RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/M/37 
22 December 2005 
 (05-6247) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  
 
   
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 2 NOVEMBER 2005 
 
Chairperson:  Mr. Margers Krams (Latvia)
 
 
Note by the Secretariat1 
 
I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA......................................................................................................... .......2  
II. IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE AGREEMENT ......................................2  
A. STATEMENT FROM MEMBERS UNDER ARTICLE 15.2.....................................................................................2  
B. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS ..........................................................................................................................2  
1. New Concerns................................................................................................................... ........................2  
2. Concerns Previously Raised ..................................................................................................... ...............5  
C. OTHER MATTERS ............................................................................................................................... ............7  
III. ANNUAL TRANSITIONAL REVIEW (TRM) MANDATED IN PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE 
PROTOCOL OF ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA .............................................7  
IV. TRIENNIAL REVIEW............................................................................................................... ...............14  
A. ISSUES ARISING FROM THE THIRD TRIENNIAL REVIEW ..............................................................................14  
1. Workshop on Different Approaches to Conformity Assessment ...........................................................14  
2. Technical Assistance ........................................................................................................... ...................14  
3. Other Outstanding Issues....................................................................................................... ................15  
B. PREPARATION OF THE FOURTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW ...................................................................................16  
1. Conformity Assessment Procedures....... ........................................................................................ ........17  
2. Technical Assistance ........................................................................................................... ...................17  
3. Special and Differential Treatment............................................................................................. ...........18  
4. Intellectual Property Right Issues in Standardization ...... .................................................................... 18 
5. Labelling...................................................................................................................... ...........................20  
6. Good Regulatory Practice ..... .................................................................................................. ..............21  
7. Transparency................................................................................................................... .......................22  
V. TECHNICAL COOPERATION .......................................................................................................... ....22 
VI. REPORT (2005) OF THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE..................23  
VII. UPDATING BY OBSERVERS.......................................................................................................... .......23  
VIII. OTHER BUSINESS ................................................................................................................. ..................23  
IX. DATE OF NEXT MEETING........................................................................................................... .........24  
ANNEX 1: WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE FOURTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW ....................................25  
 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretaria t's own responsibility and is without prejudice to the 
positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. G/TBT/M/37 
Page 2  
 
I. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The Committee adopted the agenda contained in WTO/AIR/2690.   
II. IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE AGREEMENT 
A. S
TATEMENT FROM MEMBERS UNDER ARTICLE 15.2 
2. The Chairman  drew the Committee's attention to a revised Statement on Implementation and 
Administration of the Agreement, subm itted by the European Communities 
(G/TBT/2/Add.12/Rev.3).2  He reminded the Committee that the latest information on Members' 
enquiry points was available on the TBT web page.3 
B. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS4 
1. New Concerns 
(i) The People's Republic of China – Administration on the Control of Pollution Caused by 
Electronic Information Products (G/TBT/N/CHN/140) 
3. The representatives of Japan  and the European Communities  raised concerns about relevant 
regulations and standards for the implementation of the above mentioned measure.  They noted that 
comments would be submitted and requested China to give them full consideration. 
4. The representative of the People's Republic of China  took note of the comments made. 
(ii) United States - DTV Tuner Requirements (G/TBT/N/USA/128) 
5. The representative of the People's Republic of China  raised concerns on the above mentioned 
notified regulation, circulated on 8 July 2005.  He noted that the notification provided Members 
with a comment period of 19 days, which was too short.  It did not allow enough time for the 
Chinese regulatory authorities and interested industries to translate, distribute, study and make 
comments on the notified regulation.  China's TBT Enquiry Point had requested the United States to 
extend the comment period, but the request had b een refused.  He believed that the proposed 
regulation was not an emergency measure and as ked the US to explain the reason why the 
Committee's decision to provide Members with at least 60 days for comments had not been 
followed.   
6. The representative of China reques ted the United States to take  into account his delegation's 
comments.  In particular, he requested the United States not to advance the original time schedule 
for the inclusion of digital tuners to new TV recei vers from 1 July 2007 to 31 December 2006.  He 
believed that the revision of the rule would bring about additional costs, and noted that, while the 
international price level of colour TV market wa s rather low, the price of spare parts had not 
decreased rapidly as the US had expected.  Th e inclusion of a tuner in TV receivers would 
inevitably increase its cost, especially those of 13 inches or under in size, and in certain cases the 
cost of the tuner might exceed the cost of the TV receiver itself.  He recalled that China was the 
biggest producer and exporter of TV  receivers, especially those of 13 inches or under. If the date on 
which all new television receiving equipment had to include a tuner to receive over-the-air DTV 
                                                      
2 The latest list of statements under Article 15.2 is cont ained in document G/TBT/GEN/1/Rev.2.  The latest list of 
enquiry point contacts is contained in G/TBT/ENQ/26.  
3 http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_ e/tbt_e/tbt_enquiry_points_e.htm 
4 At this meeting, in view of time constraints, priority was given to the discussion of new trade concerns.  
Previously raised specific trade concerns were discussed at the end of the meeting.   G/TBT/M/37 
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broadcast signals was advanced by half a year, th e trade of TV receivers with the US would be 
significantly affected.   
7. It was pointed out that the United States had envisioned that only when ground DTV users 
had reached 85 per cent of total TV users, would th e analog television service be ended.  However, 
the users of DTV products in America only claimed a minor part of total TV users, and more than 80 
per cent of American TV users wa tched DTV programs through cable or satellite television services.  
That had prevented the US government from specifying the date of termination of the analog TV 
broadcast.  Under such circumstances, the representative of China believed that it was not necessary 
to advance the date to require all new television receivers to include a DTV tuner.  At present, the US 
ATSC5 standards did not apply to DTV service, and the TV suppliers did not adopt the ATSC ground 
wireless standards in their mobile DTV experiments.   
8. The notified US draft regulation would increase the cost for the manufacturers, and, as a 
consequence, the price of the relevant products.  These costs would ultimately be transferred to 
consumers.  The United States was requested to refr ain from advancing its original time schedule for 
the inclusion of a digital tuner in new TV receivers,  and that this requirement should not apply to TV 
receivers of a size of less than 13 inches. 
9. The representative of the United States  wondered whether China had been able to submit 
comments in response to the notification and, if so, whether it was possible to receive a copy.  
10. The representative of China  confirmed that comments had been sent to the US Federal 
Communication Committee. 
(iii) European Communities – Directive 2005/32 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 6 July 2005 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-
using products and amending Council Directive 92/42/EEC and Directives 96/57/EC and 2000/55/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council  
11. The representative of China
 noted that the above Directive on energy using products 
("EuP Directive") had been published on 22 July 2005 and had entered into force 20 days later.  
According to the Directive, EU Member States sh ould bring into force the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions necessary to  comply with it by 11 August 2007.  He noted that the Directive 
covered a large range of products and required th at the CE marking be affixed to energy-using 
products.  While he recognized the right of the European Communities to introduce the Directive, as 
well as the right of the Member States to implement it so as to promote energy saving and to protect 
the environment, he believed that the measure would create a significant impact on exports from third 
countries, including China, of energy-using prod ucts.  China was concerned that difficulties for 
trading partners might arise because the 25 Memb er States of the European Communities might not 
interpret the Directive consistently. He pointed out that the Directive had not been notified and 
encouraged the European Communities  to do so, even if the Directiv e was of a framework nature.  He 
also encouraged the European Co mmunities to submit a communica tion paper containing a summary 
of the Directive to WT O Members, allowing them an opportunity to provide comments.  His 
delegation hoped that comments from Members co uld be summarized by the European Communities 
and transmitted to the Member States before they changed their laws, regulations or administrative 
provisions on the basis of the Directive.   
12. The representative of China further suggested that the European Communities should conduct 
an impact assessment of the EuP Directive and its related implementation legislation on developing 
countries and, moreover, should take into  account the results of such assessment before  implementing 
the measure.  In addition, he stressed the EC commitment to notify the proposed detailed technical 
                                                      
5 Advanced Television Systems Committee. G/TBT/M/37 
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requirements following the Directive.  Finally, it was also suggested that the European Communities 
could provide technical assistance to developing Members, for instance by means of seminars, or 
training of specialists and that a longer period fo r adaptation should be provided, in accordance with 
the Decision of the Ministers at the Fourth Ministerial Conference.
6 
13. The representative of the European Communities  explained that the Directive 2005/32/EC 
was a framework directive, which did not contain detailed technical regulations. Thus, it had not met 
the requirements necessary to be notified in accordance with Article 2.9.2 or 5.6.2 of the 
TBT Agreement.  While comments from China were  welcome, the already adopted Directive could 
not be notified.  Nevertheless, he assured the Comm ittee that any implementing measure based on the 
EuP Directive would be notified, and Members woul d be given 60 days to provide comments.  He 
further explained that the Europe an Commission would assess all tr ansposition measures, to ensure 
that the Directive was consistently implemented in all 25 Member States.  He pointed out that an 
impact assessment had been conducted, and wo uld be further conducted for the implementing 
measures.  Finally, on the possibility to provide tech nical assistance, he would report back China's 
comments to the experts responsible for this issue. 
(iv) Japan – Handling of comments on notifications 
14. The representative of China  was concerned with the way Japan handled the comments 
received on notifications.  He recalled that, in 2005, China had submitted comments on six 
notifications made by Japan, but had received feedback on only one.  For the other five notifications 
(G/TBT/N/JPN/143, 144, 148, 150 and 151) Japan had indicated that the comments would be 
transmitted to the competent authorities.  However, no feedback had been received. Had the 
comments been taken into account? And if not, why not?  Had the notified regulations been adopted?  
He further recalled that Japan had notified, under  the SPS Agreement, their Positive List System 
(G/SPS/N/JPN/145) and in that case also China had submitted comments.  However, he was 
disappointed that Japan had later stated  that the co mments had not been received, and that this might 
be due to some technical problems.  China requested Japan to reply to comments in a timely manner, through the Enquiry Points or the competent auth orities, and to take the comments into account. 
15. The representative of Japan
 was not in a position to reply on the concern regarding the SPS 
notification.  On the TBT notifications, he was w illing to further discuss the matter bilaterally.  
(v) Colombia – Labelling of footwear (G/TBT/N/COL/45) 
16. The representative of th e European Communities  was concerned that several Members, when 
drafting regulations on the labelling of footwear, included the manufacturer's or the importer's fiscal 
or registration number among the particulars to be indicated on the good.  The above notification had 
been submitted in 2003 and the notified text provided that, in addition to information on the materials 
used for the parts of the shoe, the label should also contain the manufacturer's and/or importer's 
registration number issued by the Colombian Superv ising Authority.  He recalled that the European 
Communities had submitted comments, and that in June 2005 Colombia had notified an amendment 
to its original regulation, as a third addendum to  the original notification (G/TBT/N/COL/45/Add.3).  
Also in this case, comments had been sent in writing to Colombia.   
17. The representative of the Europe an Communities was of the view that this was a case, and not 
the only one, where manufacturers were confronted with excessive labelling requirements.  The 
requirement to indicate the manufacturer's and/or the importer's fiscal or registration number was 
irrelevant for consumers; there was no need to in clude such information on the good itself.  If 
Colombia considered this necessary, then the leg itimate objective could be achieved in a less trade 
restrictive manner, for instance by applying stickers on the packaging  of the goods. 
                                                      
