./.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/265 
17 May 2006 
 (06-2397) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
COUNTERFEITING OF CERTIFICATION MARKS AFFIXED TO GOODS WHERE 
THERE EXISTS A HEALTH AND/OR SAFETY CONCERN 
 
Submission by Canada
  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 16 May 2006, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Canada
. 
_______________ 
 
 
I.  INTRODUCTION  
1. Canada notes its concern with the incr eased incidence with which products bearing 
counterfeit certification marks appear to be finding their way into the marketplace.1   
 
2. Products which are unsafe have gained acces s to markets such as Canada through the 
application and use of counterfeit certification marks.2 Such counterfeit marks are intentionally 
deceptive; they deliberately provide misleading indications of product compliance to regulatory requirements.  The use of counterfeit marks on unsaf e products exposes consumers to a direct risk to 
their health and/or safety, and thereby weakens regu latory and consumer confidence in the marks.  At 
a broader level, the use of counterfeit certifica tion marks on unsafe products undermines the overall 
global infrastructure of standards and conformity assessment.
3 
 
II. LINKAGE TO THE WORK PROGRAMME OF THE COMMITTEE ON 
TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE  
 3. From Canada’s perspective, the issues posed  by counterfeit certification marks are serious 
ones and are of relevance to the Committee on Techni cal Barriers to Trade.  Canada notes that  
                                                     
 
 1 Work recently underway within  the Organisation for Economic  Co-operation and Development 
(OECD) has identified sources which indicate that counterfeit goods comprise a constantly rising percentage of 
world trade.  These statistics confirm Ca nada’s own observations and experiences. 
 
 2 The term ‘certification mark’ is used here to re fer to ‘mark of conformity (for certification)’ as 
defined in s. 15.6 of ISO/IEC Guide 2: 1996 (E/F/R) Standardization and related activities – General 
Vocabulary : ‘mark of conformity (for certif ication) protected mark, applied or issued under the rules of a 
certification system, indicating that conf idence is provided that the relevant  product, process or service is in 
conformity with a specific standard or other normative document.’ 
 
 3 Canada wishes to limit the scope of its paper and any ensuing discussion to goods which are  under 
regulatory control due to health and/or safety conc erns; accreditation and certifica tion procedures related to 
conformity assessment requirements.  Canada's intentions are for these discussions to focus on counterfeiting of 
certification marks affixed to goods wher e there exists a health and/or safety  concern only, as it is recognized 
that concerns pertaining to intellectual property rights  and counterfeiting are currently being discussed in other 
fora. G/TBT/W/265 
Page 2  
 
  Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs a nd Trade allows, with some restriction, for 
measures to be taken to protect human, animal or plant life or health.
4  Similarly, the chapeau to the 
TBT Agreement recognizes that, with some restricti on, countries should be free to take measures to 
protect human, animal or plant life or health and to prevent deceptive practices; and, inter alia , also 
recognizes the important contribution that conform ity assessment systems can make in facilitating the 
conduct of international trade.5  There are also direct linkages to international standardization bodies 
such as ISO and IEC. Members are required to use in ternational guides or reco mmendations as a basis 
for their conformity assessment procedures and, for certification bodies accredited on the basis of 
ISO/IEC Guide 62, protection of their certificati on mark(s) is a condition of their corresponding 
accreditation.   
 
4. Canada notes positively that the legitimate owners of certification marks, including 
certification bodies, have initiated aggressive program s to detect and eliminate the unauthorized use 
of their property.  In many cases, these bodies ar e working closely with law enforcement and customs 
authorities in both domestic and international settings to confiscate, dispose or destroy all products to 
which counterfeit certification marks have been affi xed and to prosecute counterfeiters to the full 
extent of the law.  In Canada, product certifica tion bodies have been taking a number of actions, 
including the production of a reference guide for regulators to assist the latter in knowing what 
constitutes a mark and what key items to look fo r, as well as posting current information regarding 
incidents of counterfeiting on their websites.       
5. Counterfeit certification marks affect not merely  domestic trade but international trade.  In 
this respect, they may produce particularly delete rious effects in developing country Members which 
reference these certification marks in their regula tions; but which, in some cases, lack the robust 
market-surveillance infrast ructure required to detect and res pond to unsafe products bearing fake 
certification marks.  The issue of protecting dom estic populations from unsafe products was noted at 
the Committee’s March 2006 workshop on conformity assessment by several Members and 
participants, including those from the United St ates, Zimbabwe, the European Communities and 
Nigeria.  
III. POSSIBLE NEXT STEPS FOR THE COMMITTEE 
 6. In light of the seriousness of this issue in its apparent prevalence, danger to health and/or 
safety and ability to undermine the demonstrated va lue of certification marks as tools to facilitate 
trade, Canada proposes further dialogue on this subj ect.  As a first step, Canada encourages Members 
to share their experiences with this issue in order to better understand the problem at an international 
level.  If interest warrants, Canada proposes Member s consider further exploring this issue in greater 
detail, for example, by holding a workshop on the subject. Members may also wish to determine 
whether and, if so, in what ways, Members can play  a role in potential effective responses at a global 
level.  
__________ 
  
 
                                                     
 
 4 The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade  (GATT 1947).   Article XX, ‘Gen eral Exceptions’. 
http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/gatt47_e.doc 
 
 5 Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade  
http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/17-tbt_e.htm