WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/20 
16 November 2006 
 (06-5544) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  
 
 
FIFTH ANNUAL TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MANDATED IN  
PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL OF ACCESSION OF  
THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
 
  
1. This report reflects the results of the Fift h Annual Transitional Review mandated in 
Paragraph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of th e People's Republic of China (WT/L/432) that took 
place at the 9 November 2006 meeting of the Committee. 
2. In the context of the Fifth Annual Review, submissions were made by the European 
Communities (G/TBT/W/272), Japan (G/TBT/W/ 270) and the United States (G/TBT/W/271).  
Questions raised included the following elements :  the Chinese Compulsory Certification system 
(CCC);  China's national standard-setting process and th e use of international standards; the technical 
regulation of wireless LAN (WAPI); ICT products; automobiles; pharmaceuticals; cosmetics; medical 
devices; textiles; toxic chemicals; the environm ental management of new chemical products; food 
labelling; the administration on the control of po llution caused by electronic information products; 
transparency; conformity assessment procedures; and, distilled spirits. 
3. Submission was made by the People's Republic of China on 9 November 2006 
(G/TBT/W/274) providing information relating to A nnex 1A of WT/L/432.  The statements made at 
the meeting, where discussions under the transitiona l review took place, will be reflected in the 
minutes of the meeting, to be circulated as G/TBT/M/40 (excerpt attached). 
 
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 G/TBT/20 
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  ATTACHMENT – EXCERPT FROM G/TBT/M/40 
 AGENDA ITEM 3:  FIFTH ANNUAL TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MANDATED IN  PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL OF AC CESSION OF  THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC 
OF CHINA 
  
1. The Chairman
 recalled that, in accordance with Paragra ph 18 of the Protocol of Accession of 
the People's Republic of China (WT/L/432), the TBT Committee would undertake an annual review 
for eight years of the implementation by China of the TBT Agreement.   
2. The representative of Japan  introduced her delegation's su bmission contained in document 
G/TBT/W/270.  She drew the Committee's attention to the China Compulsory Certification system 
(the "CCC System");  under this system, no foreign conformity assessment bodies ("CABs") had been accredited by China according to Article 13 of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on 
Certification and Accreditation, which permitted onl y Chinese CABs to engage in CCC certification 
activities.  Japan considered this provision inconsis tent with the objective of Article 6.4 of the TBT 
Agreement and with China's commitment in Paragr aph 195 of the Report of the Working Party.  
Japan requested China to permit foreign CABs to  participate in CCC certification activities under 
conditions no less favourable than those accorded to Chinese CABs in light of the TBT Agreement.   
3. It was noted that spare parts and components to which the CCC system was applied were not 
subject to the CCC certification when incorporated  in final exported products.  However, the CCC 
certification was required when th ese products were exported as a single  unit for repair, even if they 
were finally incorporated in CCC certified final pr oducts.  Japan requested China to exempt single 
parts and components which would ultimately be incorporated in CCC certified final products from 
CCC certification. 
4. The representative of Japan pointed out that problems remained with respect to the  
conformity assessment procedures of the CCC system.  At the previous TRM, China had stated that if 
factories decided to stop manufacturing products wh ich were subject to the CCC certification and 
notified the CABs of this, periodical factory inspec tions would be automatica lly halted.  However, 
Japan was of the view that this procedure was not working properly.   
5. The representative addressed China's Administra tion on the Control of Pollution Caused by 
Electronic Information Products, which Japan unders tood would be enforced from March 2007.  The 
representative asked whether and when China inte nded to make a WTO TBT notification.   
