. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/318 
23 June 2009 
 (09-3061) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original: English 
  
 
FIFTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE AGREEMENT  
ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE: INDIAN PROPOSAL 
 
Communication from India
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 22 June 2009,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of India . 
 
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I. PRIVATE STANDARDS 
1. Article 4.1 of the TBT Agreement requires th at WTO Members ensure compliance of non- 
governmental standardising bodies with the TB T Code of Good Practice.  However, the inclusive 
definition  of the term "Non Governmental Body" cont ained in Annex 1 of the TBT Agreement, does 
not clarify whether it includes private sector, comm ercial bodies who make private standards with 
commercial interests in mind.  
2. This is important as several such bodies are bringi ng in a range of private standards that work 
towards curbing the effec tive access of developing countries to the markets of certain developed 
countries where such bodies exist.  This is viola tive of the spirit of the TBT Agreement and the 
provisions of GATT Article XI.  
3. Hence, the intervention of the TBT Committee is  sought to discuss the issue in detail and 
come up with necessary clarification.  
II. CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE 
4. The TBT Code of Good Practice under Article 4 applies to non-governmental standardizing 
bodies.  This ensures that the standardising body h as a Code of Good Practice to follow when it comes 
to making 'standards'.  However, conformity assess ment procedures go hand in hand with standards 
and there is no corresponding Code of Good Practice to govern framing of 'testing' and 'certification' 
requirements.  The non tariff barriers that the devel oping countries are often grappling with are in the 
form of testing and certification requirements.  Henc e, there is need to frame a comprehensive Code 
of Good Practice to apply to non-governmental conformity assessment requirements.  The TBT 
Committee may like to come up with re levant guidelines in this regard.  
III. INTENTION OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION 
5. Standards/ guides/ recommendations devised by in ternational organisations carry the status of 
an ‘international standard/ guide/ recommendation’ u nder Article 2.5 of the TBT Agreement and carry 
a rebuttable presumption that it does not create an unn ecessary barrier to trade.  However, what would 
be the status of Standards/ guides/ recommendations  framed by an international organisation if the G/TBT/W/318 
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  organisation conveys its clear intent that for purposes of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the 
WTO, the standard/ guide/ recommendation is not in tended to be interpreted as an “international 
standard”, “guideline” or “recommendation”.  The Committee should examine the legal 
implications of the such conditions set by th e international standardizing bodies as they have 
significant implications on global trade flows.  
IV. DEFINITION OF "INTERNATIONAL STANDARD" 
6. Definition of the term relevant "Internationa l Standard" as used in Article 2.5 and other 
provisions of the TBT Agreement is currently not included in Annex 1 of the TBT Agreement.  No 
illustrative list of standardizing bodies is give n, unlike Article 12.3 of the SPS Agreement which 
names international organisations such as OIE, C odex, IPPC, etc.  India suggests coming up with a 
definition similar to that in para 3 of Annex A of the SPS Agreement.  This will help developing 
countries to prioritize their particiaption in inte rnational standardizing bodies since developing 
countries cannot participate in standard-setting activ ities of all international standards bodies because  
resource constraints.  
V. USE OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
7. India believes that the multiplicity of sta ndards/ guides/ recommendations as well as the 
product and process technical regulations and co nformity assessment procedures pose a serious 
barrier to international trade.  It has a particular ly deleterious impact on de veloping countries' exports.  
To fully understand the impact of this diversity and multiplicity of standard s on developing country 
exporters, it is proposed that the Secretariat may co nduct a factual study and ascertain the impact of 
the multiplicity of international standards/ t echnical regulations and conformity assessment 
procedures on trade flows of developing countries in some identified sectors of developing country 
export interest.  The study may also estimate th e additional cost borne by developing country 
exporters in complying with these requirements.  The Members may thereafter consider the findings 
and develop ways to resolve the problems so identified. 
VI. USE OF MRAS AND EQUIVALENCE AGREEMENTS 
8. The Secretariat may conduct a factual study of  the MRAs and Equivalence agreements and 
evaluate their success in terms of enhanced trade flows.  The study may highlight the features of 
successful MRAs and Equivalence Agreements.  The Members may thereafter like to consider 
framing a model MRA based on the findings of the study.  
 
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