. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/292 
21 October 2008 
 (08-5074) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM PURSUANT TO SECTION 18  OF THE 
PROTOCOL ON THE ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA  
 
Questions and Comments from th e United States to China
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 20 October 2008, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of the United States .  
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The United States continues to have concerns in  a number of areas that have been addressed 
in recent transitional reviews before this Comm ittee, including, for example, technology bias in 
licensing telecommunications carriers and favouritism  toward home-grown 3G telecommunications 
standards, certifications required for electronic info rmation products and transparency.  In connection 
with this year’s transitional review, the Unite d States would like to focus on two areas, i.e., 
information security testing and certificati on, and conformity assessment procedures.  
II. INFORMATION SECURITY TESTING AND CERTIFICATION 
2. The United States continues to have strong con cerns about 13 proposed technical regulations 
related to information security,  notified to this Committee by Ch ina in August 2007 (see document 
G/TBT/N/CHN/278-290).  These regulations, which mandate a government testing and certification 
scheme for information security for 13 categories of  information technology products, go substantially 
beyond global norms by mandating testing and certifi cation of information security in commercial 
information technology products, not just products for government use or those used in national 
security applications.  In other countries, mandatory  testing and certification for information security 
is only required for products used in sensitive gove rnment and national security applications.    
3. In Announcement No. 2008-7, Announcement for the Compulsory Certification of 
Information Security Products , issued by the National Certificati on and Accreditation Administration 
(CNCA) on 3 March 2008, China indicated that compliance with the 13 proposed technical regulations described above would become ma ndatory on 1 May 2009.  Subsequently, CNCA 
officials indicated that they envision a one-year transition period between the eventual publication 
date of the 13 technical regulations in final fo rm and the date by which compliance would become 
mandatory.   
4. Despite its serious concerns, the United St ates notes and appreciates the willingness of  
officials from CNCA and China’s Ministry of Comm erce to maintain an open line of communication 
with government officials and industry groups from the United States and other countries on this 
important issue.  The United States also welcomes the commitment that China’s Vice Premier Wang 
Qishan made in September 2008 to the effect that  China will delay publication of final technical G/TBT/W/292 
Page 2  
 
  regulations while Chinese and foreign experts c ontinue to discuss possible approaches to the 
regulation of information security.   
5. The United States continues to urge China to refrain from adopting any measures that 
mandate information security testing and certif ication for commercial products and seeks the 
following clarifications regarding the status of the 13 proposed technical regulations and China’s 
future plans:    
(a) Can China confirm that it will delay its pl anned 1 May 2009 certification requirement 
for the covered products?  If so, does China plan to revise CNCA Announcement 2008-7 or issue a new announcement reflec ting China’s commitment to hold off on 
publication of the regulations in final form?  Given the intense international interest 
in China’s proposed technical regulations, will China notify such an announcement to 
the TBT Committee?  
 
(b) Has China analyzed the practices followed in other countries with regard to the 
regulation of information security in the commercial sector?  If so, can China explain 
the results of its analysis? 
III. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES 
6. On 24 June 2008, China notif ied to this Committee a Draft Amendment to Regulations on 
Compulsory Product Certification (see document G/TBT/N/CHN/399), which involves the China’s 
CCC Mark system.   
(a) Can China provide an explanation of the in tent of the draft measure and describe the 
substantive changes that this draft meas ure would make to the current CCC Mark 
system? 
(b) Does China have any additional plans for substantive changes to the CCC Mark 
system in the coming year, including with regard to product scope?  If so, please explain. 
7. This Committee developed an Indicative List of Approaches to Facilitate Acceptance of the 
Results of Conformity Assessment (see G/TBT/1/Rev.9, Annexes to Pa rt 1, Section A), which includes 
several approaches for accepting the results of in ternationally recognized laboratories.  Does China 
have any plans to allow foreign laboratories to be accredited to conduct testing for mandatory CCC 
Mark certification?  If not, why not?   
8. This Committee recently held a workshop specifi cally on the use of a Supplier’s Declaration 
of Conformity.  Is China considering the adoption of a Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity for any 
products covered under the existing CCC Mark system?  Please explain. 
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