WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/170
8 October 2001
(01-4857)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES IN RELATION WITH THE DECISION ON PRINCIPLES
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
Communication by the European Communities
The following Communication has been received from the European Communities to inform
the Committee on dissemination activities in relation with the decision on principles for the
development of international standards. Its distribution to the Committee aims to contribute to theadvancement of the objectives of the Agreement (paragraph 20 of G/TBT/9 of 10 November 2000).
The attached document builds on the principles agreed by the Committee in the course of the
second triennial review and puts them in context with European policy principles.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCT ION................................................................................................................... ...............2
I. STANDARDS MA TTER ...........................................................................................................2
II. TRADE, INTEGRATION AND CONVERGENCE: PRIORITY FOR
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS .........................................................................................3
III. INTERNATIONAL, EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL STANDARDIZATION
COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER ...........................................................................................4
IV. THE WTO ACCEPTED PRINCIPLES FOR INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDIZATI ON .............................................................................................................5
V. STANDARDS CAN OFFER A POTENTI AL FOR DERE GULATION ..............................6
VI. STRIVING FOR MORE EFFICIENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN
INTERNATIONAL ST ANDARDIZATI ON ..........................................................................7
VII. CREATE AWARENESS AND ENABLE THIRD COUNTRIES TO JOIN
FORCES......................................................................................................................... ............8
VIII. AN OPEN INVITATION........................................................................................................ ...9G/TBT/W/170
Page 2
INTRODUCTION
The Commission was asked by the Council to develop Guidelines for a European
Standardization Policy in the International Context by June 20011.
The standards making process is considered a voluntary activity carried out by and for the
interested parties themselves. Albeit not playing an active role in the production of standards itself,
the Commission deals with standardization in relation with many Community policies, in particular
with the Single market and Community external trade.  The role standards can play for market access
and free movement of goods, and their potential for deregulation and for ensuring a high level of
protection has been discerned by the Community more than 15 years ago when the New Approach to
technical harmonization and standardization was introduced2.
Trade in goods must also comply with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade
which deals to a significant extent with international standards.  Hence, the Commission retains a
European policy on international standards, and more specifically on their use in regulation.
Important elements of this policy have been set out in the 1996 Communication from the Commission
on the Community External Trade Policy in the fields of Standards and Conformity Assessment3.
However, the use of standards in more and more fields makes it desirable to offer further clarificationand guidance on this topic.
This paper sets out in a single document a number of established policy principles on
international standardization and on the use of inte rnational standards in Community policies, in the
light of the advantages offered by international standards, notably their potential to facilitate trade in
goods
4.  The paper also recognises the limitations of standardization.  Standards cannot replace
governmental responsibility to safeguard a high level of protection concerning health, safety and the
environment as stipulated by the Treaty establishi ng the European Community.  On top of that, the
international standardization process is lengthy, does sometimes not achieve a sufficiently balanced
consensus among the stakeholders and does not always meet the level of protection deemed
appropriate by the Community.  Nonetheless, voluntary standards can reduce the need for regulationand government intervention.
The Commission will continue to make use of standardization in the execution of existing
policies and will give due consideration to them when developing new policy initiatives
5.  This paper
may serve as a point of reference to Member States and the parties involved in or dealing with
international standardization, notably the parties engaged in the European and national standards
bodies.  It can be of use to interested parties in the EC and EFTA member states and in the candidate
countries for accession to the EC.  And it may serve as a reference document for contacts with thirdcountries and in relation with technical assistance projects supported by the Community.
I. STANDARDS MATTER
1. Standards significantly matter to enterprises, consumers and governments.  For businesses
standards help to create a common trading language.  They ensure that parts produced across borders
are compatible and that networks are interoperable, they reduce costs for manufacturing and
warehousing.  For consumers, standards reduce the costs they generally face when deciding for
options, such as time and efforts they devote to their search.  Standards generally reduce the costs of
                                                     
1OJ C 141 of 19.5.2000, Council resolution on the role of standardization in Europe.