6. With respect to the issue of China's Registra tion of Initial Imports of Chemical Products and 
System for Environmental Management on the Import and Export of Toxic Chemicals, while Japan appreciated China's efforts regarding enforcement of provisions on the environmental administration 
of new chemical substances, Japan had some concer ns.  First, Japan understood that the simplified 
notification was approved only in the case of the im portation of chemical substances for the purposes 
of research and technological development.  Howe ver, requiring the same range of data from all 
importers regardless of import volume would impose an excessive economic burden on importers of small amounts.  Japan wished to see the prompt introduction of the simplified notification for the 
importation of small amounts of new chemical s ubstances.  Second, the new regulation had a 
provision to the effect that eco-toxicological data of new chemical substances had to include those 
obtained through biological tests performed in Chin a using China's testing facilities.  However, 
OECD Member countries mutually accepted testing results based on the GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) system.  Japan enquired on the progress achi eved so far for China to  join the GLP system.  
Third, certain chemicals were exempt from the notif ication.  However, the procedure for exemption of 
notification was too burdensome and Japan re quested China to simplify its procedure.  G/TBT/20 
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  7. With respect to the technical regulation of wireless LAN (WAPI), Japan noted that it had 
been reported that China's relevant authority w ould disclose to domestic manufactures the technical 
content of WAPI six months before  foreign manufacturers receive this information.  In addition, 
WAPI was not presently accepted as an international standard because Japan was concerned that such 
a measure could be inconsistent with the TBT Ag reement.  Japan requested China's views on this 
point.  
8. The representative of the United States  introduced her delegation's submission 
(G/TBT/W/271) and noted that the Fifth Transitiona l Review showed there were areas of progress and 
areas where questions remained.  In recent review s, the United States had raised questions about 
China's ability to ensure all notifications from all their agencies which developed technical regulations 
were made pursuant to the TBT Agreement.  Th e US submission included a chart showing the range 
of agencies involved;  most of the notifications were made by the Standardization Administration 
Commission of the People’s Republic of China (S AC) and the General Administration of Quality 
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of th e People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ).   
9. The United States had previously brought to the attention of the Committee its concerns with 
respect to China's toxic chemicals regulation.  The United States appreciated efforts China was 
making to notify the range of relevant regulati ons.  Regarding international standards, the 
United States had ongoing discussions in the TBT Committee as well as bilaterally.  The 
United States encouraged China to continue consid ering the list of standards from a broad range of 
bodies and not only those which it had classified in its law on standards.  The United States also noted the cooperative activities that China had engaged in  with standards bodies fro m the United States.  
Like Japan, the United States also had concerns and qu estions in the area of conformity assessment.  It 
was recalled that during the 2005 transitional review, China had indicated it was exploring the possibility of adopting different conformity assessm ent procedures including supplier's declaration of 
conformity (SDoC);  the United States asked China to update the Committee on any steps taken in this 
regard.   
10. The representative of the United States noted th at information had been provided to the 
Committee on some 20 mutual recognition agreements  China had signed;  many of these appeared not 
to have been notified pursuant to Article 10.7 of th e TBT Agreement.  China was asked to clarify.  
China was also asked whether it considered providing alternativ e approaches to facilitate the 
acceptance of conformity assessment results from b odies located in countries other than those with 
which it had concluded MRAs.   
11. In respect of medical devices, the representa tive of the United States noted her understanding 
that China would remove duplicative testing a nd certification requirements.  However, the 
United States remained concerned that a number of duplicative requirements remained.  China was 
asked to provide an update on its plans to elimin ate remaining testing and certification redundancies 
for medical devices. 
12. The representative of the United States noted that, like Japan, she still had a number of 
outstanding questions related to China's administration on the control of pollution caused by electronic information products.  While the genera l framework had been notified to the WTO, with 
less than five months before the implementation date, a number of the details on processes that the United States would need to comply with remained  outstanding.  In particular, the United States was 
concerned that suppliers would be unable to me et the labelling requirements as well as testing and 
certification requirements.  China was asked to respond to the questions contained in the US 
submission in this respect. 