6 WT/MIN(01)/17, paragraph 5.2.  G/TBT/M/37 
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18. The representative of Colombia  informed the Committee that a response to the EC questions 
had recently been provided  through the Colombian Enquiry Point.  She added that the prerequisite of 
the fiscal or registration number on the label was required in Colombia for monitoring reasons, but 
that her authorities were considering eliminating it.  Once this was defined mo re clearly, she would be 
in a better position to provide a final answer to the European Communities.  She took note of the 
concerns expressed and would forward them to the competent authorities in capital. 
(vi) South Africa - Labelling requirements for te xtiles, clothing, shoe s and leather goods 
(G/TBT/N/ZAF/49) 
19. The representative of the European Communities  raised similar concerns on the above 
mentioned notification.  It was noted that the draf t regulation required that the importer registration 
code issued by South African authorities be "permanently applied to the good".  As in the case of 
Colombia, he considered that this requi rement was irrelevant for consumers. 
20. The representative of South Africa  informed the Committee that, following the comments 
received from the European Communities, the Sout h African authorities had decided not to implement 
the regulation on 1 September 2005, as was stated in the notification.  She explained that further technical and legal inputs were being sought, with a view to addressing the concerns raised.   
21. The representative of the United States
 recalled that her delegation had also sent comments to 
the South African authorities and had similar co ncerns to those expressed by the European 
Communities.  Her delegation had also suggested that  South Africa should find less trade restrictive 
alternatives, such as stickers to place after the prod uct had been imported.  She welcomed the fact that 
South Africa had not implemented the regulation, and understood that it was also considering 
withdrawing it. 
(vii) Peru - Infant food (G/TBT/N/PER/11) 
22. The representative of the United States  noted that, on 16 January 2005, Peru had issued a 
Supreme Decree regarding infant food, due to come into effect six months later.  She recalled that her 
delegation had invited Peru to notify the Decree, and appreciated that they had subsequently done so.  
Comments had been provided, but no feedback had been received from Peru.  She hoped that these 
comments would be taken into account, and that sufficient time would be allowed for industries to 
comply with the regulation. 
(viii) China - Health Food Regulation (G/TBT/N/CHN/160) 
23. The representative of the United States  recalled that her delegation had brought to the 
attention of the Chinese Enquiry Point that the abov e mentioned regulation should have been notified. 
In fact, the United States had provided comments on it before the notification was made.  She thanked 
China for subsequently making the notification, and hoped that the comments made be her delegation 
would be taken into consideration. 
24. The representative of the China  welcomed the US comments. 
2. Concerns Previously Raised 
(i) European Communities – Regulation on the Regist ration, Evaluation and Authorisation of 
Chemicals (REACH) (G/TBT/W/208 and G/TBT/N/EEC/52 and Add.1) 
25. The representative of the United States  reiterated her concerns on the proposed EC regulation 
on chemicals.  She understood that discussions of the proposal were at a critical juncture in the 
European legislation process, with a vote by the Eu ropean Parliament expected  after its first reading G/TBT/M/37 
Page 6  
 
in mid-November 2005 and a vote by the European Council expected by the end of November 2005.  
She pointed out that the regulation, as originally proposed, was overly expensive and burdensome, 
and would be difficult to implement effectively.  She hoped that changes to the proposal would result 
in a more streamlined, science-based and cost effective approach. 
26. She recalled that at a previous meeting of the Committee, the European Communities had 
noted that it had provided written statements and ma de a presentation to the Committee, in order to 
explain the proposed regulation.  This had been in response to the potential trade concerns that had 
been raised by a broad range of WTO Members.  Sh e believed, given the on-going debate, that it was 
premature to assert, as the European Communities had done in their response, that there would be no 
trade problems, and that the proposed regulation wo uld not be inconsistent with WTO rules.  She 
welcomed the intention of the European Communities to update its notification to the TBT Committee 
in view of the changes to the proposed regulation, and the opportunity to further engage in substantive 
and constructive dialogue on those changes. 
27. The representative of Canada
 remained concerned about the workability of the proposal in 
certain sectors, and with its impact on trade.  He urged the European Communities to consider the recommendations outlined in Canada's position paper which had been distributed at the TBT Committee meeting in June 2005.  He sought confir mation of the status of requested exemptions, 
including on minerals, ores, concentrates, pulp, paper,  lumber and recyclables.  He also sought further 
clarification about the treatment of alloys, and a possible extension of the three-year timeline for 
registration of metals.  He believed that the cost of conducting assessments on concentrates would be 
disproportionate to the risk, and was of the view that  concentrates should be a low priority.  He urged 
the European Communities not to overlook the aspect of regulatory co-operation, including data 
sharing and mutual recognition, through bilateral or multilateral routes.  The EC representative was 
asked to provide an update on the REACH legislative process. 
28. The representative of Chile
 recalled that her delegation had raised concerns both bilaterally 
and at TBT Committee meetings.  In particular, c oncerns remained regarding minerals and metals, 
considering that polymers could be their substitute s, and they might not be within the scope of 
REACH.  She believed that the REACH system could be very bureaucratic and costly, and informed 
the Committee that Chile was engaging in an analysis  of its impact on exporters of chemicals to the 
European Union.  Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) exporting products of big volume, but 
of a low value, could be specially affected.  Her delegation was also concerned about possible 
substitutions, involving importers who did not register substances coming from third countries and might start substituting them.  She requested the European Communities to simplify the regulation and to consider the effects of REACH on third coun tries.  She hoped that the exception applied to 
polymers could be applied to minerals and metals as well.  
29. The representative of China
 shared the views expressed by the United States and Chile, and 
recalled that China had also submitted comments. 
30. The representative of Mexico  echoed the concerns expressed.  In particular, his delegation 
was concerned about the creation of an agency wh ich would deal with REACH.  His understanding 
was that there could still be other options in RE ACH where it would be the Member States, and not 
the agency, implementing the system. 
31. The representative of Japan and Korea  shared the concerns expressed by previous speakers 
and hoped that the European Communities would contin ue to have a dialogue with its trade partners 
on this issue. 
32. The representative of the European Communities  explained that it was too early to know what 
the specific modifications to the text of RE ACH would be.  He informed Members that all 
Committees in the European Parliament had discussed the proposal and proposed various  G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 7 
 
 
amendments, and that the Environment Committee had been the last one to vote on possible 
amendments.  He pointed out that the first readin g of the European Parliament was scheduled for 
14 November 2005, and the agreement of the European Council was expected on 29 November 2005.  
He confirmed that the European Communities woul d update the notification to the TBT Committee 
once a new text containing the amendments was ready.  He was not in a position to reply to the 
specific questions posed by Canada, and assured Members that all the institutions involved in the 
legislative process took the concerns expressed into  account.  The reiterated concerns would again be 
transmitted to the experts. 
C. OTHER MATTERS  
33. The representative of the United States  informed the Committee that, upon the entering into 
force of the Mutual Recognition Agreements signed with Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein, a 
notification under Article 10.7 would be made.  She explained that these Agreements paralleled the 
existing MRA's that the United States had with the European Communities.  Norway, Iceland and 
Lichtenstein, as Members of the European Economic  Area, were fully integrated into the European 
marked and applied the same regulations as the European Communities.  Th ese Agreements covered 
the sectors of telecommunication equipment, electromagnetic comp atibility, recreational craft and 
marine equipment, and permitted approved US laboratories to conduct  required conformity 
assessment product tests for designated prod ucts according to EEA EFTA requirements. 
III. ANNUAL TRANSITIONAL REVIEW (TRM) MANDATED IN PARAGRAPH 18 OF 
THE PROTOCOL OF ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
34. The Chairman  recalled that, in accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of 
the People's Republic of China (WT/L/432), the TBT Committee was to undertake an annual review 
for eight years of the implementation by China of  the TBT Agreement.  He opened the floor for 
comments or questions from Members. 
35. The representative of Japan  welcomed the fact that four years after accession, the 
implementation by China of the TBT Agreement ha d progressed.  However, Japan still had concerns 
in a number of areas, such as w ith respect to: the CCC marking system, the automobile sector, digital 
cameras, and chemicals.  It was noted that more detail was set out in Japan's submission 
(G/TBT/W/255).  
36. The representative of the European Communities  introduced his delegation's submission 
(G/TBT/W/256).  Like Japan, the European Comm unities appreciated the efforts made by China, 
particularly in the area of tran sparency.  Nevertheless, the Euro pean Communities was of the view 
that the consultation procedure could be further improved;  there were a number of outstanding 
concerns raised by EC manufacturers with regard to  the lack of participation of foreign stakeholders 
in the drafting of new technical regulations.  In  particular, the representative of the European 
Communities urged China to refrain from developing national standards in areas where international 
standards existed.   
37. In terms of the CCC System  (China Compulsory Certification) the European Communities 
was of the view that, despite improvements, the system remained burdensome, expensive and time-
consuming; it also left too much room for interpre tation.  The system could be further streamlined and 
simplified.  The European Communities welcomed the initiative of China to launch, in 2005, a 
comprehensive review of the CCC System.   On  the specifics, the European Communities was 
concerned with the uncertain app lication of national treatment.  Moreover, exemption procedures 
were far from being transparent.  On the list of products subject to CCC, the representative of the 
European Communities suggested that low-risk prod ucts should not need to be subject to the CCC 
System and that simplified procedures could be explored.  In the area of certification requirements for 
spare parts, components and sub- assemblies, the European Communities was of the view that there G/TBT/M/37 
Page 8  
 
