G/TBT/GEN/242  
 
13 February 2018  
(18-0960) Page: 1/2 
 Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N ACTIVITIES  
RELATED TO THE WORK OF THE WTO TBT COMMI TTEE  
STATEMENT BY  THE UNITED STATES  
This document contains information provided by the United States  at the TBT Committee meeting 
of 8-9 November 2017  under Agenda Item 3 (Technical  Cooperation Activities ).  
 
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1  APEC  
1.  At the third Senior Officials Meeting in August 2017, the United States organized a workshop, 
"Enhancing Regulator Expertise on the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. " This 
workshop examined a number of issues related to the TBT Agreement and regulation in detail, 
including the relevance of the TBT Agreement for regulators, WTO jurisprudence related to the 
agreement, conformity assessment, and regulatory cooperation.  
2.  The United States also worke d with Vietnam, the APEC host economy, as well as other partners 
(Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) to organize the 10th conference on good regulatory 
practices.  This conference examined key issues related to GRP, including regulatory impact 
assessment, transparency in the development of regulations, and effective public consultation, and 
rulemaking in responses to crises.  
3.  We are very pleased that both of these programs had approximately 100 participants.  We 
received good feedback and look forward to deve loping additional workshops.  
4.  We worked with our partners to fund the participation of  officials from non -APEC ASEAN 
Member States so that they could benefit from this suite of events.  
5.  Finally, the United States held a workshop on electronic labeling for IC T products.  In a rapidly 
evolving technology environment, regulators face challenges in determining ICT product 
conformance using both user -friendly and cost -effective tools, which can contribute to the 
development of technical barriers to trade. As device s get smaller, there is less space on them to 
display any required markings or labels.  The workshop examined the different ways that 
economies have used electronic labelling to address this issue and developed a set of best 
practices.  
6.  Taken together, these  efforts will help economies implement the TBT Agreement, strengthen 
their domestic regulatory systems, and address emerging issues related to trade in ICT products.  
2  STANDARDS ALLIANCE  
7.  I would like to provide an update of some of our recent activities unde r the Standards Alliance. 
The Standards Alliance is a funding facility designed to provide capacity -building assistance to 
developing countries, specifically related to implementation of the TBT Agreement. The main 
objectives of the program, which will inf orm the activities to be conducted, include:  
 Increased understanding of WTO TBT principles  G/TBT/GEN/242  
 
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   Implementation of the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and 
Application of Standards  
 Improved transparency in the development and/or modification o f technical regulations; 
and  
 More robust and transparent engagement with the private sector in standards 
development and use  
8.  This initiative is a public -private partnership, led by the American National Standards Institute 
(ANSI), and the U.S. Agency for International Development.  Last November, representatives from 
ANSI gave two presentations to the TBT Committee that highlighted Standards Alliance successes.  
9.  In 2016, the Standards Alliance program was expanded to include five new countries in Sub -
Sahara n Africa: Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mozambique, Senegal, and Zambia. The United States has 
been working closely with national standards bodies, USAID mission and project staff in these 
countries to provide targeted technical assistance.  
10.  Earlier this year, the United States organized a three -part workshop series in West Africa on 
standards -related topics relevant to three key sectors: transportation infrastructure, water, and 
energy.  The program included a series of workshops in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Senegal . The 
event provided an opportunity to share perspectives and increase engagement between U.S. and 
participating West African countries.  
11.  In October, the United States welcomed a delegation of officials from West Africa to the 
United States to participate i n a weeklong training activity.  The program covered topics related to 
risk-based approaches to consumer protection.  The group included delegates from four countries 
in West Africa.  The orientation visit consisted of site visits and presentations that intro duced the 
delegates to various aspects of the risk -based consumer protection systems. The visit also 
addressed topics related to trade facilitation (including import safety and border measures), 
standards, conformity assessment, technical regulations (incl uding relevant tests and certifications 
of imports), and the role of the government and the private sector.  
12.  I invite Members interested in additional information to download the most recent annual 
report on the Standards Alliance, which is available on the  website of the American National 
Standards Institute.  
 
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