WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/313 
9 June 2009 
 
 (09-2751) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
FIFTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE AGREEMENT 
ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE 
 
Communication from Mexico
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 8 June 2009, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Mexico . 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. As an original signatory to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), 
Mexico has played an active role in the activities related to the implementation of that international 
instrument and is firmly committed to eliminating unnecessary technical barriers to trade through the 
application of uniform rules and procedures directed  towards that end.  Accordingly, Mexico put 
forward its points of view and participated in the discussions during the First, Second and Third Triennial Reviews of the TBT Agreement
1 and, on this occasion, has decided to submit this 
contribution with a view to making its position clear on various subjects of interest to the Members of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, encouraging an exchange of views on how best to 
tackle such subjects and promoting the formulation of recommendations thereon. 
2. Mexico attaches great importance to the Fift h Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement, 
principally on account of the impact that the implem entation of the rules of that Agreement has on the 
health and growth of multilateral trade.  In this connection, Mexico considers that, while tariffs are 
being eliminated, it is becoming more and more obvious  that the international flow of goods is being 
affected by a proliferation of non-tariff measures.  In addition, Mexico believes that standardization 
(both mandatory and voluntary) and conformity assess ment are instrumental and highly effective in 
achieving sustainable economic growth in developing countries, raising the standard of living of their 
citizens, developing and strengthening the busin ess infrastructure and competitiveness, and protecting 
the environment. 
3. In analysing the operation of the TBT Agreement (on the basis of the provisions of 
Article 15.4) as well as the results of the First, S econd and Third Triennial Reviews, Mexico has come 
to the conclusion that the trade problems arising w ith regard to technical barriers to trade are all 
directly linked to problems of the implementation
 of its provisions.  In Mexico's view, the 
TBT Agreement possesses a well-structured set of rul es, which are sufficiently clear and exhaustive, 
and consequently the Fifth Triennial Review shoul d not seek to interpret its provisions, much less 
change them, but solely make recommendations so as to enable Members to apply them promptly and 
appropriately and thus implement the Agreement effectively. 
                                                      
1 Documents G/TBT/5, G/ TBT/9 and G/TBT/W/209. G/TBT/W/313 
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  4. In view of the above observations, Mexico's obj ectives during the Fifth Triennial Review will 
be the discussion and, if appropriate, the drawi ng up of recommendations in the following fields 
(listed in no particular order): 
(a) Transparency; 
(b) Conformity Assessment; 
(c) Good Regulatory Practices; 
(d) Specific Trade Concerns; 
(e) International Standards; 
(f) Technical Assistance;  and 
(g) Regulatory Cooperation. 
II. TRANSPARENCY 
5. In accordance with the provisions of Article 2.9 of the TBT Agreement, where a Member 
intends to issue a technical regulation that may ha ve a significant effect on trade, and no related 
international standard exists, or, if it does exist, its  content is not compatible with it, that Member 
must meet four requirements when preparing the technical regulation, namely: 
(a) Announce to Members by means of a notice, at an early stage
, its intention of 
adopting the regulation; 
(b) notify, also at a sufficiently early stage , the objective, rationale  and products covered 
by the proposed regulation, so as to enable Members to formulate comments and, consequently, allow the proposed  regulation to be amended; 
(c) provide details on the content of the proposed technical regulation and indicate its 
divergences from the applicable international standards;  and 
(d) allow a reasonable period of time for the formulation of comments, hold discussions 
on such comments, and take into account both the comments and the results of the 
discussions themselves. 
6. Mexico attaches great importance to the obliga tions laid down by the TBT Agreement with 
regard to transparency and considers that their fulfilm ent will, to a considerable extent, help to prevent 
unnecessary obstacles to international trade.  Sim ilarly, the fulfilment of the aforementioned 
obligations enables countries to influence the content of  foreign technical regulations so that they take 
account of the special conditions of their nationals.  Finally, the opportunity to participate in the 
preparation of the technical regulations of othe r countries encourages harmonization and technology 
exchange. 