was considerable room for simplification.  Also, on confidentiality, the required information under the 
CCC System could be simplified.  Moreover, there appeared at times to be  double certification 
requirements;  this occurred where different parts of the Chinese administration required checks for 
different product aspects (a common occurrence in the case of radio and telecom equipment, 
cosmetics and car components).  In the area of factory inspections, the European Communities was of 
the view that an exemption could exist for fact ories which had been certified to ISO 90001.   
38. In terms of ICT products , certification remained a concern.  Again, this related to the fact that 
most ICT products were low-risk and the existing three-step certification procedure incurred 
significant delays and costs.  The European Co mmunities was also concerned with the use and 
development of national standards where internationa l standards existed, for instance in the WAPI 
case.  The European Communities was also concerne d about the participation of European companies 
in the Chinese standardization work;  here th e issue was to allow equal rights in Chinese 
standardization forums to external participants in order to allow a full contribution to the development 
of standards by European companies.  Finally, in th e ICT sector, the intellectual property rights (IPRs) 
was also a concern.  The European Communities stre ssed that this was a separate issue from that 
addressed in the statement made by China contained in  document G/TBT/W/251.  Instead, the key issue here was the need to encourage direct, unen cumbered negotiations between Chinese and foreign 
ICT companies regarding patent licences. 
39. In terms of automobiles , the European Communities was of the view that many of the 
regulations used by China were very similar to  the UN regulations under the 1958 Agreement;  to 
avoid small variations, it would therefore be bene ficial if the Chinese regulations could be based 
directly on the UN ECE 1958 regulations. 
40. Regarding active pharmaceutical ingredients , the issue was that there were different quality 
standards used depending on whether the product was domestic or imported.  Moreover, the EC 
representative pointed out that there was a higher fee structure for imported products.  Hence, the 
European Communities requested that a way be found to apply the same standards to imported and domestic products in this area. 
41. On cosmetics , the European Communities welcomed the fact that China was taking note and 
account of the scientific findings of the European Scientific Committee for Cosmetic Products.  However, again, market access for European countries  was difficult due to requirements related to the 
registration of new products and to the labelling of products.  The European Communities urged 
China to give an equal application of the same requirements for domestic and imported products. 
42. The representative of the United States
 stressed that the TRM mechanism was useful and 
important, serving both the interests of China as well as those of WTO Members.  It provided 
Members with the opportunity to seek clarifications  regarding China's policies and practices.  China, 
in turn, was given an opportunity to clarify its appr oaches and actions with the goal of preventing 
misunderstandings that could lead to trade frictions;  it was, in essence, a useful exercise in 
transparency.  The representative of the United States  highlighted some of the issues set out in more 
detail in its submission (G/TBT/W/257).   
43. One question that the United States had raised with China was the fact that most of the 
notifications  from China tended to come from the Gene ral Administration of Quality Supervision, 
Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) or its subo rdinate organizations, the Standardization 
Administration of China (SAC) and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's 
Republic of China (CNCA).  It was the US understanding that MOFCOM was responsible for the 
overall coordination of notifications to the WTO, an d that it relied largely on AQSIQ, but also on 
other agencies, to provide it with the notifications.  The United States had brought, and would 
continue to bring to China's attention, proposals th at they believed needed to be notified.  The United 
States appreciated China's willingness to accept such information.  G/TBT/M/37 
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44. It was the US understanding that China had engaged in a review of all standards  it had in 
place with a view to ensuring compliance with TBT obligations.  It was understood that this review 
had recently been concluded with the result that some standards would be withdrawn, and that this 
information would be publicly available on the web site.  
45. The United States had, similar to Japan and th e European Communities, raised concerns about 
conformity assessment .  The issue here was whether China would provide national treatment for 
conformity assessment bodies.  It was, for instance, not clear whether China would actually accredit 
foreign conformity assessment bodies.   Recently, a shipment had been held up by a customs authority 
in China with the concern that it was not properly CC C marked.  It later turned out that, in fact, the 
product was not subject to CCC marking and the ship ment was released.  This illustrated the concerns 
(also noted by the European Communitie s) that there continued to be a certain lack of transparency in 
the operation of the programme.  The United States welcomed a continued review of this programme 
and the consideration of removing low-risk products that might no longer justify mandatory 
certification.   
46. The representative of Korea  noted that many of his delegation’s concerns had been covered 
by previous statements.  Nevertheless he wished to  emphasize concerns with the CCC System.  First, 
in terms of time periods, Korean companies had faced similar problems as those raised by Japan:  
sometimes more than six months was taken for the certification procedures.  This entailed 
considerable costs for the companies.  Second, the issue of confidentiality had already been raised in 
the EC submission.  Since during the certification process, technical specification information was 
released, it was important that confidentiality be ma intained.  Third, Korea was concerned about the 
issue of certification requirements for spare parts,  components and sub-assemblies (also set out in the 
EC submission).   
47. The representative of China  noted that her delegation had stepped up efforts to improve inter-
governmental coordination and cooperation through further defining the responsibilities of authorities 
concerned, upgrading working mechanisms and holding workshops and seminars, etc.  Since its WTO accession in the end of 2001, China had notified, to the TBT Committee, a total of 160 proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, among which 84 had been notified from 
January to October in 2005, with  comment periods provided strictly according to WTO Agreements.  
Stakeholders, both in China and abroad, were pr ovided with full access to consultations on the 
formulation of proposed regulations  and conformity assessment procedures;  they could either submit 
comments or were invited to public hearings or sy mposia.  Comments and opinions were taken into 
serious consideration by the Chinese Government.  Furthermore, in full compliance with China's accession commitments, the technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures were 
published on the competent authorities' gazettes and web sites, as well as on the Foreign Trade and 
Economic Cooperation Gazette of the Ministry of Commerce. 
48. The representative of China stressed that China encouraged the use of international standards 
as the basis for the development or amendment of its national technical regulations.  Since April 2004, the SAC had undertaken an overhaul of all existing national standards, as well as those under drafting, 
to ensure their consistency with relevant WTO comm itments.  This task was facilitated by the rapid 
development of the Chinese economy and progress in its standardization administration.  As a result, 
AQSIQ and SAC had issued a joint notice on 14 October 2005, proclaiming that a total of 1,416 
national standards had been nullified, among which 114 were mandatory.  These were some examples 
of China's faithful endeavour to fulfil its WT O obligations, and this endeavour had been well 
acknowledged by Members.   
49. In respect of transparency , China's technical regulations, mostly in the form of mandatory 
standards, were uniformly examined by the SAC and published jointly by SAC and AQSIQ.  China's 
relevant competent authorities, including AQSIQ, th e CNCA, the Ministry of Information Industry 
(MII), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Stat e Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), G/TBT/M/37 
Page 10  
 
etc., carried out the conformity assessment procedures , such as supervision, cer tification, accreditation 
and inspection, on both domestic and imported prod ucts, according to their respective functions and 
responsibilities.  The proposed draft of these te chnical regulations, notified with the SAC as the 
"agency responsible", in fact, included the regula tions within the scope of these different other 
relevant authorities mentioned.  Th erefore the latter did not need to notify the regulations again under 
their own name. 
50. In respect of CCC Certification , China had acceded to the IECE E/CB system under IEC, and 
consistent with its scope of par ticipation, China's CCC system reco gnized the CB testing reports by 
foreign certification bodies who had also acceded to the IECEE/CB system.  According to paragraph 
36 of the Regulations of the People's Republic of Ch ina on Certification and Ac creditation, as well as 
according to the international practices, foreign bodies had to undertake compulsory certification 
work within the framework of mutual recogniti on agreements (MRAs) signed between China's 
certification and accreditation authorities or authorized bodies under the State Council and the foreign 
counterparts.  So as to avoid duplicative testing an d certification, and to re move technical barriers to 
trade, the Chinese authorities were willing to e nhance the mutual recogniti on of certification and 
accreditation pursuant to the TBT Agreement.  Cu rrently, China had signed cooperation agreements 
with more than 20 countries or regions, and, meanwhile, a number of foreign organizations had 
undertaken CCC certification tasks concerning routine factory tracking. 
51. The representative of China pointed out that the problem of the mismatch between the First 
Catalogue of Products Subject to the Compulsory CCC  Certification with the HS codes used by the 
customs had already been solved.  China was now working on the detailed de scription of the listed 
products, the completion of which would facilitate the judgment whether or not a product was subject 
to the CCC certification.  When deemed necessary , China would make adjustments to the Catalogue 
of Industrial Products Subject to Compulsory CCC Certification.  Members' concerns on specific 
products were noted and would be taken into seri ous consideration when China reviewed the existing 
system.  While ensuring that the goal of safe ty protection was met, China was exploring the 
possibility of adopting different conformity assess ment procedures, including SDoCs.  China was 
willing to take into account Members' successful experiences in this regard.   
52. In the practice of various pro duct certification bodies, the re quirements for factory inspection 
were different from those for the certification sy stem (IS09001).  The IS09001 inspection could not 
replace the factory inspection.  Therefore, China would not exempt equipment manufacturers who had 
obtained an IS09001 certificate from the obligation of factory inspection.   When an enterprise decided 
that it would no longer manufacture a product s ubject to CCC certification, it had to notify the 
certification body responsible to withdraw or suspend the certification, and the periodical factory 
inspection would be automatically halted upon completion of such a procedure.  China would make necessary adjustments as to the manner of conformity assessment, according to the results of risk 
assessment, and decide whether to reduce the number of factory inspections for low risk product manufacturers.  China was willing to exchange, with relevant Me mbers, their experiences and 
information on CCC certificati on concerning risk assessment. 
53. The representative of China stressed that her country strictly fulfilled its commitment of not 
exceeding 90 days with regard to  the CCC certification period.  In the meantime, China hoped that 
enterprises and trading parties concerned would cont act and cooperate with th e relevant certification 
bodies so as to shorten the period of certificati on.  Generally speaking, the implementation of the 
CCC System was satisfactory and certifications could be accomplished within the specified time-limit.  In terms of spare parts and components in tended for incorporation in a finished product and 
then exported to China, these were not  subject to individual certification. 
54. With respect to the transitional period of stan dards, comments from all stakeholders on newly 
developed or amended standards were invited before  they were published, and allowed a transitional  G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 11 
 
