WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.463
23September 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-3889)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofJustice
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Pistols
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Regulation ofthe
Minister ofJustice fortheAppointment ofEmployees attheNational Special Service for
theProvision ofAssistance oftheMinistry ofJustice asSpecial Criminal Investigators
(1995 Decree Relating toSpecial Criminal Investigators with theNational Special
Service fortheProvision ofAssistance) (available inEnglish)
6. Description ofcontent: TheCode ofCriminal Procedure indicates those whoare
authorized toinvestigate punitive actions. They are,inaddition tothe"traditional"
criminal investigators (such aspolice officers andPublic Prosecutors) alsotheso-called
"special criminal investigator". They areinteraliapersons whobelong tocategories or
bodies appointed bytheMinister ofJustice (e.g.specific persons employed byCustoms
ortheDutch Railways Security Department). The1993 Police Actprovides some
general rules relating totheduties exercised bythese criminal investigators. Pursuant to
Article 8.7ofthe1993 Police Act,theMinister ofJustice mayupon appointment of
persons asspecial criminal investigators alsoauthorize thattheymayuseforce when
carrying outtheirduties. Hemaytherefore provide them withspecific means offorce.
Thegeneral banforbidding thepossession oruseofsuchweapons doesnotinthiscase
apply tosaidpersons (Article 3a,paragraph 3,Weapons andMunitions Act). Thedraft
Regulation referred toinpoint 5appoints officers employed bytheTaxEnquiry Offices
andInvestigation Bureau oftheTaxDepartment asspecial criminal investigators.
According totheDutch Government, thisRegulation probably contains technical
regulations within theAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade. Anindicative
summary ofthese technical regulations appears below.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.463
Page2
6. Description ofcontent (cont'd): Article 5bspecifies thatthespecial criminal
investigators employed bytheabove-mentioned Department maycarry asemi-automatic
pistol bearing theWalther mark etc. Article 5cspecifies thatthespecial criminal
investigators employed bytheabove-mentioned Department maycarry apistol bearing
theHeckler andKoch mark etc.Those typeapprovals referred toinArticle 5aandd
andedonot(yet) exist. These willbenotified assoon astheyhave been drafted.
Similar Regulations which arealsobeing notified include:
- 1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theTax/Customs
Office;
- 1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators withAmsterdam Policing,
Security andTransport Department;
- 1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators withtheECD;
- 1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theFIOD/Tax
Department;
- 1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theNSSecurity
Services;
- 1997 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators with theNational
Transport Department ofJustice; andthe
- 1995 Decree relating tospecial criminal investigators withtheHDTP.
7. Objective andrationale: Insofar asthedraft Regulation contains technical barriers to
trade, these measures arejustified intheinterests ofensuring thatpublic order is
maintained. TheRegulations concerning those weapons tobeused have particular
consideration fortheadequate arming ofspecial criminal investigators toensure both
effective action andoffer protection tothose officers concerned.
8. Relevant documents: Article 141andArticle 142Code ofCriminal Procedure,
Articles 7to11ofthe1993 Police Act,Article 3aoftheWeapons andMunitions Act
(anexplanatory notetotheoriginal Decree doesnotexist).
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:26October 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 25October 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetime-limit havebeenreceived from other
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: