WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/W/343 
7 November 2011 
 (11-5681) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MANDATED IN PARAGRAPH 18 OF THE PROTOCOL OF 
ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA:  INFORMATION NOTIFIED IN 
ANNEX 1A OF WT/L/432 
 
Submission by the People's Republic of China 
 
  The following communication, dated 4 November 2011, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of the People's Republic of China. 
 
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE NOT 
LATER THAN FOUR MONTHS AFTER CHINA'S ACCESSION 
1. In April 2002, the Chinese Government notif ied ISO/IEC information center and the WTO 
Secretariat of its decision of acceptance of the Code of Good Practice (G/TBT/CS/N/143).  
II. PERIODIC REVIEW OF EXISTING STANDARDS OF GOVERNMENT 
STANDARDIZING BODIES AND HARMONIZATION OF THE SAME WITH RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS WHERE APPROPRIATE 
2. Periodic review of existing standards is explicitly  stipulated in China's laws, regulations and 
rules governing standardization. It is stipulated in  the Article 13 of the Standardization Law of the 
People's Republic of China:  "After the standards co me into force, the department that formulated 
them shall, in the light of scientific and tec hnological developments and the needs in economic 
construction, make timely reviews of  the current standards to determine if they are to remain effective 
or are to be revised or annulled." It is sti pulated in Article 20 of the Regulations for the 
Implementation of the Standardization law of the Pe ople's Republic of China:  "After standards go 
into effect ，the departments which formulated the standards shall carry out timely reviews in light of 
the development of science and technology and the needs of economic construction. Normally, 
reviews should be conducted every five years at the longest".  The definition of "scientific and 
technological developments" in the above stipulations  contains the formulation of and the revision to 
international standards and fo reign advanced standards.  
3. The work of reviewing standards is an impor tant guarantee for standard applicability and 
consistency between the formulated standards and inte rnational standards. In the review of standards, 
Standardization Administration of China (SAC) a nd relevant industrial a nd local standardization 
administrations formulated a revision proposal fo r the existing national, industrial and sectoral 
standards.  The main content of the proposal include s:  In accordance with the stipulation of standards 
review, review will be conducted on  those national, industrial and sectoral standards that have gone 
into effect for five years. Revisions will be made to standards that have b een found in the review not 
meeting the requirements of the current situation.  Actively adopting international standards shall be G/TBT/W/343 
Page 2  
 
  regarded as a principle for standard revision. Any inte rnational standard that already exists or is about 
to go effect and suits China's national conditions must be adopted. In addition, a comprehensive 
analysis of and research on international standards shall be made, and the plan shall be made for 
adopting those international standards that suit Chin a's national conditions.  Efforts shall be made to 
actively participate in international standardi zation activities, including participating in the 
formulation of international standards. At presen t, all technological committees organize review of 
standards annually in accordance with the requirement.  
III. REVISION OF CURRENT VOLUNTARY NATIONAL, LOCAL AND SECTORAL 
STANDARDS SO AS TO HARMONIZE THEM WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
4. Active adoption of international standards is encouraged in Standardization Law of the 
People's Republic of China. In planning the formulat ion of national standards, priority will be given to 
those that are formulated by adopting internationa l standards or revised according to international 
standards.  
5. To accelerate the adoption of international st andards, General Administration of Quality 
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the Pe ople's Republic of China (AQSIQ) formulated 
Measures for the Administration of Adoption of International Standards (ASSIQ, 2001, No. 10 
Order), specifying the principle and the degree of  adopting international standards, the way of 
formulating the standards in line with interna tional standards, the measures for promoting the 
adoption of international standards, and others.  
6. Standardization Administration of China (S AC) organizes annually the work of regular 
revisions to standards based on reviews. 
IV. USE OF THE TERMS "TECHNICAL REGULATIONS" AND "STANDARDS" 
ACCORDING TO THEIR MEANING UNDER THE TBT AGREEMENT IN CHINA'S NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE TBT AG REEMENT, INCLUDING UNDER 
ARTICLE 15.2 THEREOF AND PUBLICATIONS REFERENCED THEREIN, AND 
IN MODIFICATIONS OF EXISTING MEASURES    
7. Since its accession into the WTO, China has used the terms "technical regulations" and 
"standards" according to their meaning under the TB T Agreement. China’s standards are defined in 
two categories: mandatory standards and recommend ed standards. Mandatory standards conform to 
the definition of "technical regulations and rules" as specified in TBT Agreement, and constitute the 
main part of China's technical regulations.  Up to  1 November 2011, China has, since its accession to 
WTO, notified WTO of 821 mandatory standards in accordance with the stipulation on the 
notification of drafts of technical re gulations in the TBT Agreement.    
V. REVIEW OF TECHNICAL REGULATIONS EVERY FIVE YEARS TO ENSURE 
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ARE USED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 2.4 OF THE AGREEMENT AND PO LICIES FOR ADOPTION OF 
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AS THE BASIS FOR TECHNICAL REGULATION 
AS PART OF ITS NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 15.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
8. Please refer to the content under the above items (b) and (c). The policy of adopting 
international standards as the basis for technical regulation has been explained in " Implementation 
and Administration of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade " (WTO document No. 
G/TBT/2/Add.65) formulated by China accordi ng to Article 15.2 of the TBT Agreement and 
submitted by China to the WTO Secretariat.    G/TBT/W/343 
 Page 3 
 
