G/TBT/W/419/Rev.1  
 
13 July 2015  
(15-3628)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
TRANSPARENCY 
SEVENTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW  
Submission from the Republic of Korea 
Revision 
The following submission, dated 10 July 2015, is  being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Republic of Korea. 
 
_______________ 
 
The Republic of Korea welcomes the opportunity to participate in the Seventh Triennial 
Review of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). Korea would like to take this 
opportunity to share its view on the ways to enha nce the transparency with respect to handling of 
comments on measures notified. 
1  BACKGROUND 
1.1. For the purposes of ensuring transparency in  Members' adoption of technical regulations and 
conformity assessment procedures ("measures"), Korea recognizes the necessity to timely notify 
and to allow access to the full text of which forms the basis of such measures, as well as to 
provide other Members with the opportunity to make appropriate comments. In relation to achieving the transparency, Korea acknowledges the efforts that have been made by Members and the WTO TBT Committee to expedite the circulation of TBT notifications. Korea also believes that 
the TBT online Notification Submission System (NSS) and the TBT Information Management 
System (IMS) will function as a useful instrument to enhance transparency in the notification procedure of measures to the WTO. 
1.2. Meanwhile, Korea is concerned about the fact that information provided to the Committee on 
the measures notified are sometimes not complete nor in detail. For instance, the majority of the notifications are missing information on the prod ucts that are to be covered by the notified 
measures in terms of Harmonized System (HS). 
1 Korea understands that such lack of information 
may be inevitable considering that some of the measures notified are in their initial stages of drafting. Hence, it is crucial for other Members to obtain additional information through Members' enquiry points in order to fully understand and provide appropriate comments after the TBT 
notification process. 
1.3. The WTO has stressed the importance of ha ndling the comments on measures notified by 
Members. Above all, the WTO TBT Agreement itself stipulates that each Member shall ensure that 
an enquiry point exists to answer all reasonable enquiries from other Members.
2 Also, Members 
confirmed the importance of handling the comments provided by other Members in several occasions.
3 At the First Triennial Review, Members agre ed to respond to any request within five 
                                               
1 It is known that about 70% of TBT notifications di d not specify their coverage of HS products in the 
TBT IMS. 
2 Articles 10.1 of the TBT Agreement. 
3 G/TBT/1/Rev.12, Part 1, 4.3.1.7 G/TBT/W/419/Rev.1 
 
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  working days "if possible"4, at the Fifth Triennial Review, the Committee recommended Members 
to respond to enquiries in writing and to share the written comments on measures notified with the Committee "on a voluntary basis"
5, and at the Sixth Triennial Review, the Committee 
reiterated the importance of well-functioning enquiry points in responding to comments and 
requests.6  
1.4. Despite this, Korea has experienced a failure to receive responses from some Members 
regarding its enquiry on measures notified to the WTO. 7 Korea believes that unresponsiveness of 
enquiry points prevent Members from providing their view and ultimately results in a sharp 
increase of the numbers of specific trade concer ns (STCs), and would like to propose following 
suggestions to improve the functioning of Members' enquiry point. 
2  PROPOSALS 
2.1. Korea offers the following three proposal s in order to improve the handling of comments 
regarding measures notified to the WTO by the Members. 
2.1  Discuss the Performance of Enqu iry points in the Thematic Session 
2.2. Korea suggests that the Members of the Co mmittee discuss the issue on the performance of 
enquiry points in the thematic session. In addition, Korea believes that it is useful for Members to share with other Members their experiences with th e practical difficulties that each Member has 
encountered in responding to the questions raised by other Members through enquiry points. 
2.3. For example, the TBT IMS is the unique sour ce containing contact information of Members' 
enquiry points as the latest update of the WTO's official document was made in 2011.
8 After 
conducting bilateral consultations with Members' de legations at the WTO, Korea realized that some 
Members had not updated their e-mail addresses in th e TBT IMS. Korea believes that it is critical 
to periodically update the information on Members' enquiry points to have effective communication among the Members. 
2.4. Korea believes that Members' discussion and sharing of their experiences in the thematic 
session will form the foundation for building the effective and efficient procedure for handling of 
the comments on measures notified. 
2.2  Emphasize the Importance of the Role of the Enquiry Points 
2.5. Korea suggests that the Committee emphasize the importance of the role of enquiry points in 
decisions and recommendations through the use of the terms that encourage the Members to properly respond to other Members' enquires; the Committee may encourage Members to make 
their best efforts in making a response on a "timely basis" in the Decision and Recommendations. 
Also, Korea hopes Members to discuss proper terminologies or sentences to emphasize the importance of enquiry points' operations in the Committee's Decisions and Recommendations 
during the thematic session. Korea believes that use of proper terminologies may heighten the 
alertness of the Members regarding the importance of properly responding to enquiries that other 
Members have raised in relation to the measures notified. 
2.6. Meanwhile, Korea recognizes that the Committee, through its decisions and 
recommendations, has stressed the importance of Members' compliance with the transparency principles of the WTO TBT Agreement, particularly regarding those related to the notifications.
9 
Accordingly, the Committee has developed the procedure for submitting notifications including its 
format and relevant guidelines in the Committee's decisions and recommendations.10  
                                               
