WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/128 
4 December 2009 
 
 (09-6249) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
 
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Framework for Industry-specific NTB Proposals
 
 
Communication from the European Union and India 
 
Negotiating Text  
  The following negotiating text, dated 3 December 2009,   pursuant to  paragraph 24 (c) of the 
draft modalities for non-agricultural market access as published in TN/MA/W/103/Rev.3 of 
6 December 2008 is being circulated at the request  of the delegations of the European Union and 
India. 
_______________ 
  
Framework Understanding on Non-Tariff Barriers 
 
Members , 
  Recalling  that pursuant to paragraph 16 of the Doha  Ministerial Declaration, Members agreed 
to negotiations aimed at reducing or as appropria te eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers on 
non agricultural products; 
 
 Desiring  to further the expansion of production and trade so as to promote growth and 
employment;  
 Convinced  that reduction and, as appropriate, elimin ation of obstacles to trade caused by 
divergent, duplicative and burdensome national st andards, technical regulations and conformity 
assessment procedures will be to the benefit of all Members, taking into account the importance of 
trade for developing countries and of the global nature of many industries;  
Affirming their existing rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement, including the 
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (the "TBT Agreement"); 
 
  Noting  that the reduction and, as appropriate, elimination of non-tariff barriers does not 
prevent Members from taking measures consistent with the TBT Agreement that are necessary to, 
inter alia , protect human, animal, or plant life or health  or the environment; or to prevent deceptive 
practices; or to protect essential security interests;     TN/MA/W/128 
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  Hereby agree  as follows: 
 
Article 1  
 
 This Understanding applies to  standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment 
procedures and other administrative procedures appl ying to all products.  The industry specific 
Annexes [A-Z] of this Unders tanding apply to certain products as specified therein.  
 
Article 2  
  The terms used in this Understanding shall have the same meaning as in the Agreement on 
Technical Barriers to Trade, unless otherwise stated in this Understanding.  
GENERAL PART 
 
Strengthening International Standard-Setting 
 
Article 3 
 
International Standard-Setting Bodies 
 
1. For the purpose of applying Articles 2.4, 5.4 and point F of Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement, 
the International Organization for Standards (ISO) , International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 
and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)  shall be considered relevant international 
standard-setting bodies.   2.  The Annexes to this Unders tanding may stipulate that intern ational standard-setting bodies or 
standards issued by such bodies other than the ones listed under paragraph 1 are relevant with respect 
to certain products, procedures and specified risks and their intended use for the purpose of applying 
Articles 2.4, 5.4 and point F of Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement.  3.  Increased use of international standards, in particular by developing countries, can be best 
achieved by strengthening the existing internationa l standard-setting organisations and by proactive 
and meaningful implementation of technical as sistance and special and differential treatment 
provisions in Articles 11 and 12 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, as further strengthened by the provisions of this Understanding  
Article 4 
 
Convergence to International Standards and Harmonisation 
 
1. Full harmonization of regula tions and regulatory practices is the first best solution to 
overcoming regulatory fragmentation. Where harmoni zation has not been achieved or is not yet 
practicable, efforts of Members shall be directed to  identifying solutions that strive to build on the 
concepts of convergence of regulations to intern ational standards and regulatory practices to the 
greatest extent possible.   2. Without prejudice to Art. 2.3 of the TBT Agreement, Members shall review at regular intervals technical regulations with a view to increasing their convergence with applicable 
international standards. In undertaking this revi ew, Members shall take into account whether any 
existing technical regulations need to be review ed based on new standards mentioned in any work  TN/MA/W/128 
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  programme published pursuant to point J of Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement. When reviewing their 
existing technical regulations, Members shall consider  whether the circumstances that have given rise 
to any divergence from any relevant international standard continues to exist.    Developed country Members shall undertake this  review at least once every five years. 
Developing country Members are encouraged to appl y the provisions of this Article. Members shall 
convey the frequency established for such reviews to the Committee on Technical barriers to Trade. 
 3.  In this review, Members should refer to international standards as a means to confer a 
presumption of conformity with requirements of th eir domestic technical regulations to products 
complying with the specifications of international st andards. This is without prejudice to Article 2.4 
of the TBT Agreement. 
 
