. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/W/342 
21 October 2011 
 (11-5270) 
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 Japan to China 
  
 The following communication, dated 19 October 2011, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Japan. 
 
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I. STANDARDS IN CHINA 
1. In China, there are not only national standa rds, but also sector/professional standards 
established by each department of standardization administration under the State Council or the local 
government, and local standards of the local governme nt.  As for the latter two categories, i.e. 
sector/professional standards and local standards, Japan would like to know what kind of measures the 
central government has taken (a) to fulfil the oblig ations under Article 2 of the TBT Agreement in 
respect of the sector/professional standards and (b) to meet the obligations under Article 3 of the TBT 
Agreement in respect of the local standards. Specifi cally, in regard to the local government, paragraph 
1 of Article 3 of the TBT Agreement stipulates that  "Members shall take such reasonable measures as 
may be available to them to ensure compliance by such bodies with the provisions of Article 2".  
Japan would like to know how the central government  has fulfilled its obligations under paragraph 
1 of Article 3 of the TBT Agreement. 
II. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT MEASURES IN CHINA 
2. Would China provide answers to the following inquiries regarding China’s treatment of 
conformity assessment by foreign based certification bodies: 
(a) Regarding CoC (Certificate of Conformity) of the CCC (China Compulsory 
Certification) system issued by foreign based certification bodies, China reported in the 2010 Trade Policy Review China - Record of the Meeting, Addendum (WT/TPR/M/230/Add.1, page 291-292) that "foreign certification bodies could acquire qualification for the CCC system through inter-government agreements".  
Please let us know whether it is correct to unde rstand that this sentence means that the 
Chinese Government can directly accept CoC of the CCC system issued by foreign 
based certification bodies if the Chinese Government concluded an MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement) with the fo reign government concerned.  
(b) Please let us know whether it is correct to unde rstand that this sentence means that the 
Chinese Government can directly, not through the IECEE/CB Scheme, accept test 
results of the CCC system conducted by foreign based laboratories if the Chinese Government concluded a MRA with th e foreign government concerned.  G/TBT/W/342 
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  (c) If our understanding mentioned above in (a) and (b) is correct, Japan would like to 
know actual examples of foreign based certification bodies as well as laboratories.  If our understanding is not correct, while Chin a is trying to change the current CCC 
system, Japan would like to know detailed pl ans and schedule of the future reform. 
(d) China also reported in the above mentione d record that "China recognizes the test 
results of laboratories under the IECE[E]/CB  Scheme".  On the other hand, Japan has 
learned that CQC (China Quality Certification Center) does not accept EMC (Electro-Magnetic Compatibility) test results conducted by foreign based laboratories under the IECEE/CB Scheme and this issue is be ing discussed in international frameworks, 
such as IEC/CAB.  Japan would like to know China's plans and schedule to deal with 
the issue. 
III. REGULATION FOR INFORMATION SECURITY  
3. China, despite modifications of the certificati on scheme of information security products that 
narrowed down the scope of application to govern ment procurement, still seems to be pursuing 
policies that hinder the purchase of foreign inform ation security products in China.  Japan is 
concerned that foreign firms are excluded from government procurement-related business unless they disclose their source code.  It is uncertain whether the scope of the scheme will remain restricted to 
the 13 product categories.  Further, transparency is requested especially in  policies such as the Multi 
Level Protection Scheme and th e Commercial Encryption Code. 
4. Concerning the Multi Level Protection Scheme, Ja pan understands that the scheme classifies 
information systems into five grades according to the influences of the risk in system attacks, and that 
the use of foreign information security products are substantially forbidden for the main technology of 
information security at the third grade or higher.  As it would be applied to the procurement of the 
important infrastructure or the key system, the commercial impact might be tremendous.  In cases where this scheme is to be fully introduced into  all sectors, Japan will inevitably foresee a negative 
impact on the foreign firm’s entry into the Chinese market. Therefore, Japan would like to know the 
current situation and the plans of this scheme. 
5. On the subject of the Commercial Encryp tion Code, the OSCCA announced the list of 
products for import licenses, based on this Code  on 1 January 2009.  The OSCCA calls for the 
disclosure of the source code only for the purpose of encryption.  However, Japan is concerned about 
the potential exclusion of foreign manufactures from China's market due to the ambiguity of this 
regulation.  Therefore Japan would like to know the current situation and plans for implementation of 
this regulation. 
IV. CHINESE "REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON 
CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION" AND "MEASURES FOR THE 
ADMINISTRATION OF CERTIFICATION BODIES" 
6. According to China's "Regulations of the Pe ople's Republic of China on Certification and 
Accreditation" and "Measures for the Administration of Certification Bodies", certification bodies 
shall receive approval of each scope of certification practices from the CNCA in order to carry out a 
certification practice in China.  Japan found some certification practices without certification rules by 
CNCA.  So Japan would like to confirm that, in  case that CNCA has not yet formulated the 
certification rules, certification bodies in China can conduct a certification practice by registering their 
own certification rules with the CNCA under the "M easures for the Administration of Certification 
Bodies" Article 20. 
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