 G/TBT/20 
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  13. The representative of the United States recalled that  in past transitional reviews, questions has 
been raised in respect of China's regulation on dis tilled spirits.  The United States was pleased that on 
28 August 2006 China had notified, pursuant to th e SPS Agreement, a draft revision on its hygienic 
standard for distilled spirits and swizzle for public comments;  the United Stat es was also encouraged 
by the proposed revision, which, if adopted, w ould satisfy the concerns that the United States had 
expressed previously in the TBT Committee.  Other issues were also raised in the US submission. 
14. The representative of the European Communities
 introduced his delegation's submission 
(G/TBT/W/272).  He was pleased to note an increase  in cooperation between China and the European 
Communities on TBT issues;  formal cooperation m echanisms had been estab lished which worked 
well.   Nevertheless, a number of concerns remained – some of which were highlighted in his 
statement (G/TBT/W/272 contained more detail on these concerns and addressed also other issues). 
15. Like the two previous speakers, the Europ ean Communities had a general concern with 
respect to China's Compulsory Certification system (CCC).  Despite several ch anges over the years, it 
remained a burdensome, expensive and time consum ing conformity assessment procedure.  Moreover, 
it was not transparent and left room for interp retation.  The European Communities was also 
concerned that China appeared to be enlarging the list of products which fell under this scheme – 
rather than reducing this list.  Similar to Japan , the representative of the European Communities was 
concerned as well about spare parts certifica tion and believed the CCC requirements could be 
simplified.  On confidentiality, the European Comm unities was of the view that the scheme required 
too much documentation to be supplied and could also be simplified.  The European Communities 
had listed a number of other concerns in G/TB T/W/272 but, in summary, the technical requirements 
of the CCC system were not always relevant to th e level of risk the product posed – which implied 
that the CCC system was more trad e restrictive than necessary.   
16. A second main area of concern to the Europ ean Communities was horizontal in nature and 
related to standardization – in pa rticular with respect to the development of domestic standards, 
especially in areas where internationally recognised st andards already existed and in particular in the 
ICT field.  The European Communities preferred to  see China's standardization efforts integrated 
more into the established international standardiza tion organizations and consortia.  For instance, the 
European Communities was concerned with the so- called compulsory standards used in China's 
system which mainly focused on fields of specifi c public interest covering health and safety and 
environmental protection.  However, these standa rds often include issues such as performance and 
interoperability requirements which the European Co mmunities considered went too far.  China was 
urged to consider restricting compulsory standards to a few well defined areas where there was a clear 
public interest to have such standards.  The European Communities was also concerned about the 
ability of European companies to participate in Chin a's standardization work.  There was also a need 
for greater transparency with respect to de viations of Chinese standards from corresponding 
international standards.   
17. With respect to ICT products, the European Co mmunities' main concerns related to the fact 
that there existed multiple procedures for approval which were managed by different authorities.  
China was urged to consider simplifying the current system, if possible by merging existing separate procedures into a single approval procedure overseen by one authority.   
18. On automobiles, the European  Communities fully supported the objective of regulating for 
safety, health and environmental protection.  Ne vertheless, the European Communities was of the 
view that these goals could best be achieved by harmonization under the UN-ECE 1958 Agreement 
on Motor Vehicles and China was therefore urged to b ecome a contracting party to this Agreement.  
In fact, the EC's own assessment was that many of Chin a's regulations in this sector were very similar 
to the UN regulations under the 1958 Agreement.  G/TBT/20 
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  19. The issue of active pharmaceutical ingredients (A PIs) remained of concern to the European 
Communities and specifically the fact that each impo rted API batch into China remained subject to 
routine multi-sampling and testing practise carried out by ports and drug authorities.  In other words, 
batches were sometimes sampled and tested six or  seven times which was both very expensive and 
overly complex.  Regarding cosmetics, the Euro pean Communities' concern was that there was a 
difference between the approval procedures in place for domestic products and for imported products.   
On medical devices, the European Communiti es was concerned about double certification 
requirements.  Moreover, the European Communities was of the view that new or fully refurbished 
medical devices needed to be treat ed in the same way;  the ban on refurbished products was not 
justified.  
