WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/104 
11 April 2008 
 
 (08-1695) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   Spanish 
  
 
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Negotiating Proposal on Non-Tariff Barriers in the
 
Chemical Products and Substances Sector  
 
Communication from Argentina 
 
  The following communication, dated 10 April 2008,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Argentina. 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
 Pursuant to paragraph 16 of the Work Pr ogramme adopted at the Doha Ministerial 
Conference and paragraph 22 of the Decision adopted at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, 
Member States agreed to conduct negotiations to reduce or eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers, 
particularly with regard to prod ucts of export interest to develo ping countries.  This document is a 
specific negotiating proposal by the Argentine Republ ic on non-tariff barriers in the chemicals sector. 
 
 Non-tariff barriers distort international trade inasmuch as they impede access to markets of 
vital importance to developing and least developed countries, increase export-related transaction costs 
and place domestic industries at a clear disadvantage at the expense of other WTO Members' producers.  Consequently, the elimination of non- tariff barriers is essential to achieve a fairer 
distribution of the benefits of opening up international trade.  
 In the chemicals sector, the continued existen ce of non-tariff barriers acts as a disincentive to 
participation in international trade, to the point of  preventing any type of commercial exchange.  This 
has a seriously adverse impact on the internationa l competitive environment in a sector of vital 
importance for developing countries, whose chemical  industries are mainly composed of small and 
medium-sized enterprises. 
 
 The global chemical industry is essential to a broad range of manufacturing and agricultural industries, which use chemical inputs for practically all their products.  By virtue of their capacity to transfer state-of-the-art technology to all parts of  the world, chemical industries in countries at all 
levels of development can be  internationally competitive.
1  The global output of this sector for 2006 is 
estimated at US$3 billion, 41 per cent of which – US$1. 2 billion – is traded internationally.  Chemical 
exports account for 10.6 per cent of total world g oods exports and 15.1 per cent of world trade in 
manufactures.  Moreover, this sector employs more than 7 million people throughout the world.  
                                                      
1 Based on the United States communication in the NAMA negotiations (TN/MA/W/58). TN/MA/W/104 
Page 2  
 
  Developing countries' share of world trade in chem icals has increased considerably in recent years, 
from 16.5 per cent in 1990 to nearly 2 per cent in 2006.
2 
  The negotiating proposal set out below is aime d at addressing distortions in the international 
trade in chemical products.  A coherent and r easonable line of action would provide guarantees for 
trade in chemical products and substances, enabli ng other industrial sectors to  diversify and produce 
finished goods at lower cost.  
II. PRODUCT COVERAGE 
 Given the complexity of the sector, this proposal covers only chemical substances and 
preparations on which sufficient information is available and which pose minimum risk to human 
health and the environment.  The list of such substances should be agreed by consensus between 
WTO Members and their minimum risk status shoul d be substantiated by technical reports with 
appropriate scientific authority.  III. PRINCIPAL OBSTACLES TO NAMA NEGOTIATIONS ON NON-TARIFF 
BARRIERS 
 On the basis of an analysis conducted for th e chemicals sector, a number of obstacles have 
been identified which could usefully be considered  in the NAMA negotiations on non-tariff barriers. 
 
1. Substance labelling requirements 
 Although the labelling of chemical substances a nd preparations has the function of informing 
the consumer and/or user of essential product characteristics, labelling requirements may in many instances be excessive.  This probl em in exacerbated by the multiple requirements of certain 
Members, which bear no relation to internationall y agreed standards.  It is further compounded by 
constant changes in labelling regulations for such substances, which leads to a considerable increase 
in production costs. 
 
2. Requirements with regard to conformity assessment procedures 
 Conformity assessment procedures play an impor tant role in ensuring that products pose no 
risk to human health or the environment.  They  may, however, create unnecessary trade barriers by 
virtue of:  (i) the use of standards that are not in ternationally recognized;  (ii) non-recognition of third 
party tests and certificates;  (iii) wastage of samp les due to excess sampling;  and (iv) unnecessary 
testing and certification procedures.  All these re quirements constitute a major obstacle to trade, 
particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises.  
3. Substance registration and cost of registration 
 The registration requirement for chemical substances and preparations may constitute a 
complicated and costly market access procedure.  If the costs of conformity assessment, laboratory accreditation and labelling are added to the registra tion cost, the feasibility of market access is 
practically undermined.  
4. Laboratory accreditation 
 In some cases, laboratories are required to co mply with national regulations which often go 
beyond the national requirements, thereby placing an additional obligation on enterprises through 
                                                     
 
2 Based on WTO statistics.  TN/MA/W/104 
 Page 3 
 
 
  increased market access costs.  At the sa me time, laboratory accreditation becomes a sine qua non  for 
the products to gain access to the markets concerned.  
IV. PARAMETERS FOR DISMANTLING NON-TARIFF BARRIERS IN THE 
CHEMICALS SECTOR 
1. Substance labelling requirements  Labelling requirements should be should be kept to the minimum necessary to meet the policy 
objective sought.  Members should agree on the maximum coverage of compulsory labelling 
requirements.  In addition, as regards the conten t of their respective requirements, Members should 
undertake to start negotiations in order to  define new standards where none exists. 
 
2. Requirements with regard to conformity assessment procedures 
 Members should undertake to: 
  - Agree on the nature of minimum risks for which a supplier declaration may be 
regarded as sufficient;  as mentioned under h eading II (Product Coverage), the list of 
minimum-risk products should be subs tantiated by sound scientific evidence; 
  - gradually phase out conformity assessment procedures for products posing no serious 
risk to human health and/or the environment; 
 
 - use internationally recognized test methods for conformity assessment; 
  - recognize third country test methods, to the extent that they comply with international 
standards; 
 
 - abolish re-certification and re-declaratio n requirements for products which have not 
substantially changed. 
 
3. Substance registration and cost of registration 
 The mandatory registration of chemical substan ces and preparations should be standardized in 
such a way that each Member's domestic regulations  comply with internationally accepted standards.  
Once approved in the producer's country of origin, regi stration should be valid internationally, with no 
need for re-registration in third countries.  The ex cess costs that affect international trade in such 
products would thus be eliminated.  
4. Laboratory accreditation 
 Agreement should be reached on laboratories be ing required to comply with internationally 
agreed standards and to phase out requirements base d on national regulations.  The principles of good 
laboratory practice (GLP), adopted under Decision C(97)114/Final of the Organisation for Economic 
Co-operation and Development (OECD), are a good benchmark for ha rmonizing laboratory 
accreditation on the basis of the proced ures set forth in Standard ISO 17025. 
 
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