G/TBT/W/418  
 
1 June 2015  
(15-2912)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  GOOD REGULATORY PRACTICE – REGULATORY IMPACT ASSESSMENT (RIA); RISK 
ASSESSMENT; DRAFT TECHNICAL REGULATIONS AND CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT 
PROCEDURES NOT AVAILABLE IN WTO WORKING LANGUAGES 
SEVENTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW 
Submission from South Africa  
The following submission, dated 1 June 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of South Africa. 
 
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1  GOOD REGULATORY PRACTICE – RE GULATORY IMPACT ASSESSMENT (RIA) 
1.1.  In the regular and informal meetings of the TBT Committee and during the previous Triennial 
Reviews of the TBT Agreement, the TBT Commi ttee Members agreed that Good Regulatory 
Practice (GRP) can contribute to the improved and effective implementation of the substantive 
obligations under the TBT Agreement, especially the Article 2.2 provision to only regulate for 
legitimate objectives that does not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade.  
1.2.  In its work on GRP, TBT Committee Members recognised that regulatory impact assessment 
(RIA) is an important tool to facilitate GRP. During the Fourth Triennial Review, the Committee agreed to share experiences, amongst others, "on the use of tools, such as regulatory impact 
assessment, to assist regulatory decision making ". In this regard the Committee held a Workshop 
on GRP, on 18 to 19 March 2008, which included a session on RIA.
 
1.3.  Consequently, the Committee entertained a variety of exchanges of experiences on various 
aspects of GRP to assist Members with a deep er understanding of the steps and mechanisms 
involved. In the Sixth Triennial Review, the Committee agreed that the work to identify a non-
exhaustive list of voluntary mechanisms and relate d principles of Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) 
to guide Members in the efficient and effective implementation of the TBT Agreement across the 
regulatory lifecycle, should also include, but were not limited to the following areas1: 
a. "transparency and public consultation mechanisms;  
b. mechanisms for assessing policy options, including the need to regulate (e.g. how to 
evaluate the impact of alternatives through an evidence-based process, including 
through the use of regulatory impact assessment (RIA) tools); 
c. internal (domestic) coordination mechanisms; 
d. approaches to minimizing burdens on ec onomic operators (e.g. how to implement 
mechanisms that ensure reflection of the TBT Agreement's substantive obligations in the design and development of regulations); 
e. implementation and enforcement mechanisms (e.g. how to provide practical, timely and 
informative guidance needed for compliance); 
                                               
1 G/TBT/32 para 4(a) page 3. G/TBT/W/418 
 
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  f. mechanisms for review of existing technical regulations and conformity assessment 
procedures (e.g. how to evaluate the effectiveness and continued adequacy of existing measures, including with a view to assessing the need for amendment, simplification or possible repeal); and, 
g. mechanisms for taking account of the specia l development, financial and trade needs of 
developing Members in the preparation and application of measures, with a view to ensuring that they do not create unnecessary obstacles to exports from developing 
Members." 
1.4.  In South Africa's view, RIA is an extension of a broader commitment to the quality of 
regulation through evidence-based policy and decision making. The advantage of instituting RIA is that it adds structure, predictability, and methodological clarity to assessment while also ensuring 
that the right information is available for decision making, including the consideration of 
alternatives.  
1.5.  The basic rationale for RIA is to ensure that all regulatory proposals serve the policy 
objectives of government as effectively and effici ently as possible. As a methodology for assessing 
the likely consequences of proposed regulation and the actual consequences of existing regulations, it assists policy-makers and deci sion-makers in the design, implementation and 
monitoring of improvements for regulatory systems.  
1.6.  The application of RIA improves accountabili ty and transparency in policy making. It makes 
transparent the expected costs and benefits of options for different stakeholders and the implications for compliance as well as the cost of enforcement for government. The RIA process 
helps to: 
 think through the full impact of proposals;  
 identify alternative options for achieving the desired policy change; 
 assess options (regulatory and non-regulatory); 
 ensure that consultation is meaningful and reaches the widest possible range of 
stakeholders; 
 determine whether the benefits justify the costs; 
 determine whether particular sectors are disproportionately affected; and, 
 determine whether the proposed measure will address the objectives of government.  
1.7.  As RIA is an extremely important tool and vital mechanism in the regulatory decision making 
process in the step to assess options and to conf irm the need for government intervention and to 
set policy objectives, South Africa is of the view that the Committee should continue with information sharing on RIA. Although South Africa recognises that the manner in which RIA is done 
may differ from country to country and also for the policy objectives pursued, there should be 
some widely used universal key steps in the RIA process used among the WTO Membership.  
1.1  Proposal  
1.8.  Therefore, South Africa would like to propose that the Committee shares information and 
continue discussions to foster a better understanding of how RIAs are prepared and how the TBT Agreement provisions and international trade obligations are addressed in RIAs. From this information exchange the Committee could identify a non-exhaustive list of voluntary key steps in 
the RIA process to serve as a guideline
2 for RIA as part of the Committee's work on GRP. Such a 
list could assist regulators and governments to make use of international best practice for RIA, 
thereby assisting in capacity building and the impl ementation of the TBT Agreement provisions by 
contributing to the prevention and elimination of unnecessary obstacles to international trade. Additionally, the development of training courses such as the WTO e-learning platform will also 
greatly assist with capacity building in this regard.   
                                               
