WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/90 
21 September 2007 
 
 (07-3974) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Harmonization of Lighter Standards a nd Conformity Assessment Procedures
 
 
Communication from the People's Republic of China 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 19 September 2007, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of the People's Republic of China.  
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. In line with paragraph 16 of the Doha Mi nisterial Declaration in November 2001 and 
paragraph 22 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declarati on in December 2005, tariff as well as non-tariff 
barriers (“NTBs”) should be reduced or as appropria te eliminated, in particular with respect to 
products of export interest to developing Members,  and the special needs and interests of developing 
and least-developed Members should be taken fully  into account.  Some Members create and apply 
NTBs in the form of standards, inspection, testing,  certification and accreditation, which fail to take 
due account of the national condition of developing Members, and which pose de facto or disguised 
restrictions on exports of interests to developing  Members and constitute unnecessary obstacles to the 
market access of products from developing Members. 
2. In regard to the international trade of lighters (HS codes 961310 and 961320), some Members 
have established their domestic technical regulations , beyond those specified in existing international 
standards.  The following proposal is made with a vi ew to possible solutions to NTBs affecting trade 
in lighters. 
II. BACKGROUND 
3. The annual consumption of lighters in the worl d is about 18 billion units.  China, France, 
Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia, the Philippines a nd Brazil are the major producers and exporters.  
4. Some Members have established technical regulations that restrict the international trade in 
lighters.  Some Members impose child-resistant (“CR”) standards, requiring the installation of CR 
devices on lighters below a certain unit price.  However, such safety restrictions serve to discriminate 
against lower-priced lighters and thereby fo rm an obstacle to the trade in lighters. 
5. In some cases, Members require, with respect to imported lighters, a test report issued by 
specific laboratories that the importing Members rec ognized, and refuse to accept test reports issued 
by other laboratories that are in complete compliance with the ISO/IEC17025 and ISO 9994:2005 
standards.  Thus, lighter companies must first obtain certification for their lighters from specific 
laboratories recognized by the importing Members, which greatly increase th e companies’ costs. TN/MA/W/90 
Page 2  
 
  6. In addition, some Members require a test repor t for each and every type of lighter. While the 
report is valid for only six months, the testing lasts for a period of from three to six months and costs more than 1,000 U.S. dollars.  
7. All of these NTBs have greatly affected the in ternational trade of lighters and, specifically, 
the production and marketing of lighters by companies in developing Members.  For example, 
according to one study, 75 percent of China’s li ghter manufacturers have encountered NTBs in the 
process of exporting their lighter products, repr esenting a total annual value of 100 million U.S. 
dollars.  The technical requirements, testing and a lteration of packing and labeling, increase the cost 
of exports by approximately 10 percent.  
III. MODALITIES 
8. All WTO Members shall take relevant ex isting international standards (such as 
ISO 9994:2005), guides and recommendations as the basis for domestic technical regulations, 
standards and conformity assessment procedures. 
9. Members, when developing or revising their domestic technical measures concerning lighter 
products, shall ensure that the installation of  CR devices must be on the basis of appropriate safety 
standards, rather than the unit price of the lighters.  The ISO 9994:2005 standard specifies the general 
requirements for lighters so as to ensure that li ghters are safe when handled properly or even 
improperly in certain predictable ways. Therefore,  Members must recognize lighters as safe if they 
meet the requirements stipulated under the ISO 9994:2005 standard. 
10. For the purpose of child protection, patents for safety devices, such as the CR devices, should 
be shared or subject to a shorter duration, and so me mature CR technologies that can be widely used 
should be promoted gradually as generic safety standards. 
11. Members shall take effective measures to recognize technical regulations and conformity 
assessment procedures of other Members as equivale nt to their own, if these procedures fulfill the 
same regulatory objectives, and accept the confor mity assessment results of other Members.  
Developed Members shall accept testing reports issued  by laboratories in developing countries as in 
complete compliance with the ISO/IEC17025 and ISO 9994:2005 standards. 
12. Before enforcing new technical measures ag ainst lighters, Developed Members should 
provide developing Members with a grace period of at least 6 mont hs and should provide technical 
assistance to facilitate the conformity with these measures.    
   TN/MA/W/90
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NON-TARIFF BARRIER NOTIFICATIONS CONCERNING LIGHTERS 
 
No. Tariff item 
 (HS2002) Description of product Non-tariff measure on which ac tion is requested Specific action requested Remarks 
1 2 3 4 5 6 
[1] 961310 
 
961320 pocket lighters, gas fuelled, 
non refillable 
pocket lighters, gas fuelled, 
refillable 1. Novelty lighters are forbidden by some Members 
to enter their markets. But the term “novelty lighters” is too vague in definition and scope, and may cause 
discrepancies in application. Adopt positive measures, 
with a view to form a more open international market 
of lighters  
   2. Certain Members require each consignment of 
import lighters to be tested against the ISO9994 standard, and liquid-fuelled lighters are subject to some restrictive mandatory procedures.   
   3. Some Members make a linkage between the 
safety requirements and the price of lighters. Lighters 
below a certain price are required to include a child-
resistant (CR) device, or obtain a certificate of CR device before they are allowed to be produced, sold or imported. And this certificate must be kept for 3 years from the date of production or importation.   
[2] 961310 
 
961320 pocket lighters, gas fuelled, 
non refillable 
pocket lighters, gas fuelled, 
refillable 1. Some Members transform their formerly 
voluntary standards into mandatory ones. These standards are substantially different from the international standard ISO9994. For instance, the CR requirements in these standards exceed the requirement of ISO9994 standard. 1. Adopt the international 
standards where appropriate 
   
  TN/MA/W/90 
Page 4 No. Tariff item 
 (HS2002) Description of product Non-tariff measure on which ac tion is requested Specific action requested Remarks 
1 2 3 4 5 6 
   2. Some Members apply two technical standards for 
lighters. One is the international standard ISO9994 covering the quality, reliability and safety of lighters, and containing some appropriate safety test procedures but no CR requirements. The other is Members’ domestic standard, which establishes the 
CR requirements. Lighters placed on the markets 
must comply with Members’ domestic standard as well as the international standard ISO9994. 2. Adopt the international 
standards where appropriate   
[3] 961310 
 
961320 pocket lighters, gas fuelled, 
non refillable 
pocket lighters, gas fuelled, 
refillable Certain Members maintain regulations requiring 
mandatory certification of lighters, which stipulate that lighters can be placed on their markets only if they comply with the relevant standards and obtain a 
certificate of conformity issued by a certification 
body. The test results provided by export members are not accepted. 1. Conduct MRAs 
between certification bodies. Accept the relevant foreign conformity 
assessment results 
2. Encourage cooperation 
and mutual recognition  
 
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