. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/306 
16 March 2009 
 
 (09-1269) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
FIFTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE AGR EEMENT ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO 
TRADE:  MUTUAL RECOGNITION, REGULATORY COOPERATION AND OTHER 
TRADE FACILITATION ARRANGEMENTS 
 
Communication from New Zealand
 
 
  The following communication, dated 13 March 2009, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of New Zealand
. 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. At the November 2008 meeting of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (the TBT 
Committee), New Zealand presented a paper outlining a range of mechanisms to facilitate trade by: 
reducing transaction costs for businesses operating in  different regulatory regimes; and achieving 
better levels of regulatory c ooperation to support regulatory effectiveness (G/TBT/W/295).  
2. The paper draws on New Zealand’s experience and reflects an evolution of policy approaches 
to addressing trade barriers arising from internati onal regulatory interface issues in the context of 
increasing globalisation. The mechanisms presented, therefore, should not be seen as a comprehensive 
or exhaustive list but as the starting poi nt for the Committee’s future work.  
3. New Zealand’s objective in tabling the paper mentioned above is to stimulate discussion on 
this important issue going into the Fifth Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement. To this end, the 
paper puts forward two proposals fo r the Committee’s consideration. 
II. PROPOSALS  
4. New Zealand would like to reiterate and provide  some additional context to support its earlier 
proposals to:  
(a) Continue 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 eff ective trade facilitation arrangements; and 
(b) Develop practical guidelines on how to design efficient and effective trade facilitation 
arrangements within the context of risk management approaches.1 
                                                      
1 G/TBT/W/295, page 6, paragraph 27. G/TBT/W/306 
Page 2  
 
  5. The proposals are designed to build on each othe r in the interest of delivering maximum value 
to the work of the Committee.  
6. New Zealand recalls that the Second Trienni al Review produced an indicative list of 
approaches to facilitating acceptance of the results of conformity assessment
2 procedures in different 
jurisdictions.  The objective of this indicativ e list was to improve Members’ understanding and 
implementation of Articles 5-9 of the TBT Agreement.   
7. As the list was developed nearly 10 years ago, it is timely to revisit this work to ensure it 
continues to reflect good practice and relevancy in the face of the changing global trade environment.  
New Zealand believes the Fifth Triennial Review pr ovides the opportunity to update and expand the 
collective knowledge in this area to better refl ect more recent experiences and approaches.  
8. The first of New Zealand’s two proposals is for the Committee to continue to exchange 
information on mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs), regulatory cooperation arrangements 
(RCAs) and other arrangements that aim to f acilitate trade. The objective of exchanging this 
information is to extend the facilitation framewo rk beyond the indicative list discussed above to 
include a wider range of mechanisms. Regulatory coop eration is an important step to achieving better 
understanding of, and confidence in, different regul atory approaches.  This, in turn, can support 
efforts to minimise the impact regulatory diffe rences can have on trade.   Regulatory cooperation 
therefore is an essential element in any strategy to facilitate trade by identifying new ways to remove 
or reduce technical barriers to trade.  
9. As the Committee continues to share informa tion and experience on various arrangements to 
facilitate trade, New Zealand believes a clearer pictur e will emerge of the key issues that need to be 
considered when choosing or designi ng trade facilitation arrangements.  
10. The aim of New Zealand’s second proposal is to draw on Members’ experiences with 
negotiating and implementing various  arrangements and to capture this knowledge in user-friendly 
and practical guidelines.  These guidelines can assist Members to design efficient and effective trade facilitation arrangements and to give eff ect to key TBT Agreement objectives.   
11. As this is likely to be a more substantive piece of work, it is envisaged that it will be carried 
out over the next three years (before the next triennial review). Once completed, the guidelines would need to be revisited on a regular basis as th e Committee’s collective knowledge and experience 
grows, and as new types of arrangements reflec ting global trends and needs are developed.  
III. CONCLUSION 
12. New Zealand welcomes Members’ considerati on of and response to these proposals in the 
context of the Committee’s discussion of substan tive proposals for the Fifth Triennial Review.  
 
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2 G/TBT/1/Rev.9, page 7 and Annex A.