G/TBT/W/617  
 
26 March 2019  
(19-1904) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
EUROPEAN UNION - REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARL IAMENT AND OF THE 
COUNCIL LAYING DOWN RULES AND PROCE DURES FOR COMPLIANCE  WITH AND 
ENFORCEMENT OF UNION  HARMONIZATION LEGIS LATION ON PRODUCTS A ND 
AMENDING RELEVANT RE GULATIONS  
STATEMENT BY CHINA  TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
6 AND 7 MARCH 2019  
The following communication, dated 26 March 201 9, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of China . 
 
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1.   We appreciate the EU 's implementation of WTO transparency commitments by issuing Notice 
G/TBT/N/EU/542, providing the opportunity for members to comment, and considering those 
comments in revising the draft regulation (the "Regulation"). We have noticed the latest draft 
published by the EU dated 14 February 2019. In accordance with relevant provisions of the TBT 
Agreement, China would like to provide additional concerns, w hich are set forth below:  
A. Narrow the Scope of Covered Products, especially for low -risk products  
2.  The applicable products of this Regulation are mainly industrial products and consumer goods 
subject to 69 technical regulations such as the RED Directive under the EU CE certification 
framework. However, the Regulation does not consider the risk level and  or volume of each product 
and imposes the same requirements on all products – which is not based on scientific principles.  
3.  It is recommended to refer to the CE certification system for risk assessment and to exempt low -
risk products.  
B. Add an exemption for  cross-border e -commerce  
4.  Cross -border e -commerce goods are usually small (as recognized in the EU's currently applicable 
regulation of cross -border e -commerce which exempts parcels of value less than 22 Euros from 
customs duties), sold directly from overs eas merchants to consumers for their own use, and not for 
re-sale in the EU market. Despite this, the proposed regulations require each overseas seller to 
establish an economic operator, which will seriously affect the development of cross -border e -
commerc e, damage EU consumer welfare, and the interests of exporting companies.  
5.  It is recommended to add a clause that "does not apply to goods purchased by consumers in 
cross-border e -commerce for their personal use."  
C. Add exemptions for SMEs  (small and medium en terprises)  
6.  The proposed regulations do not fully consider different types of enterprises; and will significantly 
increase costs for SMEs outside of the EU. At the same time, SMEs are often in the middle of the 
supply chain and accordingly difficult for them to obtain information and authorization from 
manufacturers.  G/TBT/W/617  
 
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  7.  It is proposed to add an exemption for SMEs in this Regulation. For example, according to the 
EU's criteria for small, medium and micro enterprises, micro -enterprises with an annual turnover of 
less than 2 million euros should be exempted; for small enterprises with an annual turnover 
of 2 million to 10 million euros, the EU government and member states should provide assistance in 
identifying economic operators for authorization.  
D. Expand the c ategories of economic operators  
8.  The categories of economic operators listed in Article 4.2 of the Regulations only include 
importers, parties authorized by the manufacturers, and fulfilment service cent res. The Regulation 
does not contemplate current globa l supply chains, which include manufacturers, wholesalers, 
traders, distributors, retailers, etc. and ignores current patterns of international trade.  
9.  It is suggested to add some kinds of economic operators, such as "an authorized representative 
who has a written mandate from the manufacturer" and "other agents in the EU that are able to 
assist market supervision authorities to trace back to the manufacturer".  
E. Permit the use of electronic labels  
10.  The proposed regulations require the application of physical  labels, which is contrary to the 
trend of information technology development and the EU's vision to promote the development of a 
circular economy and environmental protection.  
11.  It is proposed to add a clause in Article 4.4 that "allows the enterprise to info rm the consumer 
of the name, trademark, contact information and postal address of the economic operator through 
online or electronic means".  
F. Provide simplified procedures for trade partners with bilateral cooperation with the EU 
and market supervision auth orities  
12.  The EU has established a good bilateral cooperation mechanism with most trade partners 
through the RAPEX system, which can quickly trace the manufacturer's responsibility through the 
government departments of the exporting partners where the produc t is manufactured. At the same 
time, leading e -commerce platforms have also entered into a market supervision cooperation 
agreement with the European Union, and adopted measures such as rapid removal of non -compliant 
products to effectively protect the int erests of EU consumers.  
13.  It is proposed that Article 35 of the proposed Regulations provide simplified procedures for 
products from exporting partners with good market supervision and international cooperation with 
the EU, and reduce the frequency of sampli ng and the number of random inspections.  
G. Provide clear unified testing organization, test environment and testing methods  
14.  The Union testing facility is critical to the technical execution and interpretation of the 
Regulation, ensuring consistency between t est standards and test results. However, the EU has not 
yet designated a unified testing organization for any category of products, which makes it difficult 
for companies to conduct compliance assessments of products in a timely manner in accordance 
with t he requirements of the Regulation.  
15.  It is recommended that the EU clarify the operation and cooperation procedures of such testing 
institutions, and publish the unified testing organization and its testing environment and testing 
methods in a timely manner.  
H. Prepare the implementing rules and guidelines for the Regulation  
16.  In order to facilitate proper implementation of the Regulation, it is recommended  that the EU 
promptly issue the implementation rules and guidelines for the following provisions:  
(1) Definit ion of Article 3 "Security Risk".  G/TBT/W/617  
 
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  (2) Article 18.3: The starting date of "10 working days or more" and it is recommended 
that the EU calculate from the date on which the economic practitioner receives the 
notification from the market regulator.  
(3) The uni fied testing body of Article 21.  
(4) Penalty for section 41.  
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