. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/319 
24 June 2009 
 
 (09-3093) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
FIFTH TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE OPERATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF 
THE AGREEMENT ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE 
 
Communication from Costa Rica
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 23 June 2009,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Costa Rica . 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The effective implementation of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade 
("TBT Agreement") is a matter of great concern to  Members, given the growing proliferation of 
regulations, standards and conformity assessment pro cedures.  For this reason, prominence needs to 
be given to the difficulties that exist and the aspect s which deserve particular  attention in the work 
undertaken in the WTO Committee on Technical Barri ers to Trade ("TBT Committee") need to be 
highlighted, identifying the factors which could enhance compliance with the related obligations. 
2. The specific trade concerns rai sed at TBT Committee meetings ha ve become a matter of great 
interest to Members, providing them with the oppo rtunity to discuss the concerns of one or more 
countries in respect of the draft or existing measures of another. 
3. Costa Rica therefore feels that, in the framewo rk of the Fifth Triennial Review of the 
Operation and Implementation of the TBT Agreem ent, it would be appropriate to examine the 
mechanism whereby Members raise and discuss specific trade concer ns at TBT Committee meetings, 
in particular under the agenda item "Implement ation and Administration of the Agreement". 
II. PROPOSALS 
A. SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS .  APPRAISAL OF THE MECHANISM AND ESTABLISHMENT OF A 
PROCEDURE . 
4. In view of the way in which trade is conducte d today, it is particularly important that 
Members should be able to solve expeditiously the problems which arise in the course of trade.  
Trading partners therefore require instruments that  allow them to obtain satisfactory answers to the 
trade concerns which they raise in the TBT Committee. 
5. Costa Rica welcomes consultations on specific trade concerns at meetings of the 
TBT Committee, which has become  a mechanism of convergence enab ling Members to resolve their 
differences with regard to measures which have been or are to be applied.  This agenda item does, 
however, take up a good deal of time at Committee m eetings;  an efficient procedure is therefore 
required to deliver prompt responses to the concerns  raised by Members facing regulations that could G/TBT/W/319 
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  hinder or are hindering their trade, and which are raised as a specific trade concern at a 
TBT Committee meeting. 
6. Costa Rica believes that there is a need for an expeditious procedure able to secure more of a 
response from countries that have established regulati ons affecting the trade of one or more other 
Members.  Costa Rica therefore calls upon Members to  appraise, in the context of the Fifth Triennial 
Review, the effectiveness of this mechanism by mean s of a statistical analysis of the trade concerns 
raised, including: 
(a) Information on the concerns whic h have/have not been resolved; 
(b) whether the concerns relate to draft or existing measures; 
(c) the countries affected by the concerns;  and 
(d) the time taken to resolve the concern or whether the concern is still on the Committee 
agenda. 
7. Costa Rica feels that it is important that this in formation be used as the basis for establishing 
the steps to be taken, including the development of a procedure to regulate and administer specific 
trade concerns, which enables Members to reach a satisfactory solution within an appropriate period 
of time. 
B. T
RANSPARENCY .  NOTIFICATIONS . 
8. Transparency is one of the most critical issu es under the TBT Agreement.  It gives Members 
the opportunity to inform other Members at an early  stage of the draft regul ations that are to be 
notified, thereby enabling them to respond to the ne w requirements that such drafts seek to introduce 
with regard to the marketing of the products. 
9. Transparency is one of the most discussed issues during the triennial reviews.  A substantial 
improvement has been observed in Members' notificati ons, but special attention is warranted to ensure 
that notifications are submitted at an early stag e and not when regulations are already in force. 
10. Furthermore, it is important for Members to recei ve the final versions of  technical regulations 
and conformity assessment procedures, so that they kn ow with certainty the requirements that must be 
met for the products to be traded on a particular market. 
11. In view of the above, Costa Rica urges Members to comply with the transparency obligations 
established in the TBT Agreement and to notify th eir draft technical regulations and conformity 
assessment procedures while it is still possible to di scuss their content and subm it relevant comments.  
Likewise, it recommends that the TBT Committee esta blish the appropriate mechanisms for Members 
to notify the final versions of technical regulati ons and conformity assessment procedures which have 
been officially published. 
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