20. On textiles, the representative of  the European Communities noted with respect to exports of 
raw silk that there was a requirement to provide compulsory certification of silk quality which was 
needed before the silk could actually be exported.  However, this requirement did not appear to apply 
in the same way to domestic buyers of raw silk .  On conformity assessment procedures for textiles 
and footwear, the compliance of products with Chin ese standards was verified at the borders and the 
European Communities urged China to progressively  replace customs control at the border as this 
represented duplicative checking of  imported goods.  The European Communities was also of the 
view that the labelling requirements for clot hing were excessive and could be simplified. 
21. The representative of China  introduced his delegation's submission (G/TBT/W/274).  In 
respect of transparency, it was stressed that China had always paid great attention to the 
implementation of the transparency obligations of  the TBT Agreement and had been consistently 
improving its domestic mechanisms in this respect since accession.  Immediately after its accession, 
implementation by all related government agencies of the WTO transparency obligations, including 
notifications, had been required.  Moreover, au thorities responsible for WTO notifications and 
enquires had been designated.  Notification gui delines on TBT measures had been provided and 
training courses and seminars had been held to in troduce the TBT Agreement.  It was pointed out, 
however, that there were always possible differe nces in understanding and interpretation when the 
notification obligations were applie d in specific cases.   It was noted that compulsory standards in 
China constituted the majority of the technical regulations which were required to be notified 
according to the WTO TBT Agreement and since all these standards had to be registered with the 
Standardization Administration Commission of the People’s Republic of China (SAC), which was 
within the General Administration of Quality Supe rvision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s 
Republic of China (AQSIQ), it was normal that notif ications from AQSIQ accounted for most of the 
TBT notifications from China.   
22. Regarding the CCC system, the representative of Ch ina was of the view that the principle of 
unification was applied in CCC certification and that  national treatment was guaranteed.  Moreover, 
the list of products covered by the CCC scheme w as developed in a manner that was based on 
sufficient analysis, as well as risk assessment.  SDoC could only be applie d together with crucial 
elements such as efficient market surveillance, pr oduct liability law and administrative involvement in 
control to ensure quality and safety of products.  Ch ina agreed that the application of SDoC would 
facilitate trade and served the interests of manufacture rs;  in fact, China had been studying this issue 
and intended to further improve its facilities so as to be prepared to apply SDoC in the future.  
Regarding confidentiality, the representative of Ch ina confirmed that conf identiality requirements 
were in place in both legal documents and c onformity assessment procedures in the current 
certification system.   
23. On the issue of complexity and the high costs of CCC procedures,  China was of the view that 
the procedures were prepared and published in a transp arent way, in line with the TBT Agreement.  In 
the course of implementation of the CCC system, Ch ina had already taken measures to simplify the 
procedures and improve efficiency, such as recogniti on of test results, reclassification of products G/TBT/20 
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  module, online certification application and the commit ment to complete certification within 90 days.  
However, as the factory inspection in the CCC sy stem contained not only requirements related to 
general quality management systems, as specified  in IS09001, but also process control and product 
conformity assessment, China was of the view th at IS09001 could not replace the factory inspection 
requirement in the CCC system.  Moreover, factor y inspection was common practice worldwide.   
24. The representative of China reaffirmed that st andards and procedures for fees charged in the 
certification process were transparent; he noted al so that the fee charged for CCC certification was 
significantly lower than the average world level.  As for recognition of foreign certification bodies 
and their testing results, pursuant to the Regulation on Certification of the PRC, certification bodies established in China could be qualified as CCC certifi cation bodies by way of official authorization by 
Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA).  For foreign certification bodies, 
qualification could only be acquire d through inter-government agreements, agreements recognized by 
the Chinese government or agreements with comp etent authorities of the Chinese government.   
