G/TBT/GEN/156  
 
4 November 2013  
(13-6094)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
THEMATIC SESSION ON SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT  
AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
29 OCTOBER 2013 
Chairman's Report1 
 
This Report was delivered by the Chairman of the WTO TBT Committee at the meeting of 
30-31 October 2013. 
_______________ 
 
1.  The Sixth Triennial Review emphasized th e need to focus and deepen the work of the 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (the "TBT Committee") in specific areas, including special and differential treatment (SDT) and technical assistance (TA). In order to further this 
work, Members agreed to dedicate time to topics addressed in decisions and recommendations 
agreed during triennial reviews.
2 I would like to report on the session held on 29 October on SDT 
and TA. The final programme containing the names and titles of the presentations made during the thematic session is annexed to this statement. I also recall that the Secretariat provided a 
background document contained in JOB/TBT/65. 
2.  On technical assistance and special and diffe rential treatment, we had a rich exchange about 
lessons learned and remaining challenges based on the experiences of the EU, Germany, Kenya, 
Sweden, Korea, the United States and China. Usef ul interventions were also made from several 
delegations. On technical assistance in particul ar, the presentations illustrated the commitment by 
donors and recipients to improve the implemen tation of the TBT Agreement, foster good 
regulatory practice through the reinforcement of national and regional legal frameworks on TBT, 
and strengthen the various elements of technical infrastructure.  
3.  Several delegations emphasized that technical assistance should be demand driven, and should 
take place against the backdrop of a high degree of  donor coordination and an appropriate level of 
political support. It was noted that there is "no one size fits all", and that technical assistance 
should take fully into account the conditions prevailing in recipient countries. Tailoring technical assistance to the specific needs of recipients through appropriate needs and risk assessments is 
considered critical in this regard.  
4.  Other "best practices" that can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of TBT-related TA were 
also highlighted. These include: setting measurable targets; favouring long-term partnerships 
between donor and recipients instead of one-off su pport; and, fostering channels between national 
TBT structures on the one hand, and regional and international structures on the other. In addition, it was deemed important to find ways to maximize synergies among regional partners, while simultaneously pursuing cooperation on a bilateral basis. Regarding stakeholder 
participation, it was suggested that the involvement of local experts is a critical condition to 
increase the degree of technical assistance "ownership" by recipients.  
                                               
1 Mr. Jingo Kikukawa (Japan). Th is Report is provided on the Chairman's own responsibility. 
2 The latest decisions and recommendations are contained in Sections E and F of G/TBT/32.  Previous 
decisions and recommendations are contained in Sections V and VI of G/TBT/1/Rev.10. G/TBT/GEN/156 
 