2 Such a non-exhaustive list should only be a vo luntary guideline that is excluded from WTO Dispute 
Settlement Procedures and as interpretative notes fo r Dispute Settlement Panell ists and Appellate Body 
Members.  G/TBT/W/418 
 
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  2  RISK ASSESSMENT 
2.1.  Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement requires th at technical regulations shall not be more trade-
restrictive than necessary to fulfil a legitimate objective, taking account of the risks non-fulfilment would create. Furthermore, the later part of the Article also prescribes, " In assessing such risks, 
relevant elements of consideration are, inter alia: available scientific and technical information 
related processing technology or intended end-uses of products ". 
2.1  Proposal 
2.2.  Risk assessment is also an important part of  RIA. To further contribute to GRP, South Africa 
proposes that the Committee also considers the sh aring of experiences of Members on how their 
respective regulators undertake risk assessment.  This sharing of experiences can assist the 
Committee to develop a guideline on the possible elements that could be considered in risk 
assessment under RIA, in addition to the 4 elements, available scientific and technical information, 
related processing technology or intended end-uses of product mentioned in Article 2.2 of the Agreement. 
3  DRAFT TECHNICAL REGULATIONS AND CO NFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES NOT 
AVAILABLE IN WTO WORKING LANGUAGES 
3.1.  To ensure that technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures do not create 
unnecessary obstacles to international trade, one of the fundamental rights of WTO Members in 
terms of Articles 2.9.4 and 5.6.4 of the TBT Agre ement, is the right to provide comments on draft 
technical regulations and/or conformity assessment procedures of other Members that should be taken into account before such draft technical regulations and/or conformity assessment 
procedures are adopted and enter into force.  
3.2.  In the Fifth Triennial Review in 2009, the Committee "noted that, in the absence of a 
translation, Section 6 of the notification format "Description of the content", as well as prompt 
replies to specific questions on the content, are important sources of information for understanding 
the proposed measure and the main basis for comments from interested parties."
3 In light of the 
above, the TBT Committee agreed4: 
a. to reaffirm its recommendation that Members share, on a voluntary basis, unofficial 
translations of documents referred to in notifications, for example by posting them on Members' websites or by providing these unofficial translations to the WTO Secretariat for further dissemination throug h the agreed mechanism; and, 
b. to encourage Members, in cases when a noti fied document is not in one of the WTO 
official languages, to provide a comprehensive description of the measure in Section 6 "Description of the content" of the notification format."  
3.3.  South Africa welcomes the efforts of so me Members to implement the recommendations of 
the Committee on draft technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that are not available in one of the WTO working languages. Alth ough South Africa fully recognises the right of 
WTO Members to publish draft technical regulations in their country official languages, the fact 
remains that where a WTO Member and its exporters, who are interested in the detailed content of a draft technical regulation and/or conformity assessment procedure that were notified, are not familiar with a notifying Member's official language in which a draft technical regulation and/or 
conformity assessment procedure was published, th at Member is in a disadvantage to present 
relevant considered comment in time, before the closure of the comment period. The description in Section 6 "Description of the content" of the noti fication format of the draft technical regulation 
notified does not always provide enough information as the possible obstacle to international trade 
is mostly contained in the detailed text.  
3.4.  Taking into consideration the rights and obligations of Members in terms of the TBT 
Agreement that, amongst others include, equal tr eatment, non-discrimination, and the right to 
                                               
3 G/TBT/26, para. 51. 
4 G/TBT/26, 12 November 2009, para. 52. G/TBT/W/418 
 
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  comment on draft technical regulations notified by ot her Members, as well as the time that it takes 
to obtain a copy of draft technical regulations not published on internet websites, the time provided to present comments and the cost and time that it may take to do an unofficial translation, South Africa is proposing that in the Seventh Triennial Review, the Committee again 
consider how English, French and Spanish translations of draft technical regulations that are not 
published in one of the WTO official working languages, can be made available to Members and their exporters who are interested in it in a effective, efficient and transparent way.  
3.1  Proposal  
3.5.  The TBT Committee is therefore requested to look further into ways on how draft technical 
regulations and/or conformity assessment procedures  can be made available in one of the official 
WTO languages expeditiously to enable developing countries and their exporters to become 
f a m i l i a r  w i t h  t h e m  i n  o r d e r  t o  s u b m i t  c o m m e n t s  o n  p r o v i s i o n s  t h a t  m a y  c a u s e  u n n e c e s s a r y  
obstacles to international trade.  
 
 
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