 
  VI. PROGRESS REPORT ON INCREASE OF THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL 
STANDARDS AS THE BASIS FOR TECHNICAL REGULATIONS BY TEN PER CENT IN FIVE YEARS 
9. Since its accession into WTO, in planning or revi sing national standards, China gives priority 
to those standards that are formulated by adopting international standards or are revised according to 
international standards in a bid to realize the committed target. The AQSIQ formulated Measures for 
the Administration of Adoption of International Standards (ASSIQ, 2001, No. 10 Order), and 
examined the consistency between the technical re gulations (including mandatory standards) existing 
when China acceded into WTO and international st andards.  At present, of all China's national 
standards that have corresponding relationship with re levant international standards, 68 per cent adopt 
international standards. 
VII. PROVISION OF PROCEDURES TO IMPLEMENT ARTICLE 2.7 OF THE 
AGREEMENT 
10. There has been no change in this area since last Review. 
VIII.  PROVISION OF A LIST OF RELEVANT LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL AND NON-
GOVERNMENTAL BODIES THAT ARE AUTHORIZED TO ADOPT TECHNICAL 
REGULATIONS OR CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES AS PART OF CHINA'S NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 15.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
11. China submitted to the WTO Secretariat the " Implementation and Administration of the 
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade " (WTO document No. G/TBT/2/Add. 65). The central and 
local governmental and non-governmental bodies that are authorized to adopt technical regulations or 
conformity assessment procedures are listed in the pa ragraphs 14, 15 and 16 of the part V of this 
document. As to the change with this list, please refer to the information submitted by China to the 
TBT Committee in relevant years in accordance w ith the requirements of Annex 1A of China's 
Accession Protocol to the WTO. Things remain unc hanged in this respect since last transitional 
review in 2009. 
IX. ON-GOING UPDATES ON THE CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT BODIES THAT 
ARE RECOGNIZED BY CHINA  
12. Up to September 2011, there have been a total of 174 conformity assessment bodies that are 
recognized by Certification and Accreditation Admi nistration of the People's Republic of China, 
including 137 domestically-invested bodies and 37 fore ign-invested bodies.  For the name list of these 
bodies, please refer to the " Name List of Certified Bodies " under " Enquiry about Bodies " on 
http://www.cnca.gov.cn. 
X. ENACTMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION  OF A NEW LAW AND RELEVANT 
REGULATIONS REGARDING ASSESSMENT AND CONTROL OF CHEMICALS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH COMPLETE NATIONAL TREATMENT AND FULL CONSISTENCY WITH INTERNATIONAL 
PRACTICES WOULD BE ENSURED WITHIN ONE YEAR AFTER CHINA'S 
ACCESSION FOLLOWING CONDITIONS SET OUT IN 3(T) OF THE TBT WORKING PARTY REPORT  
13. Please refer to the information submitted by Chin a to the TBT Committee in relevant years in 
accordance with the requirements of Annex 1A of China's Accession Protocol to the WTO. G/TBT/W/343 
Page 4  
 
  XI. INFORMATION ON WHETHER, ONE YEAR AFTER ACCESSION, ALL 
CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT BODIES AND AGENCIES ARE AUTHORIZED TO UNDERTAKE CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT FOR BOTH IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC PRODUCTS AND ARE FOLLOWING THE CONDITIONS OUTLINED IN SECTION 13, SUBPARAGRAPH 4(A) OF THE PROTOCOL 
XII. ASSIGNMENT OF THE RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHINA'S 
CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT BODIES SOLELY ON THE BASIS OF THE SCOPE OF WORK AND TYPE OF PRODUCT WITHOUT ANY CONSIDERATION OF THE ORIGIN OF A PRODUCT NO LATER THAN EIGHTEEN MONTHS AFTER ACCESSION 
XIII.  NOTIFICATION OF THE RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES ASSIGNED TO 
CHINA'S CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT BODIES TO THE TBT COMMITTEE 12 MONTHS AFTER ACCESSION 
14. As to the above items (XI), (XII) and (XIII), please refer to the information submitted by 
China to the TBT Committee in relevant years in  accordance with the requirements of Annex 1A of 
China's Accession Protocol to the WTO.  At present, in assessing imported products and domestic 
products, all China's conformity assessment bodies en force the same technical regulation, standards 
and qualification assessment procedures, issue the sa me marks, impose the same charges, handle the 
affairs within the same timefra me, and follow the same appeal procedures. The choice of the 
conformity assessment body is also determined by the applicant. In addition, the name of each 
conformity assessment body that can be enquired ba sed on the information provided in item (i) that 
indicates the scope of products that body is responsible for assessment.  
 
__________