7. With regard to the obligation established in Article 2.9.1 of the TBT Agreement, Mexico 
takes the view that the TBT Committee should esta blish procedures to ensure its fulfilment and 
implementation by Members, since until now the no tices provided for in this provision have been 
overlooked and have not been communicat ed effectively.  As an example,  we refer to the notifications 
that Mexico regularly makes to the TBT Committee,  by means of which it informs Members of the  G/TBT/W/313 
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  annual publication of the National Standardization Programme2 and, if appropriate, of its 
supplements.  In both instruments, Mexico lists all the technical regulations that are expected to be 
prepared during that year by the various depart ments of the federal government, providing Members 
with the relevant information at a sufficiently early  stage and independently of the notifications for 
each individual technical regulation, which are subsequently made on the basis of Article 2.9.2 of the 
TBT Agreement. 
8. With regard to the obligations mentioned in Articles 2.9.2, 2.9.3 and 2.9.4, it has been a cause 
for concern to Mexico that Members only partially observe them, or even totally fail to fulfil them, 
since the relevant notification documents contain th e following inconsistencies with those obligations: 
(a) Absence of a time-limit for the submission of comments on the technical regulation; 
(b) lack of dates for the adoption and entry into force of the technical regulation; 
(c) failure to observe the minimum period of 60 days for the submission of comments 
(either because the period is less than th at, or even because it has already ended by 
the time the notification is circulated);  and 
(d) dates of adoption and entry into force which ar e prior to the date of circulation of the 
notification, or very close to it. 
9. In Mexico's opinion, Articles 2.9.2, 2.9.3 and 2.9.4 of the TBT Agreement provide that the 
obligations with regard to transparency containe d therein must be fulfilled by Members when the 
technical regulations are still at the draft stage a nd not when the regulation has already been adopted 
or is in the final stages of adoption.  Similarly,  even when Members are given the opportunity to 
formulate comments on a technical regulation, if  the procedural stage at which it makes its 
notification is not sufficiently early or if the peri od is not sufficiently long, this prevents them from 
exercising the rights arising from such obligations, that is to say, from submitting the relevant comments, so that they may be considered, discussions held on them and, if appropriate, 
modifications introduced into the technical regulation in question. 
10. In view of the foregoing observations, Mexico considers that the Triennial Review of the 
TBT Agreement should result in recommendations fo r the strict fulfilment by Members of the 
transparency obligations and, if appropriate, fo r the improvement of the corresponding notification 
procedures. 
11. Mexico welcomes the communication from the European Communities on transparency
3, 
circulated on 11 May 2009, and recognizes that transp arency is an important element in ensuring the 
effectiveness of the TBT Agreement.  Mexico wi shes to take advantage of this opportunity to 
elaborate on certain points in the EC document, as follows: 
(a) Paragraph 4 on statistical information wh ich can be extracted directly from the 
TBT notification database:  such information could also include the number of notifications with an "unofficial" translation; 
(b) paragraph 8:  Mexico supports the idea of providing technical assistance to 
developing countries which face difficulties with respect to the establishment and 
operation of their Notification and Enquiry Points; 
                                                     
 
2 See document G/TBT/GEN/7/Add.9. 
3 G/TBT/W/309. G/TBT/W/313 
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  (c) paragraph 14:  Mexico agrees that unoffi cial translations can greatly improve 
transparency, since the content of the no tified documents becomes understandable to 
more Members, in particular developing countries which might not have the financial 
or human resources to set up translations.  Sharing more translations would therefore enable the financial and human resources for translation to be used more effectively 
and more notified documents would become  understandable to more Members.  