 
period after their publication.  In addition, another transitional period was envisioned for products 
meeting the present national standard.    
55. With respect to the certification fee and exemptions, in 2005, China had lowered the 
certification fee, and in March 2005, CNCA had pu blished a new notice concerning exemptions.  This 
was a transparent and equitable regulation to simplify and facilita te exemption procedures.  The 
inspection and quarantine bodies directly unde r AQSIQ were entrusted to accept exemption 
applications.  To date, most of th e relevant trading parties were po sitive about this new system.  The 
whole exemption process was brought under CNCA's direct supervision to ensure that it was properly 
and compatibly conducted.  Acco rding to the new exemption system, re-exported spare parts (as 
components of a finished product) were exempted  from certification at the time of import. 
56. Regarding the English versions of technical measures, the TBT Agreement imposed no 
obligations for Members whose official language wa s not one of the three WTO working languages to 
translate parts or the full text of their technical meas ures into English.  Howe ver, to facilitate foreign 
manufacturers to better understand China's tech nical regulations, AQSIQ and CNCA provided on 
their web sites some official English versions of the CCC-related implementation regulations, which were updated when the amendments and improvemen ts were made to the original documents.  
57. With regard to the CCC marks, according to the Regulations on the Marking of Products 
Subject to the Compulsory Certification System, CNCA alone was to design and publish the unified 
CCC marks.  Certified enterprises applied the certifie d marks to their specific products in accordance 
with the relevant implementation regulations applicable.   
58. In terms of confidentiality, and ta king account of the safety of  the product and responsibility 
for the consumers, the certification procedure requi red necessary information which was treated in a 
confidential manner, for the accurate description of the product only. 
59. The representative of China stressed that there was no duplication in certification of medical 
equipment, nor in any other sector.  It was n ecessary to clarify the relationship between CCC 
certification and the registration as  required by the State Foods a nd Drugs Administration (SFDA).  
According to the Regulations on Certification an d Accreditation and the Regulations on Monitoring 
Medical Equipment, medical equipment was subjec t to the compulsory certification system.  CCC 
certification and the SFDA registra tion did not overlap:  SFDA re gistration recognized the CCC 
inspection results on the basis of which SFDA added some clinical verification items. 
60. With regard to specific products, and, more specifically cosmetics , it was stressed that the 
MOH Import Licensing was a safety assessment pro cedure meant for safety and hygienic items of 
cosmetics, while AQSIQ carried out the checking of  the Chinese labelling of the cosmetics which was 
meant to ascertain the authenticity of the labell ed content.  Hence, there was no duplicative 
certification.   With regard to MOH's administrati on and supervision on cosmetics, both the imported 
and domestic "special use cosmetics" products were  subject to review and approval.  Whereas on the 
"ordinary cosmetics products", in order to furthe r perfect the regulating and supervision system on 
cosmetics, China had engaged in the simplification of the approval procedures.  In July 2004, MOH 
had issued a public notice to simplify the approval procedures on imported non-special use cosmetics 
which provided that, since 1 August 2004, the approv al requirement were reduced from review and 
approval to just keeping records within 20 working da ys.  This policy had greatly enhanced the import 
of cosmetics.  In fact, as a result, imports of cosmetics from January to July 2005 had reached a 67 per 
cent increase over that of the same period last  year.  On the other hand, according to the 
Implementation Regulations of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export 
Commodities, AQSIQ carried out the examination on the Chinese labelling of imported cosmetics 
pursuant to the national mandatory standard GB5296.3-1995.  All cosmetics products put on the 
market within the territory of China, including bo th the domestic and imported products, were subject 
to this standard.  The examina tion of labelling, including the examination of the content and G/TBT/M/37 
Page 12  
 
compliance inspection of the label, had to be comple ted within 48 working days.  The time limit could 
not be extended to 4-6 months.  
61. On distilled spirits , the representative of China pointed out that studies by Chinese experts 
had shown that fusel oils posed a potential risk to  human health.  Currently, a study was being carried 
out to assess the potential harm to human health of fusel oils, and the results of this assessment would 
serve as the basis for the amendment of relevant standards.  Both the General Standard for the 
Labelling of Pre-packed Foods and the General Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packed Alcoholic 
Beverage provided that Pre-packed foods had to ma rk the date of production with the exception of 
wines and spirits, which, for their special character istics concerning the nature of the products and 
their specific process of production, were allowed to mark their "date of filling".  Considering that spirits were a mixture of products produced at differ ent times, China required only the "date of filling" 
label instead of "date of production/manufacture".  Chinese customers had the right to know when the 
spirits were filled.  To facilitate the identification by consumers, especially by those with weak eye 
sights, China had developed mandatory requirements in  respect of the safety items on foods labelling, 
such as the size of characters, symbols and numbers.  Enterprises were free to decide the size of other non-mandatory marking items. 
62. In terms of automobiles , the Auto Industry Policy was a guideline addressing the 
development of China's auto industry given the ma ny problems, such as the weakness in technical 
innovation and the low degree of industrial concentrat ion in this sector.  Limits of Fuel Consumption 
for Passenger Cars was the first mandatory national standard controlling the fuel consumption of 
automobiles and was notified to the WTO.  The repr esentative of China stressed that there were 
currently no specific plans to develop other technical  requirements.  In terms of China's accession to 
the UN 1958 Agreement, China had been actively supporting the harmonization of the international 
technical regulations and China’s Go vernment had always attached gr eat importance to the facilitation 
of international trade of auto pr oducts and would carry out positive studies on these matters;  China 
would consider its membership of this agreement at an appropriate future time.  With a view to follow 
and trace certified products and so as to prevent fake  products – as well as to protect the interests of 
both manufacturers and consumers – the CCC system required the application of a mark on the 
certified product.  This was also a universal intern ational practice, and it was in line with the US DOT 
certification, the UL and the EU CE mark certification.  There would be no replacing of the CCC 
mark with another.  In addition, if these spare pa rts and components were ce rtified separately, time 
and cost for the certification of the whole automobile could be spared. 
63. With respect to digital cameras , the representative of China stated that all the digital camera 
standards that China was developing were voluntary national standards instead of technical 
regulations.  China based the development of such st andards on five relevant international standards, 
i.e. IS012231:1997, 12232:1998, 14524:1999, 12233:2000 and ISO/CD 12232:2003.  Since standards 
under development were voluntary, China had no obligation to notify them to the WTO.  Nevertheless, at the initial stage of the formulation of the standards, the China Technical Committee on Camera had conduct a thorough exchange of views with the interested companies and the 
Association of the members. 
64. In terms of ICT Products , China agreed with Members th at the scope of regulatory 
requirements should be confined only to essential requirements and that verification of compliance 
with other requirements could be left as a matter between buyers and vendors.  CNCA was currently 
discussing these issues with other authorities.  Howe ver the representa tive of China wised to draw the 
Committee’s attention to a number of  facts.  There were many critical security defects in the existing 
international standards, which ha d raised serious concerns in China.  China's WAPI was an 
enhancement to the existing international standard an d was therefore not in any sense in conflict with 
WTO or ISO/IEC principles.  China's WAPI was an  advanced technology. The fact that WAPI had 
been allowed to the ISO/IEC fast track balloting proc edure to become an alternative security solution 
had already proved this point.  Therefore, China did not see any ground to withdraw the WAPI  G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 13 
 
