. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/152 
16 May 2007 
 (07-2001) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:    
European Commission 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point Fax:  +(32) 2 299 8043  E-mail:  ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu Website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/ 
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [    ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [ X ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:         
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):   Horizontal legislation 
covering a wide range of different products. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Proposal for a 
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council setting out the requirements for 
accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products (44 pages, 
available in English, with an explanatory memorandum). 
6. Description of content:   The Proposal includes provisions on market surveillance and 
accreditation relating to marketing of goods.  These provisions build upon existing Member 
State mechanisms to intr oduce clear Community policies which will strengthen the 
application of internal market legislation for goods.  
It includes provisions for Accreditation to be established as a public authority nature activity 
in order for it to be the last level of public  control, and sets the framework for the formal 
recognition of the existing accreditation or ganisation, European co-operation for 
Accreditation (EA), so as to ensure the prope r functioning of a rigorous peer evaluation. 
Each Member State shall have a single accreditation body operating within a defined community of European co-operation.  The pr oposal sets out the criteria for these national 
accreditation bodies and covers accreditation of all conformity assessment procedures 
including testing, certification and inspection.  
The provisions on Market Surveillance will en sure that national enforcement authorities 
have equivalent means of intervention and the necessary authority to inte rvene in the market 
to be able to withdraw non-compliant or unsafe products, even if this power is not currently G/TBT/N/EEC/152 
Page 2  
 
  included in sectoral legislation.  It puts into place mechanisms for the exchange of 
information between national authorities and co-operation between them in the case of 
products on the markets of more than one Member State. The proposal also ensures 
effective co-operation between the Member State enforcement authorities and customs 
authorities controlling products entering the market  from 3rd countries so as to ensure equal 
treatment and control of products fro m both inside and outside the EU. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
The objective of the proposal is to consolidat e and facilitate the functioning of existing 
National Member State activities relating to Market Surveillance and Accreditation, by 
creating a framework for better implementation of  the internal market legislation for goods. 
The proposal is complemented by a sui generis  Decision (not notified) which includes 
elements to support the Regulation, e.g. common definitions, clarification of the meaning of 
CE marking, safeguard clause mechanism, notification procedure etc.  This is intended to be 
a reference text which can be utilised as exis ting Directives are periodically revised and as 
such, in itself, it has no immediate effect on existing legislation.  
The proposed Regulation will help to reinfo rce confidence between Member States, to 
facilitate administrative co-operation, to pr ovide fairer conditions of competition for 
industry and to reinforce consumer protection. 
8. Relevant documents:   COM(2007)37 Final (Proposal for a regulation) COM(2007)53 
Final (Proposal for the complementary Decision). 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    End 2008 
6 months after date of adoption 
10. Final date for comments:   60 days from date of notification 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [    ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   
European Commission 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax: +(32) 2 299 8043 
E-mail: ec-tbt@ec.europa.eu 
The text is available on the EC-TBT We bsite: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/