Accordingly, Mexico hereby invites Member s which have translations available to 
circulate them through the channels that they consider to be most appropriate; 
(d) paragraph 17:  Mexico suggests that s ubparagraph (b) should apply only to 
notifications which are not in a WTO official language, in particular those of 
developed countries; 
(e) Part D:  Mexico supports the proposal c oncerning amendments to notified technical 
regulations and conformity assessment pro cedures, as it considers that this would 
contribute to the transparency of the system;  and 
(f) paragraph 25 on the sharing of comments:  Mexico is in favour of the creation of a 
website which brings together all comment s on notifications received from Members 
and the replies thereto, with a view to improving information and knowledge exchange between Members, in pa rticular developing countries. 
III. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT 
12. Articles 5, 7, 8 and 10 of the TBT Agreement establish obligations of a substantive and 
procedural nature and with regard to transpar ency, which the Member countries (or their local 
government bodies or non-governmental bodies) must observe when introducing or amending 
conformity assessment procedures (CAPs).  Howeve r, the TBT Agreement allows Members to choose 
the proper level of protection in their CAPs and, theref ore, also allows them to determine the nature of 
the conformity assessment system that they wish to use.
4 
13. Mexico recognizes that some of the problems of  market access that confront Members also 
arise from the lack of proper observance of the provisions laid down in the TBT Agreement with 
regard to CAPs.  However, it is also true that, on very many occasions, even when Members strictly observe the obligations laid down in the TBT Ag reement when preparing their CAPs, the problems 
arise from factors "external" to that instrume nt, as may occur in cases where Members lack the 
necessary infrastructure for the proper operation and application of their CAPs
5 or where they are 
simply not aware of the usefulness or effects of sp ecific conformity assessment systems in particular 
cases (e.g. the application of a certification system for a technical regulation on electrical installations, 
where the appropriate system would be an on-site inspection procedure). 
14. Mexico supports the proposal by New Zealand6 that the Committee should consider: 
(a) Continuing to exchange information on mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs), 
regulatory cooperation arrangements (RCAs)  and other arrangements that aim to 
facilitate trade, with a view to building a better understanding of the issues that need 
to be considered in the choice of effec tive trade facilitation arrangements;  and 
                                                      
4 Certification, verification, laboratory tests, calibration, supplier's declaration of conformity. 
5 Accreditation bodies, certification bodies, testing and calibration laboratories and verification units. 
6 G/TBT/W/306 of 16 March 2009.  G/TBT/W/313 
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  (b) developing practical guidelines on how to design efficient and effective trade 
facilitation arrangements within the cont ext of risk management approaches. 
15. Thus, as regards the assessment of conformity, Mexico considers that the Fifth Triennial 
Review of the TBT Agreement should,  among its conclusions, give priority to the technical assistance 
granted to Members in this field7, and should also work on the preparation of Guides which should 
generally help Members to develop their infrastru cture and use correctly the various conformity 
assessment schemes so as to achieve their legitimate objectives in  a way that places fewer restrictions 
on international trade. 
IV. GOOD REGULATORY PRACTICES 
16. Articles 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.8 of the TB T Agreement include, expressly or tacitly, various 
substantive obligations that Members must fulfil so that the technical regulations that they prepare, 
amend or add to substantially8 do not constitute unnecessary obstacles to international trade. 
17. In Mexico's view, some of the problems that  various Members encounter in gaining access for 
their products to other markets are directly linked to  the failure to implement correctly the substantive 
obligations laid down in the TBT Agreement.  Ac cordingly, Mexico suggests that discussion should 
take place on the preparation of a Guide to Good Regulatory Practice that would enable the Members 
to check, before definitively issuing their respec tive technical regulations, that the substantive 
obligations laid down by the TBT Agreement have been fulfilled. 
18. The good regulatory practices to be prepared  should include:  (i) recommended procedures 
that will ensure effective compliance with each of  the substantive obligations laid down in the 
TBT Agreement, and (ii) examples of mechanisms for the fulfilment of such obligations.  In Mexico's 
opinion, the said Guide to Good Regulatory Practice should be applicable to any kind of technical 
regulation. 