 
standard.  When international standards could not fu lfil a legitimate objective, Members had the right 
to adopt their own standards.  This was both a WTO-TBT and ISO/IEC principle.  Therefore, China 
did not see any inappropriateness for the sake of  better performance or special need to develop 
standards based on more advanced technology to enhance, modify or even replace existing 
international standards. 
65. In terms of radio frequency  identification, at present, there was no updated information on the 
draft standard of the RFID.  
66. On the re-cycling of end-of-life household appliances, the so-called Chinese WEEE , on the 
basis of in-depth study and public consultation, th e draft of the Rules for Recycling of End-of-Life 
Household Appliances, had been submitted to the St ate Council for approval.  As this was still under 
review, China was not in the position to provide any more details at the moment. 
67. In terms of chemical products , and, more specifically, the re gistration of initial imports of 
Chemical products, China was working hard to improve  the capacity of testing institutes in order to 
join the GLP system of the OECD.  The Registration Centre for Chemicals of the State Environmental 
Protection Administration, SEPA, was carrying out a survey on testing institutes in order to include more qualified testing institutes for applicants to ch oose from.  Yet, in fact, the seven existing testing 
institutes were far from operating at full capacity .  There had been no cases of slowing down the 
application process.  The website of Registration Centre for Chemicals provided contact information 
on the testing institute on ecological toxicity testing institutes ( www.cre-sepa.org.cn
).  In terms of the 
sixth enlargement submission, the relevant authority  was currently examining the enlargement cases. 
As the new regulation system for chemicals in Chin a had just been established, the authorities were 
working out the detailed management rules, including that on low-volume chemicals and chemicals 
with special uses, etc.  The regulation system on new chemicals of different countries could vary from 
one another in details.  China's system took polyme rs as one kind of chemical for regulation; at 
present, Chinese authorities were not planning to cancel the regulation on polymers. 
68. Finally, in terms of pharmaceuticals , at present there was no unified regulation on the 
production of API in China, the only requirements for enterprises were the basic standards provided in 
Chinese Pharmacopoeia.  Therefore, China's inspectio n authority would test products, both domestic 
and imported, in accordance to the enterprises' standards filed by the enterprises.  The filed standards of the domestic products would be reviewed compre hensively after a required trial period by the 
competent authority.  In terms of the standards for imported products – these were also subject to 
examination and once the filed standards of the imported pharmaceuticals were approved there was no 
need to transform the standards.  As for the charges relating to the te sts, these were set jointly by the 
competent authorities of the financ e and pricing departments under the state council based on the cost 
of the tests.  The price of charges were published in the announcement of MOF and MDRC in 2003;  
the same prices applied on imports and domestic prod ucts.  The representative noted that this issue 
had been extensively discussed and resolved by  China’s competent authority in Beijing and the 
Embassy of the concerned Member.  This was, in China’s view, a much more open and efficient channel to communicate and address the issue at question. 
69. The representatives of the United States
, the European Communities  and Japan  thanked the 
Chinese delegation for the detailed information prov ided in response to the questions posed.   
70. The representative of China  pointed out that most of the points raised by Members were about 
requesting China to improve its implementation of th e TBT Agreement.  From China’s point of view, 
the Review offered an opportunity to clarify its po sitions and for further exchanges on points that 
were of concern to Members.  Nevertheless, China was of the belief that ot her channels were more 
efficient to exchange concerns relating to the TBT Agreement.  Therefore, China encouraged 
Members, in raising specific c oncerns with China, to shift aw ay from this Transitional Review G/TBT/M/37 
Page 14  
 
Mechanism as this could facilitate a better and more  efficient communication with regard to the issues 
of concern to Members under the TBT Agreement. 
71. The Chairman
 thanked all delegations for their st atements and the Committee adopted its 
report to the Council for Tr ade in Goods (G/TBT/17). 
IV. TRIENNIAL REVIEW 
A. ISSUES ARISING FROM THE THIRD TRIENNIAL REVIEW  
1. Workshop on Different Approaches to Conformity Assessment 
72. The Chairman  recalled that during the informal meeting of the Committee, the draft 
programme7 for the Workshop on Different Approaches to Conformity Assessment, which will be 
held on 16 March and in the morning of 17 March 2006, had been discussed.  Members were invited to provide any further input, as well as the names of speakers, no later than 16 January 2006.   
2. Technical Assistance 
73. The Chairman
 recalled that, at its March 2005 meeting, the Committee had agreed to increase 
transparency in the identification and prioritiza tion of technical assistance needs through the 
development of a mechanism for the voluntary notifica tion of specific technica l assistance needs and 
responses.  A number of drafts had been discussed in informal mode. 
74. In putting forward the latest draft8 for adoption on a trial basis for two years, he stressed, inter 
alia that: (i) the notification format was intended to assist coordination with respect to current and 
future technical assistance activities .  It was aimed at facilitating the voluntary identification of 
specific needs and offered Members an opportunity to  provide information on their response to such 
needs;  (ii) Members could continue to provide general information on th eir technical cooperation 
activities as separate submissions to the TBT Co mmittee; and (iii) the submission of voluntary 
notifications of specific technical assistance needs and responses would follow WTO established 
procedures, i.e. notifications were for Members to submit.  
75. The representative of Canada  supported the adoption of the format and hoped that Members 
would actively use this tool in orde r to enhance transparency relating to the identification of technical 
assistance needs and the delivery of technical assistance. 
76. The representative of China  supported the TA format as a whole, but believed that the 
specific examples within the brackets in item 4 "p olicy area covered" were not necessary and should 
be deleted. 
77. The representative of New Zealand  stressed that the notification format represented the 
culmination of much work and discussion arisi ng from the Third Triennial Review, in which her 
delegation had been actively involved.  She believed  that this format achieved the objective of 
providing a mechanism to enable better coordination of supply and demand of technical assistance in 
a straight forward and practical way, and hoped th at the notification would be used.  On the point 
raised by China, she saw the examples in item 4 as  an illustrative list, not an exhaustive one.  
78. The representative of the European Communities  agreed that the Committee should adopt the 
format, with the changes proposed by China.  He suggested that, once Members had gained some 
experience in using the format, a separate explanatory note on how to  fill it out could be developed. 
                                                      
7 JOB(05)/108/Rev.1. 
8 JOB(05)/265.   G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 15 
 
 
79. The representative of Chinese Taipei  was of the view that the explanation under each policy 
area was useful.  She s upported the suggestion made by the Eu ropean Communities, and stressed that 
an explanatory note would help Members id entify more specifically what they needed. 
80. The representative of the United States  stressed that the notification on technical assistance, 
as was the case with the regular TB T notifications relating to proposed regulations, had to be seen as a 
summary that provided a brief indication of a re quest.  This did not preclude the possibility of 
providing additional information or supporting docum entation.  She agreed th at the Committee should 
adopt the format, and could go along with suggestion made by China to delete the specific examples 
in item 4, which she believed might already have been reflected in item 2. 
81. The Chairman  suggested that, as a way forward, the specific examples mentioned in item 4 
could be deleted, as proposed by China.  After the trial period of two years, the Committee could 
explore whether it would be useful to provide some more information in the format itself.  He noted 
that, in item 4, under the line "o ther", Members could s till provide more specific information.   
82. The Committee adopted  the notification format with the changes proposed by China 
(G/TBT/16).  
3. Other Outstanding Issues 
83. The Chairman  recalled that, at the previous meeting of the Committee, some Members had 
suggested that the Committee should maintain an oppo rtunity to revert to any issues resulting from the 
follow-up to the Third Triennial Review that Me mbers felt had not been adequately addressed. 
84. The representative of Canada  was of the view that a number of recommendations from the 
Third Triennial Review in the area of technical as sistance remained outstanding.  In particular, he 
recalled that the Committee had agreed to "explore  how the results of the Committee's discussions 
(e.g., on needs identified, lessons l earned, gaps in technical assistan ce activities) could be reflected in 
the WTO's Technical Assistance and Training Plan".9  He noted that the WTO 2006 Technical 
Assistance and Training Plan10 had been circulated on 16 September 2005, and believed that the 
Committee had not yet had a full discussion linked to that Plan at any time during the Triennial 
Review work programme.  He urged the Committee to schedule a discussion of the 2006 Technical 
Assistance and Training Plan at its March or June 2006 meeting. 
85. The Committee's attention was also drawn to another recommendation whereby the 
Committee had agreed to "provide a forum for fe edback and assessment of the outcomes and 
effectiveness of technical assistance".11  He noted that on the few occasions when feedback had been 
provided, the comments were general in nature .  His delegation would appreciate hearing from 
developing countries and donors alike regarding more specific feedback and assessment of the 
outcomes and the effectiveness of technical assistance .  He wondered to what extent in the future the 
voluntary notification of specific technical assistan ce needs and responses could serve as a basis for 
the Committee to call upon Members to speak on specific experiences.  The representative of the 
United States  supported the proposal made by Canada to have a more comprehensive discussion on 
the Technical Assistance and Training Plan.   
86. The representative of the United States  drew the Committee's atte ntion to a recommendation 
related to transparency, which encouraged Member s "to disseminate their comments and responses by 
means of national websites and to draw the Committee's attention to these".12  She noted that there 
had been little discussion in the Committee, and hoped  that some progress could be made on this issue 
                                                      
9 G/TBT/13, paragraph 55. 
10 WT/COMTD/W/142. 
11 G/TBT/13, paragraph 56. 
12 G/TBT/13, paragraph 26.  G/TBT/M/37 
Page 16  
 
in the context of the Fourth Triennial Review.  She pointed out that the United States did not have a 
centralized website where comments could be found, but that the issue was under consideration.  She 
recalled that the European Communities had drawn the attention of the Committee to their website, 
and asked whether the Secretariat could prepare a document on the existence of these websites where 
information on notification and comments was available. 
87. The representative of Mexico
 supported the proposal made by the United States on 
dissemination of comments.  He recalled that, at  the Third Triennial Review, his delegation had 
stressed the importance for Members to fulfil th e transparency obligations and to implement the 
relevant recommendations.  He informed the Committee that Mexico had a centralized website where 
all the regulations and the comments received were ma de available, in Spanish.  He believed that it 
would be useful for Members to have a picture of wh at progress had been made in the various areas of 
the Third Triennial Review.   
88. The representative of Mexico  suggested that the Secretariat could produce a document 
explaining what had been done in terms of follow-up for the Third Triennial Review.  The 
representative of United States  asked whether the follow-up and discussions that had taken place since 
the Third Triennial Review would not be appropriately reflected in the factual note that the Secretariat 
was expected to prepare for next meeting of the Committee.  She believed it was sometimes difficult 
to draw the line between the Third and the Fourth Triennial Reviews. 
89. The representative of the European Communities  supported the comments made by Canada 
with respect to the technical assistance recommendations contained in the Third Triennial Review and 
recalled that a lot of work had gone into drafting th ose recommendations.  He believed that they were 
quite extensive and, as the Committee worked toward s the conclusion of the Fo urth Triennial Review, 
much could be drawn from the Third.  He agreed wi th Canada that the disc ussions of the Committee 
on technical assistance should be reflected in the WTO Technical Assistance and Training Plan. 
90. The representative of the European Communitie s also shared the view expressed by the 
United States that it was difficult to draw a line be tween the Third and the Fourth Triennial Reviews.  
He drew the Committee's attention to the EC submission on transparency13, where a follow-up on the 
Third Triennial Review was also included.  For inst ance, he noted that the submission took up the 
point of the promotion of a more widespread dissem ination of all comments made and all the replies 
received on notified draft technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.  The European 
Communities were of the view that this could also be  dealt with in the context of the Fourth Triennial 
Review.  He shared the views of the United States and Mexico that Members could give an update of 
the developments of their websites and that this co uld be included in the Secretariat's factual note. 
91. The representative of China  agreed with the United States and the European Communities, 
and wondered whether there should be more time be tween the Triennial Reviews, so that the various 
issues arising from them could be considered in an appropriate way. 
92. The Chairman  believed that there was a continuity between the Tr iennial Reviews and that 
the Committee should discuss how to monitor th e progress from one Review to another.  
B. PREPARATION OF THE FOURTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW  
93. The Chairman  recalled that, at its meeting of 4 N ovember 2004, the Committee had endorsed 
a Work Programme for the preparation of the Four th Triennial Review of the Implementation and 
Operation of the TBT Agreement pursuant to Arti cle 15.4 (Annex 1, page 26).  The Committee 
initiated the review work foreseen in the Programme at its meeting in March 2005, by starting with 
the preliminary identification of possible topics for re view by delegations.  At the following meeting, 
                                                      
