
 
8 June 2018 
(18-3567) Page: 1/2 
Committee  on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 TRANSPARENCY  
EIGHTH TRIENNIAL REV IEW 
Submission from Australia  
The following submission, dated 8 June 2018, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of Australia . 
 
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Australia welcomes the opportunity to participate in the Eighth Tr iennial Re view and share with the 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade the following matters for its consideration, 
recommendation and possible decision.  
1  TRANS PARENCY  AND NOTIFICATION  
Australia acknowledges the importance of effective notifica tion processes . With recent 1.1.  
updates to the IMS and the new ePing  system, Australia acknowledges that more stakeholders are 
reviewing notifications, particularly from the private sector.  Australia supports the prop osals to 
build on and improve t ransparency operations of the TBT Committee.  Further to this, Australia 
would like to make additional proposals  to improve the notification process particularly for the 
private sector . 
1.1  Keywords in Notifications  
Australia proposes that TBT notifications have keywords to allow stakeholders, particularly in 1.2.  
the private sector, to easily identify which notification s affect them  as well assist notification 
search functions . Keywords could be included in either an open field in the notification template or 
alternatively, include a drop down menu of a set of applicable key words which help  further  
identify the goods and/or types of measures that a TBT measure affects. This feature would add to 
the existing fields which describe a measure 's objective  and products it applies to , and allow a 
more focussed and narrowed search/alert option for interested stakeholders.  
Examples of the type of keywords that could be used are  common types of TBT measures 1.3.  
such as 'labelling '; 'standard '; 'conformity assessment ' or broad product descriptions possibl y 
based on HS Nomenclature Section descriptions, such as Animals/animal products; Mineral 
products; Footwear, headgear, umbrellas; etc.  
This would mean that these keywords could be easily searchabl e through the IMS and ePing  1.4.  
in addition to existing fields such as 'products ' and 'objectives ' fields  
Australia notes that while the scope of measures covered by the TBT Agree ment and 1.5.  
Committee cover a larger cross -section of goods than the SPS Agreement/Committee, t he TBT 
Committee can learn from the SPS Committees ' experiences with keywords  to include their 
experiences and benefits in the development of a similar mechanism fo r TBT notifications.  G/TBT/W/537  
 
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  Template  fields for the adoption  of final measures  1.2  
Australia proposes that the TBT Committee establish new fields within the addendum 1.6.  
notification template to enable a member to indicate:  
a. when notifications are in relation to  finalised TBT measures; and  
b. when the measure will enter into force.  
While the notification of final measures is optional, having a field within the  addendum 1.7.  
template would improve transparency for the private sector  and may  assist Members in notifying 
the adoption of measures . The addendum template could also stipulate  in the notification when the 
measure will enter into force  – which is the most valuable information for Members and the private 
sector . The current  standard n otification  template indicates the proposed date of entry into force, 
but this can often change by the time the measure is finalised.  
Utilisation of ePing  1.3  
Australia proposes that the TBT Committee holds an informal discussion and develop 1.8.  
recommendations o n how Members can best utilise ePing . This will enable Members to share 
experiences in using ePing  domestically and also establish how ePing  can be used to facilitate the 
work of the TBT Committee. For example, ePing  allows for Members to attach documents to 
notifications – this function could allow members to share comments, summaries and translations. 
The informal discussion would also include how Members engage their private sectors.  
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