. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/N/AUS/71 
6 February 2012  
 (12-0700) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  AUSTRALIA  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:   
Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) Branch 
Australian Government Departme nt of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and 
Communities (SEWPaC) 
GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
TBT Enquiry Point 
Australian Government Department  of Foreign Affairs and Trade 
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia 
Tel.:  +61 2 62611481 
E-mail:  TBT.Enquiry@dfat.gov.au  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [X], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  All products registered 
under the WELS scheme are affected. These include 
• Showers 
• Tap equipment • Flow controllers 
• Toilets (lavatory equipment) 
• Urinal equipment • Clothes washers • Dishwashers. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Joint governments’ 
response to the 2010 Independent Review of th e Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards 
Review Water Efficiency Labelling and St andards (WELS) scheme consultation paper 
(Deloitte Access Ec onomics) December 2011 G/TBT/N/AUS/71 
Page 2  
 
  6. Description of content:  Changes to applicable administ rative provisions underpinning the 
WELS scheme.  Following the 2010 independent  five-year review of the WELS scheme, 
state, territory and federal governments have recommended:  
(a) Changes to registration requirements – including a llowing for registration of 
 products for a period of one year (from the current five-year period); 
(b) The introduction of a revised fee stru cture commensurate with changes to the 
 registration requirements; 
(c) Changes to compliance and enforcemen t provisions, including the introduction of 
 additional enforcement options, streamlini ng new criminal penalty provisions and a 
 corresponding civil penalty regime. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  A 
number of changes to the WELS scheme are proposed following the recommendations of the 2010 Independent Review of the W ELS scheme's first five year s of operation.  The objective 
of these administrative changes are to ensure that the WELS sc heme is administered in an 
efficient and effective manner.  (There are no changes envisaged in the technical content of 
the WELs product standards)  
8. Relevant documents:   Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme 
consultation paper (Deloitte Access Economics) December 2011. Supplem entary documents: 
- Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2005 
- Water Efficiency  Labelling and Standards Regulations 2005 
- Water Efficiency  Labelling and Standards Determination 2011 
AS/NZ 6400:2005 (Incorporating Amendment Nos. 1,  2, 3, 4 and 5) Water efficient products 
- rating and labelling 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:      - 
July 2012. It is proposed that new arrangements will be in place subject to enactment of relevant 
legislation. 
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification 
11. Text available from:  National enquiry point [  ], or address, telephone and fax numbers, 
e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   www.waterrating.gov.au 
The text of the joint governments’ response to the 2010 Independent Review of the Water 
Efficiency Labelling and Standards scheme can be found at: 
http://www.environment.gov.au/water/wels-review/  
The WELS scheme consultation paper (DAE) can be found at: 
http://www.waterrating.gov.au/publ ications/consultation-paper.html