Article 5 
 
Development of International Standards 
 
1.  For international standards to make a ma ximum contribution to the achievement of trade 
facilitation for the products under this  Understanding, Member confirm the importance they attach to 
the principles set out in Annex B of the Document G/TBT/1/Rev.9 dated 8 September 2008 ( Decision 
of the Committee on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and 
Recommendations with relation to Articles 2, 5 and Annex 3 of the Agreement ) on the development of 
international standards. Members also note that the international standard-setting organisations 
included in Article 3.1 and in the Annexes to this  Understanding in accordance with Article 3.2 follow 
these principles.   
Article 6 
 
Improving Regulatory Practice 
 
1. Where a Member prepares or proposes to adopt a technical regulation or conformity 
assessment procedure and a relevant international standard or a relevant guide or recommendation 
issued by an international standa rdising body does not exist, it shall: 
 (1) consider, inter alia , the costs of complying with the proposed technical regulation or 
conformity assessment procedure; and 
 
(2) assess the available regulatory and non-regul atory alternatives to the proposed technical 
regulation or conformity assessment procedur e that may fulfill the Member's legitimate 
objective  in accordance with Article  2.2 of the TBT Agreement.  
 2. Members shall use the review established in Ar ticle 4.2 to review those technical regulations 
and conformity assessment procedures which have  been established in cases where international 
standards do not yet exist. In reviewing such technical regulations and conformity assessment 
procedures to determine whether such measures should  be modified or eliminated, relevant elements 
of consideration include whether such technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures 
have become unnecessary or outdated by reason of changed circumstances, such as fundamental 
changes in technology. 
 
3. With a view to better meet the obligations in  Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement, further to 
Articles 2.9, 2.10, 5.6 and 5.7 of the TBT Agreemen t, before amending an existing or adopting a new 
standard, technical regulation or conformity assess ment procedure that is not in accordance with TN/MA/W/128 
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  relevant standards, guides or recommendations issued  by international standard-setting bodies, and in 
case the standard, technical regulation or the conf ormity assessment procedure may have a significant 
effect on trade, Members shall also facilitate, upon request, consultations with any interested party 
and provide to interested partie s information on the impact of any proposed standard, technical 
regulation or conformity assessment procedure, in cluding the assessment of risks, the cost of 
compliance and the expected trade impact. Member s shall take into consideration the specific 
situation of developing countries.  4.  For the purpose of enabling interested parties to become acquainted with proposed standards, 
technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures, in accordance with Article 2.11 of the 
TBT Agreement, Members shall ensure that any standard, technical regulation or conformity 
assessment procedure under preparation is public ly available and easily accessible to interested 
parties. Members shall make available, upon requ est, the public responses to significant comments by 
other Members or interested parties at the same  time as the adoption of the standard, technical 
regulation or conformity assessment procedure.   
 
Article 7 
 
Ensuring Transparency and Due Process 
 
1. In order to facilitate trade in particular  for small and medium enterprises, electronic 
repositories of the technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures with which 
compliance of specific products or product groups re quired at the importation and at the moment of 
putting it on its market shall be accessible through a dedicated WTO portal. The WTO secretariat shall provide the technical infrastructure for establishing and managing these repositories. Members shall be responsible for making available and accessible the applicable technical regulations. 
 
2. Members shall provide a translation of its technical regulations and conformity assessment 
procedures referred to in paragraph 1 in at least in one official language of the WTO. 
 3. Members shall allow a reasonable period of time be tween the publication of a technical regulation or 
conformity assessment procedure and the date(s) on which compliance with the technical regulation or 
conformity assessment procedure beco mes mandatory to allow time for producers in exporting Members, and 
particularly in developing country Members, to adap t to the requirements of the importing Member. Where 
conformity with a technical regula tion would require a substantial change in design or technology, a 
reasonable period of time shall usually be not less th an 6 months after the date of publication. A 
Member shall consider reasonable requests from a Me mber or interested party to extend the period 
between publication and the date(s) on which compliance with the technical regulation or conformity 
assessment procedure becomes mandatory, particular ly in circumstances where conformity with the 
technical regulation would require a substantial change in design or technology.  4. Each Member shall make available transparent and impartial judicial or quasi-judicial review 
of final administrative decisions relating to technical regulations and conformity assessment 
procedures that follows due process. Each Member shall ensure that any entity entrusted with such 
review does not have any substantial interest in the outcome of the matter.   
Article 8 
 
