WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/ECU/5 
17 March 2005 
 
 (05-1112) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   ECUADOR
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible:   National Directorate of Foreign Trade Policy, Undersecretariat of 
Foreign Trade and Integration, Ministry of Fo reign Trade, Industrialization, Fisheries and 
Competitiveness/Dirección Nacional de Políticas de Comercio Exterior, Subsecretaría de Comercio Exterior e Integración, Ministerio de Comercio Exterior, Industrialización, Pesca 
y Competitividad 
Address:  Av.  Amazonas y Av. Eloy Alfaro Quito - Ecuador 
Tel.: + (593) 2 2566041/ Ext. 161 
Fax: + (593) 2 2541984 
E-mail: abarbosa@micip.gov.ec 
Website: www.micip.gov.ec 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:  
Instituto Ecuatoriano de Normalización (INEN ) (Ecuadorian Standardization Institute) 
Baquerizo Moreno E8-29 y Almagro 
Quito - Ecuador 
Tel.: + (593) 2 2528556 / 2501885 to 2501887 
Fax: + (593) 2 2567815 E-mail: inenfu@andinanet.net 
Website: www.inen.gov.ec 
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:    
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):   Welded steel tanks and 
cylinders for liquefied petroleum gas (L PG) and accessories thereof (International 
Classification for Standards:  23.020.30, 77. 140.30, 23.060.01, 75,160.30, 23.060.40, 
23.020.10). G/TBT/N/ECU/5 
Page 2  
 
 5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Draft Agreement of 
the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Industrialization, Fisheries and Competitiveness regarding the Ecuadorian Technical Regulation on Welded  Steel Tanks and Cylinders for Liquefied 
Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Accessories Thereof (14 pages, in Spanish). 
6. Description of content:   
- The draft Ecuadorian Regulation notified herein establishes the minimum fitness-
for-purpose and performance requirements to be met by the following products with 
the aim of protecting human health and safety, animal and plant life and health, the environment and property a nd preventing practices likely to mislead users: 
• Carbon steel sheets for the manufacture of welded steel tanks and cylinders for 
liquefied petroleum gas.  Requirements. 
• Welded steel cylinders for liquefied petroleum gas.  Manufacturing 
requirements.  
• Welded steel cylinders for liquefied petroleum gas.  Requirements and 
inspection.  
• Inspection of steel cylinders for liquefied petroleum gas in circulation 
• Valves for cylinders for liquefied petroleum gas.  Requirements and inspection 
• Low pressure regulators for liquefied petroleum gas.  Requirements and 
inspection 
• Flexible connecting hoses.  Requirements 
• Hose nozzles.  Size requirements 
• Tanks for low-pressure gases.  Requirements and inspection 
- This draft Regulation sets out the defin itions of and genera l conditions, product, 
packaging and labelling requirements and conformity assessment tests for the above products. 
- The draft Regulation establishes the products  which will have to demonstrate clear 
compliance with the requirements of th e following existing Ecuadorian Technical 
Standards:  NTE INEN 111, NTE INEN  113, NTE INEN 116, NTE INEN 885, 
NTE INEN 886, NTE INEN 1 682, N TE INEN 2 143, NTE INEN 2 261. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: 
 Safety:  protection of pe ople, buildings and the envi ronment from fire hazards.  G/TBT/N/ECU/5 
 Page 3 
 
 
 8. Relevant documents:  
1. Publication where the notice appears:  not indicated. 
2. Proposal and basic document:  Technical Regulation of the Ecuadorian 
Standardization Institu te RTE INEN 008:2005 
3. Publication in which the proposal will appear following adoption:  Registro Oficial  
(Official Journal) 
4. Relevant national/internati onal standards:  Technical Standards of the Ecuadorian 
Standardization Institute NTE INEN  111/International Organization for 
Standardization standard ISO 4706;  NTE INEN 113/ISO 4978; NTE INEN 
116/ISO 5145; NTE INEN 885/ISO 2928;  NTE INEN 886/Italian National 
Standards Board standard UNI 7141; NTE INEN 1 682/British Standards Institute 
standard BSI 3016; NTE INEN 2 143/ISO 4706; NTE INEN 2 261/BSI 5355. 
9. Proposed date of entry into force: 
Proposed date of adoption:  Six months after adoption 
90 days after circulation by the WTO Secretariat 
10. Final date for comments:   60 days after circulation by the WTO Secretariat. 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body: 
Instituto Ecuatoriano de Normalización 
Baquerizo Moreno E8-29 y Almagro Quito - Ecuador 
Tel.: + (593) 2 2528556 / 2501885 to 2501887 
Fax: + (593) 2 2567815 
E-mail: inenfu@andinanet.net Website: www.inen.gov