WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/255 
6 October 2005 
 (05-4484) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
CHINA'S TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM 
 
Questions and Comments from Japan to China
 
  
 The following communication, dated 30 September 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Japan
. 
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1. Japan welcomes that, in the fourth year afte r accession, implementation by China of its 
commitments on TBT has progressed and entered into a cruising phase.  The transitional review mechanism could be useful for making those transiti onal efforts more efficient and productive, and it 
is a pleasure for Japan to contribute to this process. 
2. In accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Protoc ol on the Accession of the People’s Republic of 
China, which states that "China shall provide releva nt information to each subsidiary body in advance 
of the review" and in the spirit of cooperation to render the TRM process most efficient and effective, 
Japan requests China to provide, in advance of th e meeting of the TBT Committee, the responses and 
relevant information to the fo llowing questions and comments. 
 
I. CCC SYSTEM 
3. Japan has some concerns about the CCC system , and requests that China take action to 
improve in the following areas, in order to eliminate potential trade barriers. 
(i) Article 13 of the Regulations of the Pe ople’s Republic of China on Certification and 
Accreditation allows only Chinese certificati on bodies to engage in CCC certification 
activities.  This does not seem to be cons istent with the China’s commitment in 
Paragraph 195 of the Report of the Working Party.   Japan would like to know China’s plan to 
accredit foreign conformity assessment bodies (CABs). 
 (ii) The Certification and Accreditation Admi nistration (CNCA) has designated only Chinese 
domestic facilities as testing laboratories for th e CCC marking.  Japan would like to know 
China’s plan to designate forei gn facilities as testing laboratories. 
 
(iii) All factories manufacturing products to wh ich the CCC system is applied are subject to 
inspection by CABs once a year.  Japan would like to know whether China has a plan to decrease the number of inspections for factories producing low-risk goods. 
 
 
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 (iv) For the CCC mark labeling companies are required to purchase stickers with the CCC mark 
from CNCA or apply to CNCA for permission to print/impress the CCC mark on their products.  However, it is possible for CNCA to identify the factory manufacturing the products also by introducing the system whereb y a certified factory labels its products the 
CCC mark and the factory’s identification numbe r itself.  Japan would like to know whether 
China intends to introduce such a self-marking system in the future. 
 (v) Japan has a concern that the time period for the CCC certification is becoming longer. 
Certification procedures for the factories located  in China came to be completed within 90 
days.  However, it takes a longer period (sometimes 6 to 12 months) for factories located 
abroad to obtain the CCC certification because th ey need to send samples for type testing 
conducted in China, or wait for a visit of Chinese auditors for initial factory inspection.  Japan would like to know what steps China intends to take in order to shorten the time period 
needed for overseas factories to  obtain the CCC certification.   
 
(vi) There seem to be some cases where a su fficient transitional period is not provided for 
products complying with the existing GB (Guojia  Biaozhun) standard when a new or revised 
GB standard is estab lished/published. Japan would like to  know what kind of measures China 
is considering to improve this situation. 
 (vii) The "First Catalogue of Products Subject to  Compulsory CCC Certification" issued by the 
General Administration of Quality Supervisi on, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s 
Republic of China (AQSIQ) and CNCA, does not exactly match the HS codes used by the 
customs authority, and there are certain products for which it is difficult to judge whether they are subject to the CCC system or not.  Therefore, this uncertainty sometimes causes 
delays in customs clearance of goods.  Japan would like to know what kind of measures 
China is considering to improve this situation. 
 (viii) Under the current system, factories which pr eviously manufactured products subject to the 
CCC system still need to undergo periodic factor y inspections, even when they no longer 
manufacture the products in question.  Japan would like to ask China to explain the purpose of these post-production inspections, as well as the period for which they are conducted.  In 
addition, Japan would like to request that Chin a consider eliminating these inspections in the 
future. 
 (ix) The information on the CCC system is on web pages only in Chinese.  Japan cordially 
requests China to provide such informat ion on the websites in English as well. 
 
