WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/N/AUS/68 
23 June 2011  
 (11-3111) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  AUSTRALIA  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:   
Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) Branch 
Australian Government Departme nt of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and 
Communities (SEWPaC) 
GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
TBT Enquiry Point 
Australian Government Department  of Foreign Affairs and Trade 
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia 
Tel.:  + 61 2 6261 1481 
E-mail:  TBT.Enquiry@dfat.gov.au  
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):   
For the minimum WES, the produc ts affected are cl othes washing machines and combination 
washer dryers that use water in the drying mode as in HS Chapter 84.51. 
For WaterMark certification, the products affe cted are all WELS products except dishwashers 
and clothes washing machines (i.e. lavatory equipment, urinal equipment, showers, tap 
equipment and flow controllers). 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   
AS/NZS 6400:2005 (Incorporating Amendment Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5):  Water efficient 
products - Rating and labelling (6 0 pages, in English) and Plumbing Code of Australia, 
Volume 3, National Construction Code  (196 pages, in English), to be made mandatory on 
1 October 2011 by Ministeria l Determination under the Water Efficiency Labelling and 
Standards Act 2005  (58 pages, in English) G/TBT/N/AUS/68 
Page 2  
 
  6. Description of content:   
Minimum WES  
The Australian Government is introducing mi nimum water effi ciency standards (WES) for 
clothes washing machines (CWM) and labelling requirements for combination washer dryers 
(CWD) that use water in the drying mode).  
From 1 October 2011, only CWM with a water effi ciency star rating index of 2.5 stars or 
greater (for machine with a washing load of under 5 kilograms) and 3.0 stars or greater 
(for CWM with a washing load of 5 kilograms and over) can be regist ered with the WELS 
scheme for supply in Australia. From 1 Oct ober 2012, CWM that do not meet the minimum 
WES will be de-registered. 
In addition, all CWD that use water in the dryer mode must carry a water usage label. 
This requirement also comes into effect on 1 October 2011. 
The Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2005  is the enabling legislation that allows 
the Minister responsible for WELS to determ ine the WELS standard. Currently the Minister 
has determined that the WELS standard is  AS/NZS 6400:2005: Water efficient products - 
Rating and labelling (Incorporating Amendment Nos 1, 2 and 3). 
A new Ministerial Determination is intended to be made by September 2011 which will 
determine the WELS Standard from 1 Octobe r 2011 to be AS/NZS 6400:2005  (Incorporating 
Amendment Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5): Water efficient products - Rating and labelling. 
The minimum WES for CWM and new labelling requirement for CWD are detailed in 
Amendment 5 of AS/NZS6400:2005.   
WaterMark certification 
WELS products other than dishwashers and clothes washing machines will also need to have 
WaterMark certification (where the product is required to be WELS certified by the state or 
territory) in order to be WELS re gistered as of 1 October 2011. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:   
Minimum WES  
The objectives of the minimum WES for CWM and labelling requireme nts for CWD are in 
line with the objectives of the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2005, which are: 
 to conserve water supplies by  reducing water consumption; 
 to provide information for purchasers of water-use and water –saving products; and 
 to promote the adoption of  efficient and effective water-use and water-saving 
technologies 
WaterMark certification 
Products must be WaterMark ce rtified to be eligible for WELS registrati on. WaterMark 
certification evidences that plumbing produc ts are fit for use including to protect the 
reticulated water supply. Wa terMark certificatio n is already a requirement under the 
Plumbing Code of Australia . WELS is adopting this as a requirement in order to ensure that 
the WELS labels do not appear on products that are unfit for use.  G/TBT/N/AUS/68 
 Page 3 
 
 
  8. Relevant documents:    
AS/NZS 6400:2005  (Incorporating Amendment No s 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5): Water efficient 
products - Rating and labelling; 
Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2005 ; 
Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Determination 2007 ; 
Plumbing Code of Australia, Volume 3, National Construction Code . 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   1 October 2011   
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification 
11. Text available from: National enquiry point [  ], or addre ss, telephone and fax numbers, 
e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:    
Standard text available from:   
SAI Global Infostore:  http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store   and enter 6400 in the search box. 
Queries regarding te chnical content:  mail@standards.org.au   
Legislation and Decision Regulatory Impact Statement available from: 
http://www.waterrating.gov.au  
Queries regarding legisl ation and enforcement:  wels@environment.gov.au  
National Construction Code (NCC) available from: 
Australian Building Codes Board:  https://www.abcb.gov.au /abcbshop/index.aspx  
Queries regarding NCC:  ncc@abcb.gov.au