25. On recognition of test results, pursuant to th e TBT Agreement, Chin a recognized, to the 
extent China was a participant, the test results  of the IECEE/CB Scheme.  Moreover, China had 
signed agreements with agencies or certification bodies from more than 20 countries or regions on 
recognition of factory inspection and test results.   With respect to the initial factory inspection and 
certification time limit, the whole process included: the submission of a formal application with relevant documents; the factory revi ew after sample testing; and the issuance of certification.  China 
had undertaken substantial efforts to  shorten the period of time for the certification process, and, since 
coordination and cooperati on from relevant parties had to be achieved, China had committed to 
complete this process within 90 days, which app lied both to domestic and foreign manufacturers. 
26. Regarding the requirement for both type test and initial factory inspection, the representative 
of China observed that these two tests could be con ducted simultaneously;  however, failure to pass 
the type test could invalidate the test result of in itial factory inspection, which could lead to another 
time-consuming testing process.   Regarding the fre quency of periodic factory inspection, since the 
CCC system was carried out on the basis of interna tional guides and practice, annual inspection was a 
basic requirement for factories holding their ow n CCC certificate;  for high-risk products more 
inspections were required.  Since toys related to children's health and safety, they were considered 
high-risk products subject to mandatory certification. 
27. Regarding the definition of international standa rds, the representative stressed that China had 
no restriction on the adoption of standards set by international standard-setting bodies including ISO, 
IEC or ITU.  To the contrary, China had always encouraged the adoption of standards which were 
deemed appropriate and applicable for China.   
28. With respect to the amendment to Decree No. 5, since China wa s still at a stage of public 
opinion solicitation and collection, and since the cha nges were rather more of a procedural nature 
rather substantial, China was deliberating on whet her it was necessary to notify the amendment to the 
WTO.  If substantial changes were made to Decree No. 5, China would fulfill its obligation to notify 
to the WTO. 
29. Regarding WAPI, the representative of Chin a stressed that the current Chinese WAPI 
standards addressed the safety concer ns of China which the relevant international standards failed to 
do.   It was recalled that the TBT Agreement allo wed Members to adopt measures in compliance with 
legitimate objectives under the Agreement.   China w as of the view that the Chinese WAPI standard 
fulfilled the objectives specified in the TBT Agreem ent.  Moreover, China had already published the 
calculating methods used in WAPI and if Members were interested they could visit the relevant 
website: www.oscca.gov.cn .  G/TBT/20 
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  30. Regarding the issue of duplicative certificati on, the representative of China drew the 
Committee's attention to the fact that the Chinese g overnment had made enormous efforts to uniform 
the certification system.  Announcement No. 70, issued on 30 April 2006, by SFDA and AQSIQ 
eliminated duplication in certification of eight categories of medical devices.  It was noted, however, that the compulsory certification  of products and the registration  of products were two systems that 
focused on different sides of the same coin:  CCC certification mainly focused on safety while 
registration was about its clinical performance.  This was common practice in many other Members, 
such as the EMC certification and UL certifica tion for electric devices in the United States. 
31. On Measures for Controlling Pollution Caused by  Electronic Information Products, which, in 
China's view should not be called "Chinese RoHS", China had fully abided by the TBT Agreement in 
respect of notification requirements.  Currently, there was no new information available regarding 
certification bodies, products catalogue or timeframe.  China would respond to comments received.  
In fact, some comments had been accepted and integr ated in the measure. Regarding requirements for 
Concentration Limits for Certain Hazardous Subs tances in Electronic Information Products and the 
Marking for Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products, it was pointed out that 
these two requirements, which would enter into force, were only recommending sectoral standards.  
The notification of these two standards was under c onsideration by the relevant authority of the 
Chinese government.  In addition, information regard ing the latest progress of the Measure could be 
found on the website of the Ministry of Information Industry ( www.mii.gov.cn
).  Regarding the 
implementation of the Measure, since China ha d provided a one year adaptation period for 
manufacturers, China did not intend to postpone the implementation of the Measures for Controlling 
Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products. 
