WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/288 
23 June 2008 
 
 (08-2960) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS RELATING TO ACCESS OF 
FERRO-NICKEL TO THE EUROPEAN UNION MARKET  
 
Communication from Colombia
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 20 June 2008,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Colombia . 
 
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 1. Colombia thanks the European Community fo r its responses to the concerns raised on 
7 May 2008 by our Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization with regard to the "Draft 
Commission Directive amending, for the purpose of  its adaptation to technical progress, for the 
30
th time, Council Directive 67/548/EEC on the a pproximation of the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions relating to the classi fication, packaging and labelling of dangerous 
substances" proposed by the European Community in respect of the entry of "chemical substances".  
The responses have, however, given rise to greater con cerns as to the real risk in relation to nickel 
carbonates, rather than substantiating the justifi cation for the reclassification of nickel compound 
chemicals. 
2. As a producer and exporter of ferro-nickel and related substances, Colombia has a significant 
trade interest in this matter;  it is worth mentioning that Colombian exports in 2007 amounted to more 
than US$1,700 million.  Measures such as those prop osed or announced by the European Community 
must not therefore constitute unnecessary technical ob stacles to trade which would significantly affect 
our economy. 
3. Discussions on nickel have been under way since 4 July 2007, the final date established by 
the European Community for comments on the draft Directive notified in 
document G/TBT/N/EEC/151.  The related comments and concerns have been addressed at the last two meetings of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Committee). 
4. Colombia considers that some of the proposed measures could be contrary to the rights and 
obligations set forth in the WTO Agreement on Te chnical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), in 
particular those pertaining to obligations in resp ect of the preparation of technical regulations, 
transparency and special and differential treatment. 
5. The foregoing can be seen from the following: 
 (a) Both in its response to Colombia and in the TBT Committee discussions of 
9 November 2007 and 20 March 2008, the European Community failed to show that 
the draft Directive was based on substance risk assessments or on relevant elements 
which justify the reclassification decision.  The available scientific and technical information is restricted to that furnished by experts from the Organisation for G/TBT/W/288 
Page 2  
 
  Economic Co-operation and Development (O ECD), which is neither definitive nor 
sufficiently sound and cannot be checked against other information based on scientific and technical data from different sources or related processing technology.  
Moreover, no mention is made of either the users or the intended end-uses of borates.  
All of the above is contrary to the provisi ons of Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement. 
 
 (b) Furthermore, Colombia is concerned that the methodology employed by the European 
Communities for the reclassification established in the "Draft 30
th Amendment, for 
the purpose of its adaptation to technical  progress, to Council Directive 67/548/EEC 
on the approximation of the laws, regulati ons and administrative provisions relating 
to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances" will be used as 
a reference for classifying other nickel substances, and that the "read-across" 
approach will be used as a model in the 31st Adaptation to Technical Progress (ATP) 
Directive, which will contain further nick el classification proposals and which we 
were informed would be notif ied under the TBT Agreement. 
 
 (c) As far as transparency is concerned, Co lombia notes with surprise that the European 
Community has not notified, through the WTO Central Registry of Notifications, the statement by the EC delegate at the TBT Committee meeting of 9 November 2007, to the effect that "the adoption, which has b een scheduled to take place in September, 
had been delayed because of the numerous concerns received".  Likewise, 
consultation of the WTO website, specifi cally a search on "Documents Online", 
reveals only the notification G/TBT/N/ EEC/151 of 4 May 2007;  no other 
notifications on the revision, postponement, da te of adoption or of entry into force of 
the Directive exist.  Notification of the 31
st ATP Directive is also pending. 
 
 (d) With regard to the provisions of the TB T Agreement, in particular those on special 
and differential treatment of developing count ry Members, Colombia fails to see how 
the European Community takes into account  in its proposed measures either its own 
special development, financial and trade need s or those of other developing countries.  
Colombia therefore considers that the "30th Amendment, for the purpose of its 
adaptation to technical progress, to Council Directive 67/548/EEC on the 
approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the 
classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances " is creating an 
unnecessary obstacle to exports of ferro-nickel from Colombia and other developing countries, a point on which no response has been forthcoming. 
 
 (e) Colombia and its small and medium-sized  enterprises lack the capacity to provide 
scientific data that would permit a more solid scientific basis for the assessment and 
classification of nickel carbonates.  Assessme nt of the scientific aspects of the process 
by interested parties and the domestic indus try is restricted by the availability of 
resources, know-how and research capacity.  It is not therefore the Colombian industry that will be able to provide new findings and scientific information 
additional to that furnished by experts from the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD), of which our country is not a member. 
 6. Accordingly, Colombia requests that the Eu ropean Community defer the adoption of the 
"Draft Commission Directive amending, for the purpose of its adaptation to technical progress, for the 
30
th time, Council Directive 67/548/EEC on the a pproximation of the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions relating to the classi fication, packaging and labelling of dangerous 
substances".  This request comes in addition to ex isting ones made by a number of other delegations 
at the TBT Committee meetings held in Geneva, Switzerland on 9 November 2007 and 
20 March 2008.  G/TBT/W/288 
 Page 3 
 
 
  7. Colombia is submitting this request given that  it does not consider either the responses 
provided by the European Community regarding the tr ade concerns raised by various delegations at 
the most recent TBT Committee meetings, or the response provided bilatera lly and which concurs 
with that provided to other interested parties, to have allayed the said concer ns or to have explained 
satisfactorily the justification and reasons for the classification of a group of nickel carbonates and 
related substances as dangerous substances, in particular for developing countries. 
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