. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/98
13 November 1998
(98-4500)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS BY THE UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (UNIDO)
The following communication has been received from the Director-General of the
United Nations Industrial Development Organizati on (UNIDO) requesting observer status in the
WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade.
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1. Our request is grounded on the conviction that UNIDO and WTO would mutually benefit
from close and formal interaction in the context of the debates that take place within the
TBT Committee.  Furthermore, we can see comp lementarities in the TBT Committee's work and
UNIDO's activities in the area of quality, standardization and metrology.  The TBT Agreement states
that it endeavours to ensure that regulations, standards, testing and certification procedures do notcreate obstacles to trade.  UNIDO's programme on quality, standardization and metrology (QSM)
aims to build capacity in developing countries and countries in transition, among other things, to
improve their access to global markets and assist greater integration in international trade and
production chains.
2. To achieve this, UNIDO's QSM programme provides a range of services from support to local
institutional counterparts in the implementation of international standards for management systems,
strengthening of management capabilities, promo tion of management decision support systems and
dissemination of quality methodologies at enterprise level to the establishment and upgrading of
standardization, metrology and accreditation bodies and networking activities at public sector level.
3. In particular, UNIDO's QSM programme published two surveys assessing the implications for
developing countries and countries in transition of international standards for quality and
environmental management systems.  These surveys were analysed in Expert Group Meetings whichwere attended by a representative from WTO.  Cu rrently, UNIDO is organizing workshops to discuss
and design a third survey which will aim at assessing trade implications of quality and environmental
standards, particularly at enterprise level.
4. In addition, UNIDO has in cooperation with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and
the International Organization for Standardizat ion (ISO) to develop a project – the Pre-Peer
Evaluation Process – which assists accreditation bodies in developing countries to prepare for IAF's
Peer Evaluation and eventually sign the Multilateral Agreement (MLA).  The ultimate aim of this
project is the facilitation of trade and easy flow of goods across borders.G/TBT/W/98
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5. UNIDO is the specialized agency of the United Nations System, which has the mandate to
support developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their efforts to accelerate
industrial development.  The objective of UNIDO's technical co-operation services is to (i) assist
countries in the strategic positioning of industry within their development strategies, (ii) build
capacities in industry support institutions to deli ver services to industry (particularly Small and
Medium Scale Enterprises, with special attention given to agro-industry in Least Developed
Countries, and (iii) implement global mandates, such  as those related to the follow-up of United
Nations Global Conferences, and to the Montreal and Kyoto protocols.
6. Specific programmes to strengthen industrial capacities, other than quality, standardization
and metrology, include the promotion of investment and related technologies;  industrial policy advice
based on action-oriented research, institutional capacity-building at country and sectoral levels;  and
industrial information and statistics.
7. UNIDO wishes to strengthen its co-operation with WTO in order to be in a better position to
provide assistance to developing countries, especially the Least Developed ones, in their preparation,
adoption and application of technical regulations and industrial standards and thereby reduce
obstacles to international trade.
8. Should our request be favourably received by the Committee, I would like to assure you that
UNIDO will fully and substantively participate in its work.
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