13 G/TBT/W/253.  G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 17 
 
 
in June 2005, the Committee continued this exploration of topics with a discussion of several of them.  
The Chairman stressed that, as the Committee moved into the drafting phase, it would have to agree 
on which topics to further pursue.  He asked delega tions, during the discussions at the current meeting 
to reflect, on: (i) what issues the Committee had been or should be focussing on, under each 
individual topic, and (ii) whether the particular topic being discussed should be considered as an 
element  in the Committee's Fourth Triennial Review Report.   
94. Members needed also to bear in mind that at its following meeting, in March 2006, the 
Committee would undertake a stocktakin g of its work in terms of preparation for the Fourth Triennial 
Review.  Specifically, the work programme stated that: "At its First meeting in 2006, the Committee 
should be in a position to take stock of the discussions.  To assist the Committee in this stocktaking exercise, the Secretariat will prepare a summary of the key issues discussed, under each topic 
identified."
14   
95. The representative of the United States  noted that, according to the Work Programme, 
delegations were expected to submit proposals for recommendations by the end of January 2006.  
This would be followed by the circulation from th e Secretariat of the draft factual elements of the 
Review.  She wondered whether it would not be more useful to have the Secretariat's note before the submission of the proposals, as this would help Members focus on proposals.  Furthermore, on 
conformity assessment, she noted that the Workshop on Different Approaches to Conformity 
Assessment was to take place in March 2006 and that  the Secretariat's note might need to be amended 
in light of the discussions at that event.  She hoped that the Committee would keep an open mind 
about the progression of the work throughout the Review. 
1. Conformity Assessment Procedures 
96. The Chairman
 noted that both the United States and the European Communities had put this 
topic forward, but that no specific submissions had been received from Members to date.  He drew the 
attention of the Committee to the background note on Conformity Assessment prepared by the 
Secretariat (JOB(05)/261), and reca lled that earlier in the year th e Secretariat had circulated a 
Background Note specifically on Supplier's Declarat ion of Conformity (SDoC), ahead of the March 
2005 Workshop on that subject (JOB(05)/30). 
97. The representative of the European Communities  pointed out that a contribution by the 
European Communities on conformity assessment  procedures would be made for the March 2006 
meeting, and that it would focus on the EC experi ence with formal mutual recognition agreements 
(MRAs). 
98. The Chairman  concluded that there was a general agreement that conformity assessment 
should figure as an element for the Fourth Triennial Review.  He encouraged Members to submit, by 
February 2006, any proposals on possible acti ons the Committee could take in this area. 
2. Technical Assistance 
99. The Chairman  recalled that at the June 2005 meeti ng, China had introduced a proposal on 
technical assistance (G/TBT/W/252, Section III).  He noted that the European Communities had also 
identified this topic as one for discussion. 
100. The representative of the European Communities  emphasized that his delegation was keen to 
discuss the issue of technical assistance, in particular  with a view to ensure that the results from the 
Second and Third Triennial Reviews would be proper ly implemented.  While he did not anticipate a 
written contribution by the European Communities on this topic under the Fourth Triennial Review, 
                                                      
14 Annex 1, paragraph 6. G/TBT/M/37 
Page 18  
 
he stressed that a few elements, such as the TA adopted notification format (G/TBT/16), were already 
on the table and that technical assistance sh ould a standing item for Triennial Reviews. 
101. The representative of China
 welcomed the fact that the adopted TA notification format took 
into account the outcome of the discussion at the previous meeting.15, as well as the suggestions made 
by China at the current one (in paragraph 76, above).  In his delegation's view, technical assistance 
should be a topic for discussion in the Fourth Trie nnial Review and he pointed out that China might 
provide further information on this item in the future.  
102. The representatives of El Salvador  and Cuba  stressed that technical assistance should be 
considered as an element for the Fourth Triennial Review. 
103. The Chairman  concluded that there was a general agreement to keep technical assistance as 
an element for the Fourth Triennial Review.  Members were encouraged to submit proposals by the 
end of February 2006. 
3. Special and Differential Treatment 
104. The Chairman recalled that, at the last meeting of the Committee, China had introduced a 
proposal on this subject (G/TBT/W/252, Section IV).  He also drew the attention of the Committee to 
a Background Note on Special and Differential Treatment prepared by  the Secretariat (JOB(05)/269). 
105. The representative of Brazil  stressed that there was a need to exchange information in the 
Committee on the implementation of Article 12 of the TBT Agreement in the context of the Fourth 
Triennial Review.  He emphasized  that discussions on this issue involved the ability of the TBT 
Committee to develop an appropriate mechan ism to supply technical assistance.   
106. The representative of Cuba  welcomed the paper by China, a nd considered it an important and 
substantive contribution for analysing this topic. 
107. The representative of China  thanked Members for their comments.  His delegation had 
noticed that some Members had difficulties in prov iding information on the whole range of technical 
assistance activities, considering that often the bodies responsible  for technical assistance, for 
standards and conformity assessment issues were different.  He hoped that developed Members could provide information on technical assistance delivered to developing Members in the sectors of primary importance to them.  Information on technical assistance supplied in other fields could be 
provided on a voluntary basis.   
108. The Chairman
 concluded that there was a general agreem ent for this topic to be considered as 
an element for the Fourth Triennial Review.  He encouraged Members to further discuss the topic, 
with a view to identifying what actions could be taken by the Committee in this area, and to submit proposals to the Secretariat by the end of February 2006.   
4. Intellectual Property Right Issues in Standardization 
109. The Chairman
 recalled that China had made a submission on this topic (G/TBT/W/251) and 
informed the Committee that he had received a request, from China, to ask relevant Observer 
organizations to brief the Committee on relevant work in this area.   
110. The representative of the ISO , speaking on behalf of both ISO and IEC, pointed out that 
international standards facilitated the dissemination of  technology and good practices, in particular to 
developing countries.  As their content was often t echnical in nature, the technical aspects might be 
                                                      
15 G/TBT/M/36, paragraphs 107-111.  G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 19 
 
 
covered by patent rights, especially in new technol ogies.  While he recognized that it was acceptable, 
in principle, that standards contained patented el ements, he explained that ISO and IEC were of the 
view that, as far as their standards were concerne d, adequate information should be made available 
and their use should be guaranteed on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.  Therefore, they had 
developed a joint patent policy, which was descri bed in Section 2.14 of Part 1 of the ISO/IEC 
Directives, Procedures for the technical work.  Annex F of Part 2 of the Directives, Rules for the 
drafting and structure of International Standards,  provided texts to be included in international 
standards when referring to patent rights.  (More info rmation relevant to this statement is contained in 
document G/TBT/GEN/24). 
111. The representative of the United States  noted that her delegation had consulted bilaterally 
with China, with a view to better understanding th e relationship, if any, with the provisions of the 
TBT Agreement.  Her delegation could not see any such relationship.  She believed that the 
Committee's work related to the Review needed to be kept within the framework of the TBT 
Agreement and that, for a topic to be considered as an element of the Triennial Review, there needed 
to be consensus among Members. 
112. The representative of Canada  welcomed the information provided on 15 July 2005 by China 
to Canada and other interested Members, in which China had also indicated that specific details would 
be provided on the issue.  He wondered whether China was in a position to provide such details or any 
additional information and sought clarification as to the precise issues that China wished to raise.   
113. The representative of Brazil  believed that intellectual property rights in standardization should 
not constitute an obstacle to development, nor become an impediment for Members to have access to 
technical cooperation. She thanked Ch ina for the information provided in written form to Brazil.  Her 
authorities were studying the proposal and might retu rn to it at a future meeting of the Committee.  
114. The representative of China  thanked the ISO for the information provided and Members for 
the concerns and questions raised.  He believed that, while the policies de veloped by international 
standardization bodies including the ISO, IEC and ITU had provided Members with a good technical base and a road map to follow for discussions in the WTO, the concerns expressed by China in its submission deserved some further discussion.  He noted that ISO, IEC and ITU were working jointly 
to further elaborate their patent policies and consid ered it would be useful for the TBT Committee to 
be informed on the developments of this work. 
115. He recalled that, at the June 2005 meeting, Members had raised some specific questions on 
the Chinese proposal.  One question was related to the nature of the issue .  He noted that a key 
concept of the TBT Agreement was that Members should use international standards as a basis for 
their technical regulations.  His delegation had identified two problems that could hamper the 
adoption of international standards: the disclosure of patent information and the interpretation of the 
RAND principle.  Therefore, he believed that the essence of the issue was to implement appropriate 
policies to ensure that patent policies be disclo sed at a proper stage and that the RAND concept be 
interpreted consistently to facilitate th e adoption of international standards. 
116. With respect to why IPR issues were considered by China as an obstacle to international 
trade, he noted that the adoption of international standards, which was an important element in trade 
facilitation, was more difficult, due to  the above mentioned problems.  In  this sense, this issue was an 
obstacle to international trade, especially  to trade related to digital products. 
117. He recalled that another question raised rela ted to why domestic industry demanded that 
China put forward this proposal.  He pointed out that the issue of IPRs had a wide coverage and was 
not only specific to some industries.  The proble m that all Members, including developed ones, faced 
was the need for coordination between IPR holders and standards users, including standards users in G/TBT/M/37 
Page 20  
 