32. On the issue of the mandatory labelling, this requirement aimed at informing consumers and 
those who recycled products about possible pois onous content of such products (used electronic 
information products).  China was of the view that the requirement was reasonable, necessary, 
appropriate and in compliance with the WTO TBT Agreement.   
33. Regarding the subject of standardization,  China had established both compulsory and 
voluntary standards.  When drafting compulsory sta ndards, legitimate objectives specified in the TBT 
Agreement were taken into account.   
34. Regarding the participation of foreign enterp rises in the domestic standards development 
process, the Standardization Administration of Ch ina (SAC) had promulgated Document No. 40 of 
2005, namely:  Opinions on Par ticipation of Foreign Enterprises in China in Domestic 
Standardization.  This document sp ecified conditions for foreign enterp rises in China to participate in 
the standards development process;  hence, comment s could be taken into account and interested 
Members could visit the website of the Standard ization Administration of China to download the 
document.  Regarding the refusal of applications fo r participation in domestic standardization process 
by European Union companies, the representative of  China pointed out that foreign enterprises could 
submit applications to the competent authorities fo r participation, and make complaints to the 
Standardization Administration of China with sufficient reasons and justification in case an 
application was turned down.  At present, the SAC had not yet received any complaints or such 
appeals from any foreign enterprises. 
35. Regarding the adoption of international standa rds, China had made efforts to increase the 
percentage of adopted international standards in  Chinese standards.  Regarding ICT products, all 
technical tests requirements under the CCC system could be completed within one test laboratory.  It 
was true that for a few products, such as teleco mmunication terminal products, in addition to the CCC 
requirement, these products also needed to meet th e network entry requirement of the Ministry of 
Information Industry.  Nevertheless, with the joint efforts of the relevant authorities in China, an 
understanding for coordination between the two requi rements had already been reached:  the CCC G/TBT/20 
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  focused on the safety and EMC test while the ne twork entry requirement focused on network 
performance;  this guaranteed two requirements without duplication. 
36. On issues regarding imported cosmetics, the re presentative of China confirmed that in the 
past there had been an approval requirement for im ported cosmetics not used for special purposes.  
However, it was pointed out that after 1 August 2004, the Ministry of Health had promulgated 
announcement No. 217 of 2004, which stipulated that imported cosmetics not used for special 
purposes only had to go through a registration pro cess which would take 20 days.  Therefore, China 
was of the view that both domestic and imported co smetics not used for special purposes enjoyed the 
same treatment. 
37. Regarding automobiles, the CCC certifi cation served the same purpose as the ECE 
certification, which was to guarantee consumers' safety.  However, compared to ECE certification, the 
Chinese CCC system was more simple and cost effec tive.  Chinese auto makers at present could not 
adapt themselves well to the ECE system mainly due to  the fact that the cost of application was too 
high and far beyond the capacity of those auto manufacturers.  Moreover, different member States within the European Communities had different st andards of implementation of the ECE system.  
China understood the positive effect of the 19 58 Agreement and was considering joining as a 
contracting party to the Agreement at an appropriate time in the future. 
38. Regarding labelling, there were cases where lo cal inspection and quarantine administrations 
had different understandings on implementing the same standard.   The Commi ttee was informed that 
the Chinese government took note of this situati on and was currently establishing a nation-wide 
registration system to ensure uniform application of food labelling standards. 
39. On issues of medicines, China currently app lied double examination in the registration of 
imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to  ensure that the quality of imported products met 
the domestic standard.  However, it was pointed out that the double examination requirement was relevant not only for imported API but also for dom estic medicines.  This requirement was conducted 
before the medicines were distributed in the market .  For clinical trial requirements, China confirmed 
that the requirement applied equally to domestic and imported medicines. 
40. The Chairman
 thanked all delegations for their st atements and the Committee adopted its 
report to the Council for Trade in Goods (G/TBT/20). 
 
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