- 2 - 
 
  5.  In terms of challenges, although increasing the engagement of the private sector was found to 
pose a particular challenge in some developing country Members, it was emphasized that such 
engagement is essential; it allows regulators to draw on the expertise of the private sector in the development and use of standards and regulations,  and could be a good way of identifying trade-
related concerns. 
6.  More specifically on special and differential treatment, we heard how the EU has integrated the 
development dimension into its rulemaking process. Specifically, under the European 
Commission's Impact Assessment Guidelines, impact assessment should establish, among other 
things, whether a proposed initiative by the EU has international impacts, including on trade relations with third countries, including developing countries – taking as benchmark the EU's own development policy. Economic, social, and environmental impacts on developing countries are 
considered in the impact assessment. The EU emphasized that, in designing rules, EU regulators 
must strike an appropriate balance between the various interests at stake. This happens on a case-by-case basis and is not subject to any "hard and fast" rules. For example, while the 
Commission may consider alternative options if an impact assessment finds adjustment costs on 
developing countries to be disproportionate in relation to the legitimate objectives being pursued, at other times the public policy objective in ques tion may be important enough to override such 
considerations.   
7.  Also on SDT, we heard from the WTO Secretar iat on relevant work in the Committees on Trade 
and Development (CTD) and Sanitary and Phytos anitary Measures (SPS). It was noted, for 
example, that in 2004 the SPS Committee had adopte d a notification procedure (revised in 2009) 
to enhance transparency of SDT in favour of developing Member countries, but this procedure had 
not been used to date.  
8.  In the general discussion , China presented some preliminary ideas and views on possible 
actions by the Committee in the area of SDT, and proposed the development of guidelines in this 
regard. Reference was made to an earlier submis sion from Ecuador (JOB/TBT/49) – and Ecuador 
too made a statement in this regard (circulated as JOB/TBT/71 on 30 October 2013). Several 
Members supported China's proposal. Other Members considered that there was significant scope 
for the Committee to continue information exchange to seek concrete ideas on how to move forward before considering a discussion of guidelines. 
9.  On a personal note , I think the thematic session was useful.  It was an in-depth consideration 
of both SDT and TA in the TBT area – and it ex posed the links between the two.  As stressed by 
several of you at our informal meeting earlier this week, this is the intended purpose of the thematic sessions: information exchange. I would emphasize two points from the session. First, it 
became apparent to me how far some Members ha ve come in addressing challenges in the TBT 
area; yes, challenges remain and I recognize this – but clearly significant progress has also been made. Second, the link between TA and SDT is strong. There are a range of on-going efforts on 
technical assistance that may be relevant to the implementation of both Articles 11 and 12 of the 
TBT Agreement. In line with the recommendation from the Sixth Triennial Review, I would encourage Members to exchange views and explore ideas on the implementation of Article 12, as 
well as on how to enhance the effective operation of this Article
3 - but the Committee needs also 
to keep up the important work related to Article 11, on technical assistance. I take this opportunity 
to stress again that this Committee has shown a strong appetite for concrete and practical progress while remaining Member-driven – so I wish to encourage Members to continue their 
engagement on these two important topics. 
 
 
_______________ 
                                               
3 G/TBT/32, paragraph 22. G/TBT/GEN/156 
 
- 3 - 
 
   
ANNEX 
FINAL LIST OF PRESENTATIONS1 
 
1.  Members' exchange of experiences  
a. European Union : "EU approach to Special and Differential Treatment and TBT-related 
Technical Assistance", Mr. Fabrizio Sacchetti, European Commission; and, "Experiences 
of German development cooperation in the field of quality infrastructure", Ms Melanie 
Grad, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. 
b. Kenya and Sweden : "The Swedish TBT-Mentorship Programme", Ms Lucy Wanjiru 
Ikonya, Kenya Bureau of Standards; and,  "Experiences gained from TBT-related 
projects", Ms Heidi Lund, Swedish National Board of Trade. 
c. Korea : "The International Standards Infrastruc ture Cooperation Program - How to share 
our experience with partner countries", Ms Sunghyun Park, Senior Researcher, Korean 
Standards Association. 
d. United States : "The Standards Alliance: Linking the TBT Agreement with Technical 
Infrastructure Development", Mr Gary Kushnier, Vice President for International Policy at 
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). 
2.  Other speakers  
a. Relevant work in the WTO Committee on Trade and Development (CTD Secretariat, 
Mr. Harish Iyer). 
b. Relevant work in the WTO SPS Committee (S PS Secretariat, Mrs Christiane Wolff). 
3.  Discussion 
a. China : Working towards Guidelines on Implementation of Special and Differential 
Treatment Provisions of the WTO TBT Agr eement (Mr. Xinhua Sun, First Secretary, 
Permanent Mission of the Peoples' Republic of China to the WTO). 
 
 
 
__________  
                                               
1 Draft programmes were circulated on 11 July 2013 (JOB/TBT/50), and, reflecting further input from 
Members, on 1 October 2013 (JOB/TBT/50/Rev.1), and again on 21 October 2013 (JOB/TBT/50/Rev.2).