developed Members.  However, he believed that de veloping Members, as standards users, were more 
likely to be affected by patent issues in standards. 
118. In respect of the relevance of this issue to  the TBT Committee rather than to the TRIPS 
Council, he stressed that IPR issues were releva nt to preparation and adoption of international 
standards.  As the TBT Agreement encouraged Me mbers to adopt internatio nal standards, the TBT 
Agreement was relevant.  His delegation was open to  discuss this issue in other WTO fora as well, 
such as the TRIPS Council, were parallel discussions could be held. 
119. In China's view, the issue could be solved by disclosing patent information in the process of 
standard setting, and by providing a consistent inte rpretation of the RAND principle.  He recognized 
the complexity of the issue, but believed that it was an important one for development and trade, 
especially in the area of digital products.  He encouraged Members to work together to explore 
appropriate multilateral trade policie s to approach the issue.  He also confirmed that China was 
working on some detailed case studies to shar e with the Committee and drew the Committee's 
attention to MPAC standards on digital TV's, which he considered problematic for standards users, 
including in Europe, the United States and Japan.  Another case, involving Dell, revealed that patent 
information disclosure was very important to the setting of standards. 
120. The representative of Korea,
 while recognizing the important relationship between IPR issues 
and standard setting, believed that the core issue wa s related to making patent utilisation easier.  He 
doubted whether the TBT Committee was the ap propriate forum to discuss the matter. 
121. The representatives of Mexico  shared the US view that a number of elements were missing 
for this topic to be included in the Triennial Revi ew (paragraph 114, above) .  He believed that by 
including this issue, the Committee might go beyond its mandate, as intellectual property issues 
depended on legislations in each country.  The representatives of El Salvador and Chile  associated 
themselves with these comments and shared the view that the work should be carried out on the basis 
of consensus.   
122. The representative of China  understood Members' concerns, an d recognized that the topic was 
complex and needed further clarification.  As the originator of the proposal, his country would do its 
utmost to further elaborate the issue and to address the concerns raised, as it believed it was of close 
relevance to the TBT Agreement.  He pointed out that  this topic should remain on the agenda, and that 
consensus could be reached at a later stage. 
123. The Chairman  concluded that there was no general ag reement in the Committee at this point 
to consider the topic of intellectual property righ t issues in standardization as an element for the 
Fourth Triennial Review. 
5. Labelling 
124. The Chairman  recalled that the European Communities had proposed that labelling be 
included in the Fourth Triennial Review.  Ho wever, no new submission had been made to the 
Committee on this topic. 
125. The representative of the European Communities  noted that the topic should remain open. 
126. The representative of Chile  pointed out that labelling did no t require special treatment and 
should not be an element for the Review. 
127. The representative of the United States  shared Chile's view and recalled that, at the Third 
Triennial Review, the Committee ha d concluded that labelling did not present a special category of 
issue, and had agreed to continue discussing the issue under the agenda item on Implementation and  G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 21 
 
 
Administration of the Agreement.16  She stressed that the provisions contained in the Agreement 
would be relevant to analysing any specific issue.   In the absence of any specific proposal, she 
believed that no further discussion was necessary on the topic. 
128. The representative of New Zealand  echoed the statements made by Chile and the United 
States. 
129. The Chairman  concluded that there was no general agre ement in the Committee at this point 
to consider this as an element for the Fourth Triennial Review. 
6. Good Regulatory Practice 
130. The Chairman  drew the Committee's attention to a new submission by the United States 
(G/TBT/W/258) and to a Background Note prepared  by the Secretariat (JOB(05)/107).  He also 
recalled that, at the last meeti ng, the European Communities had submitted a paper on the topic 
(G/TBT/W/254) and that the OECD had provided information on relevant on-going work 
(G/TBT/GEN/19). 
131. The representative of the United States  introduced her delegation's submission 
(G/TBT/W/258). She noted that it provided some info rmation on the key features of the regulatory 
process that related to the principles that had been developed by the OECD and APEC.  It also 
analyzed some of the key mechanisms and administrative underpinnings of the regulatory process that 
helped ensure transparency and accountability.  She pointed out that guidance for regulators had been 
developed by the Office of Management and Budget, which included alternatives and trade impact as 
elements to be taken into account when developi ng regulations.  The paper also provided links to 
relevant documentation. 
132.  The representative of Canada  thanked the United States for sharing its experience.  He noted 
that the paper did not address enforcement and comp liance issues, nor did it provide details regarding 
regulatory evaluation and review.  He asked whether the United States intended to provide Members 
with information in these areas?  Moreover, was equivalency addressed anywhere in the US Good 
Regulatory Practice framework.  Finally, he al so sought more information about the "smarter 
regulation initiative" outlined in paragraph 16. 
133. The representative of the United States  noted that a full treatment of enforcement issues might 
fall beyond the framework of the TBT Committee,  but she would explore whether her delegation 
could provide some supplementary informati on relevant to the work of the Committee. 
134. The representative of th e European Communities  recalled that his delegation had submitted a 
paper on this issue (G/TBT/W/254), which addr essed three topics, one of which was "better 
regulation".  He noted that it might be the same ty pe of initiative as the "smarter regulation" outlined 
in the US submission.  One of the elements of the better regulation initiative was the simplification of 
existing legislation: in this regard, he drew th e attention of the Committe e to a recently adopted 
communication on simplification, which was ava ilable on the European Commission website.17 
135. The representative of Korea  noted that Good Regulatory Practice was a policy guideline 
issue, not only relevant to TBT but to all regulatory issues at the domestic level.  He was doubtful whether such principles could be drawn up in the cont ext of multilateral trade rules.  In his view, they 
related to more specific provisions such as tr ansparency, conformity assessment or technical 
assistance.   
                                                     
 
16 G/TBT/13, paragraph 60. 
17 http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/regul ation/better_regulation/simplification.htm  G/TBT/M/37 
Page 22  
 
136. The Chairman
 noted that there were some key issu es arising from the submissions and the 
discussions the Committee had held on Good Regulato ry Practice.  These included the importance of 
transparency; the importance of the assessment of the necessity of a proposed regulation; how to 
develop "better" or "smarter" regulations, includin g the simplification of regu latory processes; and, 
the need to increase cooperation among the regulatory bodies.  He concluded that there was a general 
agreement that the topic should be an element of th e Fourth Triennial Review.  Members were invited 
to provide more inputs on this topic by February 2006. 
7. Transparency 
137. The Chairman  drew the Committee's attention to  the proposals made by Canada 
(G/TBT/W/234), China (Section II of G/TB T/W/252) and the European Communities 
(G/TBT/W/253), and to the background paper pr epared by the Secretariat (G/TBT/W/250). 
138. The representative of Jordan  believed that transparency was an important principle in the 
Agreement.  More specifically, on the EC propos al to ensure access for the Members who submitted 
comments on a notification to the final text of the regulation notified, he believed that such access 
should be restricted to the governments only.  He explained that, in Jordan, the government published the texts of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures and requested the private 
sector to pay a fee to have access to them.  He supported the EC proposal regarding the posting of 
translations of notified texts on national websites.  However, for this proposal to be implemented, 
technical and financial assistance might be needed.  Finally, he supported the EC proposal to provide 
more extensive information in Section 6 of the notification format "Description of content", as it 
would enhance transparency. 
139. The Chairman
 summarized some of the key issues that could be drawn from the submissions 
and the discussions the Committee had held to date on transparency.  These included: the importance 
of ensuring sufficient time for comments; the im portance of increasing access to comments on 
notifications and to final texts; and, the need to find ways to share translations.  He concluded that 
there was a general agreement that the topic be an element of the Fourth Triennial Review and invited 
Members to provide indications of the type of actions that could be taken by the Committee by February 2006. 
140. On a more general note, the Chairman recalled that according to the work programme for the 
Fourth Triennial Review, at the March 2006 meetin g, the Committee would undertake a "stocktaking" 
of its work in terms of the preparation for the F ourth Triennial Review.  Looking further ahead, he 
recalled that at its second meeting in 2006, the Committee would be entering the "drafting phase".  At 
that meeting the Committee would have before it a first draft of the Fourth Triennial Review, 
including both factual elements and any recommenda tions on which there was general agreement.  He 
urged delegations who intended to make further submissions on the topics identified to do so before 
the end of February 2006.  This would enable the Committee, at its second meeting in 2006, to focus 
more on the operative language of the Review and would facilitate the adoption of the Fourth Triennial Review report at the third meeting in 2006. 
V. TECHNICAL COOPERATION 
141. The representative of the European Communities
 noted that its submission contained in 
G/TBT/W/259 was an update of projects or programmes funded by either the European Commission 
or its Member States for technical assistance in th e TBT field.  He noted that this information had 
been provided to the Committee for the past five ye ars.  Some projects were of a "framework type", 
and did not only cover TBT-related work. 
142. The Chairman  noted that Norway had provided written information on its technical 
cooperation activities (G/TBT/GEN/25).    G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 23 
 