19. Likewise, Mexico regards it as highly impor tant that, essentially, the Guide to Good 
Regulatory Practice should enable Members to impl ement the two requirements which Article 2.5 of 
the TBT Agreement establishes for the presumption that a technical regulation does not create an 
unnecessary obstacle to international trade.  Thus, insofar as Members confine the preparation of 
technical regulations to those designed to atta in the legitimate objectives expressly mentioned in 
Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement and ensure that su ch regulations are in accordance with the relevant 
international standards, fewer trade problems will ari se from them and, above all, the provisions of the 
TBT Agreement will operate more effectively. 
20. Mexico believes that the preparation of a Guid e to Good Regulatory Practice, in addition to 
providing Members with a very useful document, w ill help developing countries (in particular least 
developed countries), countries that  have recently joined the WTO and those engaged in the accession 
process to implement the TBT Agreement effectiv ely for the benefit of international trade. 
                                                      
7 Accordingly, Mexico is fully in  agreement with the conclusions ex pressed by the Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu in document G/TBT/W/195 of 12 March 2003. 
8 It is our understanding that, in accordance with the provisions of Article 1.6 of the TBT Agreement, 
amendments of an insignificant nature, derogations or abrogations of technical regulations are not covered by 
the Agreement. G/TBT/W/313 
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  V. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS 
21. Mexico supports the proposal by Canada
9 that Members should agree to enhance transparency 
and predictability in the Committee's procedures fo r the consideration of specific trade concerns, 
including by setting a deadline for delegations to not ify, in writing to the S ecretariat and the Member 
directly concerned, their intention to raise a sp ecific trade concern.  Mexico is, however, of the 
opinion that the mechanism must be flexible and include deadlines and recommended procedures. 
VI. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
22. With regard to a review by the TBT Committee to establish whether international standards 
are used and implemented as broadly as possible by affected industries and other stakeholders in 
markets around the world, Mexico considers that it would indeed promote developing country 
participation in the preparation of international standards and make intern ational standard-setting 
bodies take developing countries' circumstances into account when preparing international standards.  
Mexico accordingly supports the proposal by Japan (JOB(09)/25). 
23. However, Mexico is of the opinion that abo lishing international standards which have no 
global relevance would be problematic since the very  idea runs counter to the principle regarding the 
adoption of voluntary international standards.  Mexi co considers that it would be more appropriate if 
the TBT Committee were to study international st andards and circulate an analysis of their 
application. 
24. With regard to the international standards whic h are actually used in the world being defined 
as such so that it would be easier to encourag e Members to align their national standards and 
regulations with international standards, Mexico thinks that this is a good idea, but that its 
implementation, as well as the work of the TBT Co mmittee in this respect, need to be defined. 
25. Finally, Mexico considers that a review of the applicability of international standards and 
their actual effectiveness as regards reducing or  removing unnecessary barriers to international trade 
should be carried out first on the basis of documented successes. 
VII. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
26. In Mexico's view, the most critical problem in te rms of the efficiency of technical assistance 
in the capacity-building field (especially for human  resources) is the high turnover of staff in 
departments responsible for implementing the TBT Ag reement in the various developing countries.  
This has led to a permanent shortage, in those de partments, of technical capacity to ensure the 
effective implementation of the Agreement. 
27. Indeed, standardization and conformity assessment are tasks that have always required highly 
specialized staff with knowledge and skills th at can normally be found only in government 
departments dealing with implementation of the TBT Agreement.  As is so often the case, government 
officials who have received technical assistance from donor countries or organizations become attractive to and are usually enticed into joining the private sector because of the economic advantages 
it can offer. 
                                                     
 
9 The Canadian proposal was circulated as a room document at the TBT Committee meeting of 
5-6 November 2008.  G/TBT/W/313 
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  28. Hence technical assistance to developing countri es in the form of seminars, workshops, etc. 
has had the obvious disadvantage of enhancin g solely human resource capability, without 
permanently strengthening the technical capacity of the institutions responsible for applying the 
TBT Agreement.  Officials who resign take their experience and knowledge away with them, leaving 
hardly any trace of the skills they ac quired in the institutions themselves. 