Assuring Conformity with Regulatory Requirements 
 
1. For the purpose of applying Article 5.1.2 of  the TBT Agreement, where a Member requires 
positive assurance of conformity with its applicable technical regulations or standards for accepting a 
product on its market, the Member shall ensure that the required assurance of conformity is  TN/MA/W/128 
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  proportionate to the risk that non compliance would entail with regard to the public policy objective 
pursued.    2. In cases of specific products and in regard to  specific, well-described risks, Members shall 
endeavour to include a supplier’s declaration of  conformity as assurance of conformity with 
applicable standards or technical regulations among the options.  The Annexes to this Understanding 
may identify such products and risks.    3. In cases where supplier's declarations of conf ormity are not used by Members, in accordance 
with Article 6.1 of the TBT Agreement, Members are inv ited to create, if not yet existing, or to join, if 
already existing, any functioning arrangements for mu tual recognition of conformity assessments with 
a view to increasing its membership to all WTO Members. The Annexes to this Agreement shall 
specify such arrangements and any conditions re lated to the use of these arrangements for the 
purposes of enhancing trade within the multilateral trading system. 
 
4. Members shall encourage their conformity assessment bodies to participate in international 
accreditation systems and to become signatories of  international accreditation schemes. If Members 
require that conformity assessment bodies comply  with requirements related to carrying out 
conformity assessment procedures for specific regulations, it shall do so on the basis of the international accreditation systems and in particular  the multilateral agreements of the International 
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). 
 
Article 9 
 
Providing Technical Assistance and Cooperation 
 
1.  As provided for by Article 11 of the TB T Agreement, developed country Members shall 
provide, on request and on mutually agreed terms and conditions with devel oping and least-developed 
country Members, technical cooperation in the implementation of the commitments under this 
Understanding. This should also include tec hnical cooperation on post-market surveillance by 
developed country Members as far as required for th e implementation of systems based on supplier's 
declaration in developing and least-developed country Members.  
 
Article 10 
 
Respecting Confidentiality and Business Secrets 
 
Nothing in this Understanding sha ll be construed to require a Member to furnish or allow access to 
confidential information or business secrets, the di sclosure of which would impede law enforcement 
or otherwise be contrary to the public interest  or which would prejudice the legitimate commercial 
interests of particular economic operators, public or private. 
 
Article 11 
 
Management and Oversight on Implementation 
 
1. The TBT Committee shall oversee the operation and implementation of this Understanding. 
 
2. Working Parties are herby established for the Annexes to this Understanding. In these cases, 
the Working Party shall oversee the operati on and implementation of that Annex. 
 TN/MA/W/128 
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  3. On a triennial basis following the entry into  force of this Understanding, the TBT Committee 
together with the Working Parti es shall examine the implementation of this Understanding with the 
aim of gradually expanding th e coverage of the Annexes .   
 
Article 12 
 
Final Provisions 
 
1.  The Annexes and Appendices to this Understanding constitute an in tegral part thereof. In the 
event of a conflict between the provisions of the An nexes and of this Understanding, the provisions of 
the Annexes and Appendices shall prevail. 
 2. [ Procedure to add new Annexes to be developed ] 
  
INDUSTRY SPECIFIC PART 
 
Annex A – Textiles 
 
(As agreed in the ongoing negotiations) 
 
_______________ 
 
Annex B – Electronics 
 
(As agreed in the ongoing negotiations) 
 
_______________ 
 
 
Annex C – Automotives 
 
(As agreed in the ongoing negotiations) 
 
_______________ 
 
 
Annex D – Other Industry Specific Annexes 
 
(As agreed in the ongoing negotiation s or according to the procedure  
to be developed under Article 12.2) 
 
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