 
143. The representative of the Secretariat  reported on the TBT-related technical assistance 
activities that the Secretariat had been en gaged in 2005, and those foreseen for 
2006 (G/TBT/GEN/26).  She recalled that the purpose of the Secretariat's technical assistance 
activities was to assist beneficiary countries in st rengthening their knowledge and understanding of 
the main disciplines and rules of the TBT Agreement and to update capital-based officials on current 
issues in the TBT Committee, with a view to improvi ng the capacity to participate in its work.  She 
stressed that  these activities also constituted a forum for participants to share experiences and views 
on various TBT issues.  It was emphasized that a great deal of work had gone into advance 
preparation, so as to maximize the impact of th e activities and to ensure active involvement and 
interaction among participants.  Prio r to the workshops, participants had been asked to come prepared 
to make presentations and interventions on specific topics. 
144. The programmes of the 2005 activities had responded to recommendations made by the TBT 
Committee in the context of the Third Triennial Review , in particular with resp ect to the exchange of 
experience in the area of conformity assessment pr ocedures and to the submission of the Statement on 
Implementation and Administration of the Agreem ent under Article 15.2.  As an example, she 
highlighted that one of the main purposes of th e workshop for SADC countries, which had taken place 
in Namibia in October, was to assist those Members which had not yet submitted their statements 
under Article 15.2 to better understand this obligati on.  Information to be included in the statement 
had been explained and clarified, and an opportuni ty had been provided for experience sharing. 
145. It was recalled that the Committee on Trad e and Development had adopted the 2006 
Technical Assistance and Training Plan.18  Three TBT-related regional workshops were planned for 
2006: for Latin America, for the Pacific Islands and for West Africa.  In addition to regional 
workshops, TBT-related assistance had been and wo uld be provided in other forms as well, namely 
national workshops, trade policy courses or throug h participation in activities organized by other 
agencies.  Two national workshops were planned for the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006:  in 
cooperation with the recipient Members, the programm es for these events would be tailored to meet 
their specific needs.19 
VI. REPORT (2005) OF THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE 
146. The Committee adopted  its 2005 Report to the Council for Trade in Goods (G/L/760). 
VII. UPDATING BY OBSERVERS 
147. The Chairman took note of the updates that had been provided in writing by the Codex 
(G/TBT/GEN/27), the OECD (G/TBT/GEN/28), th e WHO and FAO jointly (G/TBT/GEN29) and the 
OIML (G/TBT/GEN/30) on a numbe r of subjects, including their technical assistance activities. 
VIII.  OTHER BUSINESS 
148. The representative of the United States  noted that the WTO 2005 World Trade Report 
(WTR 2005) included over 120 pages devoted to standards and related topics.  In the Report, the term 
standards was used broadly to cover market-driven voluntary requirements as well as government 
regulations, and the analysis covered documents w ithin the scope of the TBT and SPS Agreements, as 
well as Services.  She believed that certain statements and references in the Report were subjective 
and confusing.  In particular, sh e was concerned that the Report gave  the impression that the standards 
developed by the ISO and IEC were recognized by the WTO, and given primary importance.  She 
                                                      
18 WT/COMTD/W/142. 
19 The TBT web page on technical assistance included information on the Secretariat's past and future TA 
activities. G/TBT/M/37 
Page 24  
 
stressed that while the SPS Agreement recognized three specific standards-setting bodies, there was 
no similar identification in the TBT Agreement.   
149. She recalled that in the course of the Second Triennial Review, Member s had raised various 
concerns with regard to  international standards development.  At that time, the Committee had 
considered various approaches, including the possib ility of developing a defined list of bodies, but 
this idea had been rejected.  It had become clear that without adequate procedural safeguards, any 
given international body could have a standard, even if outdated or not reflective of the views of all 
interested parties, that, if used by  a Member as a basis for a technical regulation, could be presumed to 
be complying with the Agreement, and still have adverse effects on trade.  She recalled that the 
Committee, instead of working on a list, had taken a Decision on Principles for the Development of 
International Standards.
20  
150. She further noted that the WTR 2005 suggested that the WTO, through the TBT Agreement's 
Code of Good Practice, strictly regulated the work  o f  t h e  I S O .   S h e  s t r e s s e d  t h a t  t h i s  w a s  o n l y  
partially true, and recalled that at  the Second Triennial Review the Committee had recognized that the 
WTO could not directly bind the work of other international bodies.  Instead, the responsibility was with Members to adhere to the principles to gu ide their work in the international bodies.  She 
suggested that the Secretariat could in future cons ult with Members before publishing such Reports.  
Her delegation intended to follow up on the issu e with written comments to the Secretariat. 
151. The Secretariat
 noted with respect to the World Trade Report that every effort had been made 
to be accurate and balanced.  The objective of Wo rld Trade Reports was to enhance the understanding 
of Members in various areas.  He noted that the WTR had been prepared by the Economic Research 
and Statistics Division with opportunity provided to the Trade and Environment Division, as well as 
other relevant Divisions, to provide comments.  It was stressed that the WTR, as stated the Report 
itself, was published under the sole responsibilit y of the WTO Secretariat and did not purport to 
reflect the opinions or views of Members of the WTO. 
IX. DATE OF NEXT MEETING 
152. The next meeting of the TBT Committee will be  held on Wednesday, 15 March (whole day) 
and in the afternoon of Friday, 17 March 2006.  The Workshop on the Different Approaches to 
Conformity Assessment will take place on Thursday , 16 March (whole day) and in the morning of 
Friday, 17 March. 
 
_______________ 
                                                      
20 G/TBT/9, Annex IV.  G/TBT/M/37 
 Page 25 
 
 
ANNEX 1: WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE FOURTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW 
 
1. Article 15.4 of the Agreement on Technical Ba rriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) provides 
that:  "Not later than the end of the third year from the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement 
and at the end of each three-year period thereafter, the Committee shall review the operation and 
implementation of this Agreement, including the pr ovisions relating to transparency, with a view to 
recommending an adjustment of the rights and obligations of the Agreement where necessary to 
ensure mutual economic advantage and balance of rights and obligations, without prejudice to the 
provisions of Article 12.  Having regard, inter alia,  to the experience gained  in the implementation of 
the Agreement, the Committee shall,  where appropriate, submit proposals for amendments to the text 
of this Agreement to the Co uncil for Trade in Goods". 
2. The Committee concluded the First, Second a nd Third Triennial Reviews of the Operation 
and Implementation of the TBT Agreement on 13 November 1997 (G/TBT/5), 10 November 2000 
(G/TBT/9) and 7 November 2003 (G/TBT/13), respectively.  In light of the mandate quoted above, 
the aim is to conclude the Fourth Triennial Review at the Committee's last meeting in 2006. 
3. Article 15.4 states that the Committee shall at the end of each three-year period undertake the 
review work.  In order to prepare for this review work and to ensure efficiency, the work programme 
(overleaf) sets out three stages:  identification, disc ussion and drafting.  In essence, this approach 
means that, by mid-cycle (June 2005), the Committee would shift its focus from the follow-up of the 
Third Triennial Review to the preparation of the Fourth.   
4. Three formal meetings of the TBT Committee have been scheduled for 2005 and another 
three are foreseen to be held in 2006.   
5. It is proposed that the review work be initiate d at the First meeting in 2005 with a preliminary 
identification of topics for review.  It is stressed that this list will be preliminary and that Members 
would be able to add to or modify it during the discussion phase of the review work.  At its Second 
and Third meetings in 2005, it is pr oposed that the Committee hold focused discussions on topics that 
have been identified.  Members will be encouraged  to submit papers on the issues identified for 
consideration.  To facilitate the discussion, the Secretariat will prepare factual background notes on 
specific topics under discussion.   
6. At its First meeting in 2006, the Committee should be in a position to take stock of the 
discussions.  To assist the Committee in this st ocktaking exercise, the Secretariat will prepare a 
summary of the key issues discussed, under each topi c identified.  This draft will be factual in nature 
and will not contain any recommendations.  
7. The Second meeting in 2006 will mark the start of the drafting phase.  For that meeting, the 
Committee will have before it a firs t draft of the Fourth Triennial Review, including both the factual 
elements and any recommendations on which th ere is general agreement.   
8. In respect of the conduct of the review work itself, it is proposed that substantive discussions 
pertaining to the review will normally be held in formal mode under an agenda item dedicated to the 
review process (currently Agenda Item 3 "Triennial Review").  After circulation and discussion of the 
first draft of the Fourth Triennial Review, including  both the factual part and any recommendations on 
which there is general agreement, necessary drafting will take place in  open-ended informal meetings.  
These meetings will, to the extent  possible, be held back-to-back with the regular meetings of the 
Committee.  The Chairman will subsequently report on the results in the formal meeting. 
9. The Committee is to adopt the final text of the Fourth Triennial Review at its Third meeting 
in 2006. G/TBT/M/37 
Page 26  
 
10. The work programme should be seen as flexible and may be modified in light of any new 
developments.   
Work Programme for the Fourth Triennial Review
 
Dates / Time Frame Proposed Action 
Identification phase  
mid-February 2005 Preliminary identification of topics for review by delegations 
First meeting in 2005 Listing of topics and organization of discussion 
 
Discussion phase  
end-April 2005 Circulation of Secretariat note on topics to be discussed at the next 
meeting 
mid-May 2005 Submissions by delegations on topics to be discussed at the next meeting 
Second meeting in 2005 Discussion on topics identified 
mid-September 2005 Circulation of Secretariat note on topics to be discussed at the next 
meeting 
mid-October 2005 Submissions by delegations on topics to be discussed at the next meeting  
Third meeting in 2005 Discussion on topics identified 
end-January 2006 Circulation by the Secretariat of draft of factual elements of the review  
end-February2006 Submission by delegations of proposals for recommendations  
First meeting in 2006  Stocktaking:   
Discussion of draft of factual elements of the review as well as any 
proposed recommendations. 
 
Drafting phase  
mid-June 2006 Circulation of first draft text of the Fourth Triennial Review, including 
both the factual part and any recommendations on which there is general 
agreement 
Second meeting in 2006 Discussion of draft text of the Fourth Triennial Review 
mid-September 2006 Circulation of the draft final text of the Fourth Triennial Review 
Third meeting in 2006 Adoption of the final text of the Fourth Triennial Review 
 
 
 
__________