G/TBT/GEN/227  
 
6 July 2017  
(17-3616) Page: 1/10 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade    
 
EPING USER SURVEY  
SUMMARY OF RESPONSES  
This document , prepared by the WTO Secretariat,  contains a summary of the ePing survey 
responses.  
 
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1   BACKGROUND  
1.1.  In the context of the 7th Triennial Review completed in December 2015, the TBT Committee 
requested the Secretariat to develop an online alert system for TBT notifications, in cooperation 
with other organizations.1 In response, the WTO Secretariat joined forces with UNDESA and ITC for 
the development and maintenance of a new SPS/TBT notification alert system called ePing.2 The 
publicly available system was launched during the November 2016 meeting of the TBT Committee.  
1.2.  ePing's email alert service allows registered users to receive SPS/TBT notifications of 
particular interest to them based on criteria such as products covered or export markets.3 The 
system also offers a number of additional features, such as the Enquiry Point Management tool 
and discussion fora, with a view to facili tating dialogue among public and private stakeholders in 
addressing trade problems at an early stage.  
1.3.  Since the launch of ePing, the three partner organizations have been involved in a range of 
training and outreach activities while also continuing to wor k on the maintenance and further fine -
tuning of the system.   
1.4.  An online survey was conducted in February 2017 to collect some preliminary feedback from 
users and identify potential areas for further improvements and enhancements. It was sent to all 
registe red ePing users, which totalled 1,635 at the time.4 338 users or 21%, covering 
78 countries/territories, replied.  
1.5.  Section 2 below summarizes the key points that can be gleaned from the responses while 
Section 3 provides further details and statistical dat a on the specific responses received for each 
question.  
2  SUMMARY OF KEY POINT S RAISED  
2.1  Users value ePing's customized alerts  
2.1.  The survey results indicate that users highly appreciate the customized and timely alerts as 
well as the user -friendly set up of ePi ng. The alerts facilitate the task of Enquiry Points in 
managing incoming notifications and reaching out to their stakeholders. It also allows other 
government officials as well as private sector stakeholders, especially SMEs, to access notifications 
                                                
1 Seventh Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the Agreement on Technical Barriers 
to Trade (G/TBT/37, para. 5.12.d).  
2 www.epingalert.org  
3 The data on SPS and TBT notifications are pulled from the SPS and TBT Information Management 
Systems using an XML feed (spsims.wto.org and tbtims.wto.org).  
4 As of 30 June 2017, ePing had 2,292 r egistered users.  G/TBT/GEN/227  
 
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  of pa rticular interest in a timely manner, without waiting for information to be processed and 
transmitted through their Enquiry Points or sectoral associations.  
2.2  More training needed to navigate the system, especially the Enquiry Point 
Management Tool  
2.2.  Users do indicate that they would like to receive more help on how to use the system.  Some 
highlight the need for more online training, including a quick -start guide, and others prefer face -
to-face training.  While the three partner organizations have alr eady delivered a range of training 
sessions on ePing, more training and outreach is needed to assist current users and attract new 
ones. Also, the user guide needs to be updated and improved in line with the latest changes to the 
system.  
2.3.  In addition to it s alert and search functions for SPS and TBT notifications, ePing incorporates 
an Enquiry Point Management tool, which can lead to significant efficiency gains and facilitate the 
process of domestic consultations and information sharing. However, this tool  is so far not being 
used widely. Partner organizations need to continue to reach out to Enquiry Points to raise 
awareness and provide training on the functions of this specific tool, which only Enquiry Points can 
access.5 At the same time, feedback from E nquiry Points can also help improve the tool.   
2.3  Role of languages in enhancing global and local reach  
2.4.  With respect to languages, some users underline the importance of having access not only to 
full texts of notified regulations, but also to their transla tions into English. While ePing does not 
provide a translation service, it can actually serve as a forum for users to share unofficial 
translations.   Other users would like to see the system operate in their local language.  While the 
interface remains av ailable in English, French and Spanish, users can use their local language to 
share files or communicate through the national discussion fora.  
2.4  Suggested enhancements to address needs of users  
2.5.  In terms of improvements or enhancements to the system, proposa ls by users include the 
following:  
 improve Enquiry Point Management Tool to better track national users' profiles/preferences  
 receive notification alerts as SMS on phones  
 allow better technical integration of ePing with other national websites/systems  
 convert ePing to local language  
 expand alerts to include SPS/TBT Committee documents, agendas, meeting dates  
 expand alerts to other WTO notifications; technical assistance activities on offer  
 send alerts when proposed regulations are actually adopted6 
 improve product -based searches and alerts by making sure all notifications include HS/ICS 
codes and/or by introducing sectoral product categories7 
 introduce general discussion forum, separate from notification -specific fora 
                                                
5 Depending on Members' internal arrangements, this tool can be used by the Enquiry Point and/or the 
Notification Authority.  
6 Following the recommendations of the SPS and TBT Committees, Members sometimes use the 
Addendum format to notify  the adoption of a proposed regulation. These Addenda are then included in ePing 
and the alerts.     
7 Some of the data gaps were due to the fact that the Addenda/Corrigenda notification formats are  
mainly  in free text and do not contain specific fields for products covered or objectives of the notified 
measures. This is currently being addressed by carrying over and incorporating information from the parent 
notification, where these are available.   G/TBT/GEN/227  
 
