TN/MA/W/144  
 
11 July 2017  
(17-3713) Page: 1/3 
Negotiating Group on Market Access  Original: English  
 
 MARKET ACCESS FOR NO N-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT S 
MINISTERIAL DECISION ON FACILITATING SME TRADE: TRANSPARENCY OF  
REGULATORY MEASURES FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
Communication from the European Union; Hong Kong, China and the Separate Customs Territory 
of Taiwan, Pengh u, Kinmen and Matsu  ("Chinese Taipei ") 
The following communication, dated  10 July 2017  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegations of  the European Union; Hong Kong, China and the Separate Customs Territory of 
Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu  ("Chinese Taipei "). 
 
 
_______________  
 
Ministers,  
 
Having regard to the negotiations launched under the Doha Ministe rial Declaration 
of 20 November  2001;  
 
Desiring  to improve transparency under the WTO Agreements relevant for trade in goods, and to 
further enh ance transparency of regulatory measures, including during their development;  
 
Recognising  the important contribution that transparency and enhancement of the global 
coherence of regulatory measures can bring to the improvement of efficiency, inclusiveness  and 
development of international trade;  
 
Recognising  the particular needs of developing and especially least -developed country Members 
and the particular value that enhanced access to information on regulatory measures can bring to 
their better inclusion in the international trading system;  
 
Recognising  the potential of small and medium -sized enterprises for further integration of 
developing and especially least -developed country Members in global value chains;  
 
Recognising that small and medium -sized ente rprises carry out an indispensable role in the global 
economy both in terms of growth and employment, whilst facing considerable difficulties in 
accessing information when approaching new markets;  
 
Recognizing the need to promote internationalization of sm all and medium -sized enterprises and 
assisting them through a business -friendly regulatory environment worldwide to access third 
markets;  
Hereby decide : 
Article 1  
Definition  
 
For the purposes of this Decision, regulatory measures  mean mandatory measures of  general 
application in the field of trade in goods as defined in each of the WTO Agreements falling within 
the scope of this Decision, which are developed or applied by a Member . TN/MA/W/144  
 
- 2 - 
 
   
Article 2  
Scope  
 
1.  Without prejudice to paragraph 2, this Ministerial De cision applies to all regulatory measures 
falling within the scope of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.  
 
2.  This Ministerial Decision applies to regulatory measures of  central government bodies. Each 
Member shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to it to ensure observance of the 
provisions of the Decision by the local governments and authorities on the level directly below that 
of a central government w ithin its territories.  
 
Article 3  
Publication and Information Available Through Internet  
 
1.  Each Member shall promptly publish its regulatory measures in an official journal electronically, 
or otherwise made publicly available on the Internet, in a manne r that enables governments, 
manufacturers, traders and other interested persons to become acquainted with them.  
 
2.  When regulatory measures are published pursuant to paragraph 1, each Member shall:  
 
(a) provide access to the regulatory measure on an offi cial website free of charge;  
 
(b) if appropriate, also publish  an explanation of the purpose of and rationale for the 
regulatory measure.  
 
3.  Whenever practicable, a description of the regulatory measure referred to in paragraph 2 shall 
also be made ava ilable on the same official website in one of the official languages of the WTO.  
 
4.  Each Member is encouraged to make available on the Internet further information related to 
the development or implementation of the major regulatory measur es, including o n relevant 
trade -related aspects.  
 
5.  Each Member shall encourage the distribution of and information on such regulatory 
measures through additional channels of publication.  
 
Article 4  
Notification of Regulatory Measures  
 
Recognizing the potential of the recent web services on notifications provided by the WTO for the 
general public, where a Member is obliged to notify a draft regulatory measure to the other 
Members of the WTO under an existing WTO Agreement falling within the scope of this Decision, 
the M ember shall:  
 
(a) include a copy of the developed or proposed draft regulatory measure or indicate an 
Internet address at which such measure may be viewed ;  
 
(b) provide a copy of the final text of the regulatory measure or an Internet address at 
which suc h measure may be viewed, at the time the text is adopted or published, as 
an addendum to the original notification.  
 
 
Article 5  
Public Internet Portal of Regulatory Measures  
 
In order to facilitate trade, in particular for small and medium -sized enterpris es, an electronic 
version of the regulatory measures applicable in Members shall be made available through a 
repository. Such a repository shall be publicly accessible and be easily searchable. To that effect, 
the WTO Secretariat shall coordinate with othe r international organisations that have built 
regulatory repositories.  TN/MA/W/144  
 
- 3 - 
 
  Article 6  
Public Consultation of Interested Persons  
 
1. When preparing major regulatory measures, each Member shall, to the extent practicable and 
in accordance with its respective rule s and procedures in view of outreaching to the widest possible 
public, including small and medium -sized enterprises : 
(a) publish i n advance regulatory measures that it proposes to adopt, or publish in 
advance documents that provide sufficient details about  a possible new regulatory 
measure to allow interested persons to assess whether and how their interests might 
be significantly affected;  
 
(b) provide a reasonable opportunity to interested persons to provide input on such 
developed or proposed regulatory measures or documents referred to in subparagraph 
(a), taking into account its priorities and resource constraints; and,  
 
(c) consider input received.  
 
2. Members are encouraged to publish the input received, electronically, such as on a publicly 
accessibl e website.  
Article 7  
Regulatory Measures in Urgency Situations  
 
Where urgent problems arise or threaten to arise for a Member and where there is an urgent need 
to adopt measures consistent with the relevant WTO Agreement, that Member may omit such 
steps en umerated in Article 6, as it finds necessary, provided that the Member takes the actions 
described in the relevant WTO Agreement and, after adoption of the regulatory measure, applies 
Article 4.  
Article 8  
Special and Differential Treatment and Technical A ssistance  
 
1. This Decision shall enter into force two years after the date of adoption of this Decision. 
Developing country Members shall apply these provisions at the latest five years after the date of 
adoption of this Decision. The dedicated WTO Intern et portal referred to in Article 5 shall be 
established within two years from entry into force of this Decision.  
2. Developing country Members can apply Articles 3 by providing the relevant information on 
regulatory measures to the WTO Secretariat which sh all host it, on their behalf, and include it in 
the repositories referred to in Article 5.  
Article 9  
Relation to WTO Agreements  
In the event of any inconsistency between this Decision and a WTO Agreement, the WTO 
Agreement shall prevail to the extent of th e inconsistency . In particular, nothing in this Decision 
shall be construed as diminishing the rights and obligations of Members under the Agreement on 
Technical Barriers to Trade and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures.  
Article 10  
Work Programme  
 
Members agree to continue negotiations with a view to developing further provisions relating to 
transparency of regulatory measures falling within the scope of this Decision. Those provisions 
shall include the publication of reg ulatory agendas, early information on regulatory measures, the 
conduct of regulatory impact assessments when developing major regulatory measures and the 
evaluation and review of existing regulatory measures . 
__________