4 G/TBT/M/2, para. 5; G/TBT/W/2/Rev.1, p. 8; G/TBT/M/15, para. 45 and Annex 1. 
5 G/TBT/26, para. 42. 
6 G/TBT/32, II. D. (v) 
7 Similarly, other Members’ experiences are represented in G/TBT/W/352 and G/TBT/W/354. 
8 G/TBT/ENQ/38/Rev.1 
9 G/TBT/1/Rev.12, Part 1, 4.1, a 
10 G/TBT/1/Rev.12, Part 1, 4.3.1.3 G/TBT/W/419/Rev.1 
 
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  2.7. Considering the importance of an efficient and effective handling of comments on notified 
measures to consummate transparency, Korea proposes that, along with stressing the importance of responding to the questions or requests of other Members, the Committee also agree on establishing a procedure through which all  Members may express their views with respect to other 
Member's comments on measures notified. The basis to establish such procedure has already been 
reflected in the Committee's previously issued Decisions and Recommendations.
11 
3  ADOPT WTO-BASED SYSTEM TO ADMINISTER THE COMMENTS 
3.1. Korea proposes that the WTO Secretariat adopt a WTO-based system for administering 
comments on notified measures. Particularly, Korea suggests that the WTO-based system be established on the basis of the TBT IMS rather than adopt a new system in order to easily identify the original measure that was notified beforehand, and to save costs in establishing and operating 
the system. One possibility is that a bulletin boar d system (BBS) be provided to the enquiry point 
of each Member on the TBT IMS, the Members deliver comments and raise questions, and enquiry points of a Member could reply through the BBS. At the initial stage of adopting the WTO-based 
BBS, Korea suggests that each Member's enquiry point self-manages its own BBS and not under 
the control of the WTO Secretariat. For exampl e, regarding the scope of information to be 
disclosed, Members may conceal confidential information but, in principle, the comments and 
questions raised by any Member should be shared with all other Members. 
3.2. An advantage of setting up the WTO-based BBS for the comments and questions on notified 
measures is that the WTO may look over the enquiries that have been raised and encourage the Member that has received the enquiry to respon d to it. With the WTO-based BBS, Korea believes 
that the WTO Secretariat may conduct a survey on the numbers of comments that were not 
responded to and undertake a comprehensive analys is of the reasons behind this failure. Korea 
views both an adoption of the WTO-based system and a WTO Secretariat's survey on the operation 
of each Member's enquiry point be useful in making enquiry points function more effectively and 
efficiently. 
3.3. The WTO-based BBS for comments and questions on the notified measures also has other 
benefits. That is, each Member's enquiry point does not need to waste time in responding to the 
same enquiries as long as such information is disclosed to all other Members. Also, Members having questions or need of additional informatio n might be able to resolve their need through the 
information that has been already provided through the system. 
3.4. Finally, the number of STCs should decrease  if the system functions well, and consequently 
shorten the time period for the Committee's dedication to review STCs at the meeting. This time saving will allow the Members to consult on new topics relating to the operation of the TBT 
agreement.
12  
3.5. Korea welcomes any comments from the Members with regard to the above proposal at the 
Committee's Seventh Triennial Review. 
 
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11 G/TBT/1/Rev.12, Part 1, 4.3.1.7 
12 G/TBT/W/400