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  2.6.  Partner agencies will assess these  suggestions and consult as necessary with Members, with 
a view to improving the system further.  
2.5  Complementary efforts necessary to draw maximum benefits from ePing  
2.7.  It is encouraging that users have actually taken specific action upon receiving alerts of 
particular concern, such as seeking information, contacting government officials or private sector 
stakeholders, formulating comments, etc.  However, as users also point out, a number of 
complementary elements are necessary for drawing maximum benefits fro m ePing's services. 
These include awareness of rights and obligations under the SPS and TBT Agreements, fulfilment 
of notification obligations by all Members, effective national coordination/consultation mechanisms 
and active participation in SPS/TBT Commi ttees. If notifications are missing information, if 
exporters do not know how to channel their concerns, or if a Member does not participate in 
SPS/TBT Committee meetings, then the tool itself will have limited benefits.  Therefore, training 
programmes on ePing need to go hand in hand with national initiatives as well as technical 
assistance in these complementary areas.   
2.8.  The survey responses are indicative that ePing fills a gap in terms of timely access to 
information on evolving SPS and TBT requirements . The WTO Secretariat will continue to 
collaborate closely with UNDESA and ITC to ensure the well -functioning and sustainability of the 
system, to offer training and outreach activities, and resources permitting, to introduce further 
enhancements to the sy stem.  
2.9.  This first survey was conducted three months after the official launch of the system where 
some users were still in the early stages of getting to know the system (although there were some 
registered users during the pilot phase). The Secretariat int ends to repeat the survey towards the 
end of 2017 for further feedback and guidance.  
3  FURTHER DETAILS ON T HE RESPONSES  
3.1  Profile of respondents  
3.1.  As indicated above, 338 users (out of 1,635) responded to the survey. The table below 
indicates the countries/terri tories with the highest number of replies.  
Uganda  38 Tanzania  8 
Australia  26 New Zealand  8 
United States of America  22 Germany  8 
Japan  18 Mexico  7 
Turkey  11 Singapore  6 
Indonesia  11 Rwanda  6 
Canada  11 India  5 
Brazil  11 Belgium  5 
 
3.2.  57% of the respondents8 work in the public sector and 33% in the private sector. 40% of 
respondents work as an SPS/TBT Enquiry Point official.  
                                                
8 The term "respondents" is used to refer to the number o f respondents that have replied to a certain 
question. This can differ, since respondents were not obliged to reply to all questions.   G/TBT/GEN/227  
 
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3.2  Questions on ePing  
3.3.  The survey included 14 questions: three on users' affiliation, eight specifically on ePing  and 
three on SPS/TBT notifications more generally.  
3.2.1   How did you hear about ePing?  
3.4.  About one third of the respondents heard about ePing through government meetings and 
workshops, 26% through UN and WTO workshops and 24% through a UN, WTO or ITC newsletter.   
G/TBT/GEN/227  
 
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3.2.2   How often do you read your ePing email alert?  
3.5.  Respondents indicated that they read the ePing alert frequently: 80% read the email alert 
either daily or weekly.  
 
 
 
3.2.3   How often do you use ePing's search notification page?  
3.6.  The search function for SPS/TBT notifications on the ePing website is also a frequently used 
tool: more than 40% of respondents use the search page at least once a week, and 27% at least 
once a month. However, 8% did not know this feature was available on  ePing, indicating that more 
training and information activities might be necessary.  
Every day, 40.0%
At least once  a week, 40.0%At least once a month, 13.1%I don't receive ePing alert emails, 
3.0%Less than once a month, 2.7%How often do you read your ePing email alert? G/TBT/GEN/227  
 
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3.2.4   Which ePing functions have you used at least once?  
3.7.  The email alert and the notification search page are the two most popular functions of ePing. 
Besides these functions , 30% of respondents downloaded the word file of a notification at least 
once, 24% exported search results to an excel file, and 15% consulted the Enquiry Point contact 
details list.  
 
3.2.5   What do you like the most in ePing?  
3.8.  When asked what they most like abou t ePing, 44% of respondents referred to the email alert. 
20% indicated that they appreciated the user -friendliness the most and 20% mentioned the data 
included in the ePing alerts and website.  
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3.2.6   How could we improve ePing?  
3.9.  ePing could be improved by incl uding more help options or providing training, according to 
12% of respondents. 9% of respondents indicated that filter options could be enhanced and 8% 
pointed to language issues and asked to provide information in other than the three official WTO 
langua ges.  
 
3.2.7   What would help you better use ePing?  
3.10.   55% of respondents indicated that online training would help them to make better use of 
the ePing system. 47% stated that a quick -start guide would be helpful. 40% of respondents 
referred to online assistance a nd 34% to face -to-face training.  
 
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3.2.8   Have you taken any of the following actions upon receiving an alert?  
3.11.   More than 60% of respondents have browsed the internet for more information upon 
receiving an email alert; 23% have contacted a domestic government or Enquiry Point and 20% a 
sector association; 18% have contacted producers and/or exporters; 14% have forme d an official 
comment to a notification; 12% have contacted a foreign government official or Enquiry Point; 
12% have changed their organization's practices and 7% their country's/territory's practices in 
order to respond to the new regulation.  
 
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  3.3  Questions  on SPS&TBT notifications  
3.3.1   Do SPS and TBT notifications provide enough information and are they easily 
understood?  
3.12.   The majority of respondents indicated that SPS and TBT notifications provide sufficient 
information and are easily understood. However, 14% st ated that notifications do not contain 
enough information and 8% responded that notifications are difficult to understand.  
 
 
 
3.3.2   Apart from ePing, how else do you learn about SPS or TBT issues?  
3.13.   66% of respondents learned abo ut SPS and TBT issues through the government, 58% 
through workshops organized by international organizations, 40% through private sector 
stakeholders, 23% though news and media, and 23% through sector associations.  
 
 
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  3.3.3   What could be improved to help you learn more about SPS and TBT issues?  
3.14.   Training and technical assistance are the most cited activities when asking what could 
improve knowledge on SPS and TBT issues. 16% of respondents indicated that more info should 
be provided and 5% referred to sensitization and promotion activities.  
 
 
 
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