29. Mexico has a standardization and conformity assessment system, and it too experienced a 
high turnover of staff as the system evolved.  In  order to address this problem, in 1997 the Mexican 
Government decided that the Ministry of the Economy's General Directorate of Standards (DGN)10 
would be the first government depart ment to be governed by a quality management system certified as 
conforming to the Mexican standard equivalent to th e relevant international standard and covering the 
Directorate's full range of services and operations. 
30. As a result, Mexico has succeeded for the firs t time in systematizing and documenting the 
DGN's various responsibilities, in particular the implementation of obligations under the 
TBT Agreement, thus diminishing the impact of  turnover in trained personnel.  Indeed, the 
Directorate now has documents setting out guidelines that explain to new officials what their specific 
duties involve and the procedures and principles to  be observed in the conduct of their activities. 
31. Mexico accordingly proposes – as a key component of the technical assistance 
programme  being developed by the TBT Committee, and specifically in respect of human resources 
training – the incorporation of a recommendation that assistance to developing countries be 
directed at advising them on the creation of a quality assurance system (based on the relevant 
international standards)11 for government departments in charge of applying the 
TBT provisions . 
32. This would enable the developing countries to doc ument their procedures and, as part of that 
process, to clearly specify the rights and obligations  under the TBT Agreement for the direct benefit 
of the institutions concerned, rega rdless of how long each staff me mber remains.  If such systems 
were certified, it would be possible, moreover, to  check periodically on the degree of implementation 
of the Agreement in developing countries, t hus facilitating an objective assessment of related 
problems and possibilities for improvement. 
33. If the proposal were accepted, Mexico thinks that it could be implemented in the following 
stages:  (i) exchange of information with the departments in charge of implementing the TBT Agreement in the various Members that have cer tified quality assurance systems;  (ii) drafting of 
guides or guidelines for the adoption of quality assurance systems in government departments of 
developing countries (for which ISO assistance might be  useful);  (iii) financing of advisory services 
for departments responsible for implementing the TB T Agreement in developing countries in order to 
help them document their procedures and prepare for cer tification in due course;  and (iv) financing of 
the certification of quality management systems. 
                                                     
 
10 The DGN's main functions are to administer Mexico's legal metrology system;  to develop technical 
regulations in spheres such as user safety, trade information, trade practices and metrology, and voluntary standards in areas not covered by a national standardizi ng body;  to serve as the technical secretariat for the 
National Standardization Commission;  to take part in the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies within 
its sphere of competence;  to chair committees with reference to international standardizing and conformity assessment bodies;  and to serve as a national enquiry point for the TBT Agreement, the SPS Agreement and the 
various trade agreements signed by Mexico. 
11 It would be appropriate in this connection to consider whether the TBT Committee might 
recommend that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) develop a standard relating to quality 
management in government departments. G/TBT/W/313 
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  34. In Mexico's view, this proposal offers the following advantages over traditional forms of 
technical assistance directed at human resources training: 
(a) It promotes the strengthening of institutions (permanent benefit) over the provision of 
training for their staff (temporary benefit); 
(b) it optimizes resources by establishing a common objective (one type of advisory 
service instead of a whole series of seminars on the same topic); 
(c) it makes it easier to benefit from experience gained in documenting quality 
management systems, by enabling the va rious countries involved to exchange 
manuals, instructions, and so forth;  and 
(d) it facilitates evaluation of the effectiveness of technical assistance by providing for a 
certification procedure that encourages continuing improvement. 
VIII.  REGULATORY COOPERATION 
35. Mexico considers promoting the exchange of experiences as regards regulatory cooperation to 
be of vital importance and will be submitting a joint communication with Canada and the 
United States setting out concrete proposals on the issue. 
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