G/TBT/GEN/199  
 
 23 June 2016  
(16-3411)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 THEMATIC SESSION ON STANDARDS 
14 JUNE 2016 
REPORT BY THE MODERATOR TO THE TBT COMMITTEE  
This Report was delivered by the Moderator1 of this Thematic Session of the WTO TBT Committee 
at the meeting of 15-16 June 2016. 
 
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At the Seventh Triennial Review, Members agreed  to continue to hold thematic sessions in 
conjunction with regular meetings of the Committee.2 Members agreed to dedicate the 
14 June 2016 thematic session on standards  to methods of referencing standards in regulation, 
including Members' initiatives or policies that seek to utilize international standards in regulation.3 
The presentations summarized below, as well audio recordings, will be made available through the 
WTO website.4 
 
Panel Referencing standards in regulation 
1.1.  This Panel discussion, moderated by Mr. Guillaume Parent  (Canada), explored the topic of 
referencing standards in regulation. The following presentations were made. 
1.2.  Mr. Warren Merkel5 presented the Revised US Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) 
Circular A-119, published in January 2016. This Circular sets policy on how US government 
agencies should choose and use standards and conformity assessment procedures in Federal 
technical regulations and procurement. There is a strong preference for US government agencies to use voluntary consensus standards or international standards, when appropriate, in lieu of government-unique standards. Voluntary consensus standards are those standards developed by 
voluntary consensus standards bodies which ensure openness, balance of interest, due process, an 
appeal process and consensus in their standards development processes. The Circular seeks to 
ensure the timely updating of regulations incorp orating standards by reference, and established a 
3-5 year time-frame for review of standards incorp orated by reference. In addition, the Circular 
encourages US government agencies to participat e in the development of standards in voluntary 
consensus standards bodies when such participation is in the public interest and is compatible with 
agency missions, for the purpose of helping ensure balance in standards. 
1.3.  Mrs. Silvia Vaccaro
6 explained the contribution of European standards to the establishment 
of the EU Single Market and underlined the effort s made in the EU to ensure coherence between 
national / regional standards and international ones. Concerning methods of referencing, Ms. 
Vaccaro stressed the importance of a transpar ent, open and predictable process in the 
                                               
1 Mr. Guillaume Parent (Canada). This report is provided on the Moderator's own responsibility.  
2 G/TBT/37, para. 8.3. 
3 G/TBT/37, para 4.10. 
4 https://www.wto.org/ english/tratop_e/tbt_e/tbt_e.htm  
5 National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States. 
6 Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry , Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission. 
The full presentation is available in RD/TBT/157. G/TBT/GEN/199 
 
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  development and selection of standards to be referenced. Regulations under the EU's New 
Approach (covering the vast majority of industrial products) make indirect reference to harmonized European standards developed by th e three European standardization organizations 
CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, meaning that referenced  standards remain voluntary. Another major 
advantage of indirect reference vs direct reference is that legislation does not need to be amended 
at every revision of the standard. The European Commission does not develop standards itself but 
can request that European standards bodies develop a standard to support regulation and policy. 
The EU New Approach and European standardization support a level playing field in the EU internal 
market, by ensuring that there was one standard for one product (while the use by manufacturers 
of alternative technical solutions to demonstrate compliance remained possible): EU Member State national standards bodies were required to with draw conflicting standards upon adoption of a 
European standard. Overall, the EU New Approach provides transparency, stability, predictability 
and coherence in the EU internal market, while facilitating trade. 
1.4.  Mr. Anthony Quinn
7 gave an overview of ASTM's work in developing standards over its 100 
years of existence. He emphasised the need for standards to evolve so as to remain relevant for 
regulators. In this respect, regulators from around the world are looking at standards for their technical quality and no one standards body can assist them with this goal. He noted that, over 
the years, ASTM's 12,000 international standards have been increasingly used by countries other 
than the United States: 6,900 ASTM standards have been cited by 75 nations. He also remarked that ASTM, which has 30,000 members, has entered into 95 MoUs with standardizing bodies from developing countries. 
1.5.  Mr. Hervé Gauthier
8 described the relationship between the European standardization 
organizations (CEN, CENELEC, ETSI) and their international counterparts (ISO, IEC, ITU). The objective was to promote coherence and avoid duplication, and provide one single entry point for 
EU stakeholders to participate in national, regional and international standardization. The linkages 
between ISO and CEN, and IEC and CENELEC, we re formalized in the Vienna Agreement and 
Dresden Agreement, respectively. Under the Vienna Agreement, both CEN and ISO retain the 
initiative to launch work on a new standard, depending on the needs of stakeholders, and 
documents are presented for simultaneous adop tion in both bodies. The Dresden Agreement 
creates an even stronger relationship between  CENELEC and IEC, by giving preference to 
undertaking work on new standards at IEC, and 72% of CENELEC published standards are identical 
to IEC standards. ETSI has a broad international cooperation network, which includes, in addition 
to international and regional partners, also a number of global fora and consortia, in order to reflect the nature and the needs of ICT standardization. Standards serve as a co-regulation tool in 
the EU, in that regulation establishes the essential health, safety and environmental requirements 
("the what"), while standards provide one – or more ways - of fulfilling these requirements ("the how to"). 
1.6.  Ms. Nicole Henry
9 started her presentation by emphasizing standards' important role of 
addressing relevant objectives, such as health an d environment, while also facilitating trade. When 
standards attain such balance, they can serv e as tools for the improvement of laws and 
regulations. This, she said, underscores the impo rtance of fostering the collaboration between 
regulators and standardizing bodies, which she described as a "win-win situation". In this respect, 
she gave an overview of Australia's framework for facilitating and promoting such collaboration, and relevant publications. Under this framework, Australia's Department of Industry, Innovation 
and Science collaborates and liaises with national standardizing bodies (the National Measurement 
Institute, Standards Australia, the National Association of Testing Authorities, and the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand) to improve regulatory outcomes for the 
Australian Government. She also highlighted the importance of countries like Australia, which is a 
federation, to also promote coordination and harmonization across all jurisdictional levels. 
1.7.  Reflecting on the presentations made, Mr. Guillaume Parent  (moderator) emphasized four 
key take-away messages. First, he noted the importance of recognizing that standards evolve over 
                                               
7 Director of Public Policy and International Trade, ASTM International. The full presentation is available 
in RD/TBT/156. 
8 Unit Manager, International Cooperation, CEN/CENELEC. The full presentation is available in 
RD/TBT/158. 
9 Manager Trade Facilitation Policy, Department of Industry, Innovation and Sc ience, Australia. The full 
presentation is available in RD/TBT/159. G/TBT/GEN/199 
 
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  time in light of latest technological developments and the need for regulators to maintain sufficient 
flexibility in terms of how those standards are re ferenced in regulations; i.e. whether through 
incorporation by reference, direct reference or indirect reference. Second, he underscored that 
standards development organizations should not work in silos, and should instead strive to work in 
collaborative ways, including with international counterparts such as ISO, IEC or ITU, to promote 
coherence and avoid duplication. Third, and along the same lines, he stressed the need for greater 
collaboration between regulators and standardizin g bodies, which is crucial for coherence since 
standards are often referenced in regulation. Fo urth, he pointed to the objective of pursuing 
harmonization of standards and regulatory policies within jurisdictions across national and sub-national levels. 
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