II. AUTOMOBILES 
4. Article 10 of the "Auto Industry Developmen t Policy", which was published and came into 
effect on 1 June 2004, states that "prior to 20 10, the regulation of proclaiming auto’s fuel 
consumption should be enacted based on the compul sory requirements of technical regulations on 
energy saving". 
5. In connection with this, Japan has the follo wing requests when the Government of China 
prepares any technical regulations or standards, particularly on such items as fuel efficiency regulations, safety technical regulati ons and type approval regulations: 
(i) Japan requests China to clarify the conten t and purpose of the regulation proclaiming 
automoblie’s fuel consumption in accordance with Article 2.5 of the TBT Agreement.  G/TBT/W/255 
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 (ii) Japan would like to know when China intends to  publish a notice of the proposed technical 
regulations in a publication, and make a notifica tion of it in accordance with Article 2.9 of the 
TBT Agreement. 
(iii) Japan would like to know what kind of measures Chin a intends to take in order to ensure that 
its administrative process related to the regula tions of proclaiming automobile’s consumption 
does not have trade-restrictive effects in accord ance with Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement. 
6. In addition, Japan also requests that China allow enough time and opportunity for any 
interested parties to submit comments and discuss these issues. 
III. DIGITAL CAMERAS 
7. Japan understands that a standard for digital ca meras is being prepared in China.  Please 
provide Japan with the information as to whethe r this standard will be based on the relevant 
international standards.  
8. Japan expects China to publish the draft text of the proposed standard at an early appropriate 
stage and to allow enough time for comments from interested parties in accordance with the TBT 
Agreement and relevant decisions and recomme ndations adopted by the TBT Committee. Japan 
requests China to provide Japan with the concrete  schedule of the publication and the procedure for 
the collection of comments from interested parties on the draft text of the proposed standard for 
digital cameras. 
IV. REGISTRATION OF INITIAL IMPORTS OF CHEMICAL PRODUCTS 
9. In paragraph 196(a) of the Report of the Work ing Party;  (1) China has committed to enact 
and implement, within one year after its accessi on, a new law and relevant regulations regarding 
assessment and control of chemicals for the protectio n of the environment, in which complete national 
treatment and full consistency with  international practices will be ensured; and (2) China has also 
committed to ensure that chemicals listed in the "i nventory chemicals" annexed to the above new law 
and its regulations will be exempted from any regist ration obligation, and that a uniform assessment 
procedure will be established for domestic and imported products under the new law and its 
regulations. 
10. To establish a new system, China drafted and published an initial version of the Import and 
Export Registration Regulations of Dangerous Chemicals in September 2002, and an initial version of 
the Provisions on the Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances in December 2002 
to collect tentative comments from interested parties within and outside of China.  Japan understands 
that the final version of the draft of the Impor t and Export Registration Re gulations of Dangerous 
Chemicals has not yet been published.  On the other hand, the Provisions on the Environmental 
Administration of New Chemical Substances were  enforced on 15 October 2003, and the detailed 
administrative rules (tentative) were published on 9 December 2003.  With regard to the Provisions 
and their administrative rules, there are some unc lear points in the details and several problems 
remain, which affect the fair implementation of the regulation.  
(i) First, the new regulation provides that the eco-t oxicological data of new chemical substances 
shall include those obtained through biological tests performed in China using China’s test 
organisms.  On the other hand, in order to enha nce rationality of assessment as well as to avoid 
unnecessary tests using vertebrate animals, OECD member countries mutually accept testing 
results using the GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) sy stem, and it is of mutual benefit to member 
countries.  The GLP system is open to both OECD members and non-OECD members.  We 
understand that India has joined the system.  Japan would like to know whether China has a G/TBT/W/255 
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 plan to join the GLP system or take measures to accept data obtained through biological tests 
performed by foreign facilities in terms of f acilitating assessment.  In addition, Japan has a 
concern about the fact that there are only a few organizations published as testing laboratories, 
which might affect the notification procedures.  Japan would like to know whether China has a 
plan to increase the number of authorized domes tic testing laboratories.  Furthermore, Japan 
requests China to release information regard ing specific testing services which each testing 
laboratory can provide.  
(ii) Second, since the revised inventory of existing chemicals has not been published after the sixth 
enlargement submission, for which applicati ons were received by 31 December 2004, it seems 
that unnecessary tests have been conducted in  China which burden not only foreign companies 
but also domestic companies with heavy costs.  Japan would like to know when the inventory 
list will be published. 
(iii) Third, according to international practices, notif ication procedures are generally simplified for 
imports of small amounts of new chemical substa nces.  However, Japan understands that, in 
China, the simplified notification is approved on ly in the case of importing chemical substances 
for the purposes of research and technological de velopment.  Requiring the same range of data 
from all importers, regardless of import volume (e.g., import of final products including a particle of additives), would impose an ex cessive economic burden on importers of small 
amounts and might affect their importation.  Japan would like to know whether China plans to introduce simplified notification for the impor tation of small amounts of new chemical 
substances, in accordance with international practices.  
(iv) Fourth, certain polymers are exempt from th e notification by submitting applications for 
exemption in China.  However, in many countries, no procedure to apply for exemption of notification is required for exempted substances.   Japan would like to know whether China 
plans to abolish such redundant pr ocedure for exempted substances. 
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