RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/IT/SPEC/Q1/25
22 March 1999
(99-1140)
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in
Information Technology Products
OVERVIEW OF SURVEY RESPONSES
The Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology
Products requested the Secretariat at its meeting of 24 February 1999 to prepare an analytical
summary of the responses to the Survey on stan dards-related matters for information technology
products (G/IT/4).  The summary is produced below, followed by a compilation of the 24 surveyresponses received thus far.
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With respect to the survey on standards-related matters for information technology products
(G/IT/4), 24 participants submitted their responses by 8 March 1999.  The three questions to the
survey are reproduced below along with the summary of the results listed underneath.
1. Does your government have mandatory technical regulations to ensure the safety of
information technology equipment?  If so, please identify.  Are these requirements harmonizedwith IEC 950?  If not, please explain the current practice.
Of the 24 responses to this question, 17 respondents indicated that their government had
mandatory technical regulations to ensure the safety of Information Technology (IT) equipment,however, in two instances this did not cover all but perhaps only a few IT products.  Of these
17 participants that had mandatory standards, 15 participants indicated that these requirements were
harmonized, at least in principle
1, with IEC 950.  However, one respondent that indicated there was
no harmonization with IEC 950, stated there was conformity to a European standard (EN 60950),
which was an earlier version of IEC 950.
Seven respondents indicated that their governments did not have mandatory technical
regulations to ensure the safety of IT equipment, but one of these furthermore noted a general
mandatory technical regulation covering production and delivery of electrical equipment which was in
accordance with IEC 950.  Two respondents that currently had no mandatory regulations indicatedthat work was underway to develop such regulations in the future.  Three remaining respondents
stated that there were no mandatory regulations, but indicated that the equipment should conform or
was encouraged to conform with international standards.
2. Does your government have mandatory technical regulations relating to electromagnetic
interference for information technology equipment?  If so, please identify.  Are theserequirements harmonized with CISPR 22?  If not, please explain the current practice.
Of the 24 responses to this question, 16 respondents indicated that their government had
mandatory technical regulations  relating to electromagnetic interference for IT equipment,  however,
                                                     
1 Some respondents noted deviations from the standard, but in principle adhered to the basic
requirements of the standard.G/IT/SPEC/Q1/25
Page 2
in one instance this did not cover all but only two IT products .  Fifteen of these 16 respondents
indicated that these requirements were harmonized, at least in principle2, with CISPR 22.  The other
respondent did not provide any information on harmonization with CISPR 22.
Eight respondents indicated they did not have mandatory technical regulations relating to
electromagnetic interference for IT equipment.  One respondent indicated that while there was nomandatory standards, radio communication equipment were subject to type approval testing.  Three
respondents stated that while they currently did not have any mandatory standards, preparations wereunderway to have such mandatory standards in the future and these would be based on CISPR 22.One other respondent noted that compliance with the relevant international standards was encouraged.
3. What conformity assessment procedures, either in respect of the product or the
manufacturing process, does your government require for approval of information technologyproducts (including electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), electrical safety, telecommunicationsand radio terminal equipment, and other areas)?
May suppliers perform these procedures (e.g. testing, declaration of conformity), or
must third parties perform these procedures?
What international guidelines or standards,  if any, are those procedures based on?
It was difficult to produce a summary of responses to this question for a number of reasons.
For the first sub-part of this question, the responses varied by participant based on their own national
policies and procedures.  A summarization of these procedures could not easily be stated.
With respect to the second sub-part of this question, a summary of the results was again
difficult because the responses were sometimes va gue, incomplete, or the answer often varied by
standard and/or by product in the country concerned.  For example, there were often multiple answers
for each participant depending on the technical issue or standard being discussed.  Also, in some
instances, the government procedures were not specific and allowed the procedures to be performedeither by suppliers or third parties.
Thirdly, with respect to the answer to the third sub-part, many participants did not supply a
response to this part of the question.  Of those that did respond, many noted that the procedures were
based on international standards and guidelines.
                                                     
2 Some respondents noted deviations from the standard, but in principle adhered to the basic
requirements of the standard.