2OJ C 136 of 4.6.1985.
3COM(1996) 564 final of 13.11.1996.
4This document is not dealing with sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
5Cf. COM(1995) 412 final of 30.10.1995.G/TBT/W/170
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uncertainty, in particular when relating to functional properties as they facilitate comparisons.  For
governments, standards offer an opportunity for deregulation and improved governance as they help
to reduce the level of regulatory detail to the e ssential requirements needed to attain legitimate
objectives such as the protection of health, safety and the environment.  Standards help to reduce the
risk of being locked into a specific technol ogy and promote the dissemination of know-how.
2. Increased trade is linked with economic development and, in many ways, leads to more
convergence between trading partners.  Had it not been for its capacity to facilitate exchange and
access to markets, to improve the quality and safety of products and services, and to disseminate
knowledge, technology and business practices, standardization would not have become a crucial
element in European economic integration and world trade.  Beyond the role standards play for the
functioning of the internal market and for contributing to the protection of public interest, they are
also an important element in the Community’s enla rgement process and in external trade agreements.
3. Standardization is a voluntary process and for no matter which subject, this process has to be
open and transparent, and result in a consensus amongst stakeholders.  International standardization is
carried out by a number of societal stakeholders who reconcile their positions nationally and
internationally.  Europe has an interest in international standardization because of its potential
to eliminate technical barriers to trade and to increase market access for all.  International
standardization also offers the possibility to promote and disseminate technologies on a par
basis with others.
4. But to reap the full benefits of international standardization, it is important to take some basic
requirements into account and to balance the interests not only of industry, but also consumer
concerns, health and safety considerations, environment aspects and concerns of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs).  It may also be beneficial to consider the interface of standards and
regulations, respectively the scope for standardization and regulatory activity and the procedures
chosen to demonstrate conformity with legal requirements and/or standards.
5. In Europe, there are, for most areas of the economy, well-established principles for the
standards developing process and for the bodies accountable for this process.  The principle of
openness aims at ensuring that a broad range of societal interests, including consumer and
environmental interests, are represente d in the standardization process.  In addition, these
principles ensure, among other aspects, that all interested parties can participate in the work and that
standards neither impede competition, nor hinder progress and technological innovation.  European
stakeholders also strive for coherent standards, preferably one standard, based on the international
one.
II. TRADE, INTEGRATION AND CONVERGENCE: PRIORITY FOR
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
6. Today, standards, also when used in relation to legislation, are a cornerstone of the
functioning of the European Single Market.  They are one of the basic elements in a system including,
amongst others, conformity assessment procedures and market surveillance.  The interoperability,accuracy, and acceptance of measurements are also fundamental for meaningful standards, in
particular where these have influence on the transparency of economical transactions, health and
safety.  The European system has contributed to economic integration and has helped to attain other
policy objectives set out in the Treaty.
7. Whilst the character of the European Single Market and its political will to build it may be
unique, it may be beneficial for third countries to understand and work with European principles.
Especially, countries engaged in efforts to set up or review a standardization system and its possible
links with regulation may take an interest in European principles, as well as regions which want to
further integrate.G/TBT/W/170
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8. In the international context, it should be noted that the way regulatory authorities use
standards in technical regulation has also become an important element with regard to trade
facilitation.  The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT Agreement) obliges
WTO members to use existing international standards as a basis for their technical regulations, except
when such international standards would be an inef fective or inappropriate means for the fulfilment of
the legitimate objectives pursued.  In some industrial sectors (and often for historic reasons),
recommendations or other deliverables from intergovernmental organizations are also considered as
international standards.  Such bodies are generally referred to as standardization bodies and their work
tends to be used as a basis for harmonization of legislation.
9. European stakeholders are interested in collaborating with their trading partners to facilitate
market access and economic integration through the use of international standards and the creation ofstandards-receptive economic and legal conditions.  Generally, regional or national standards should
be aligned to the greatest possible extent to international standards, but the value of national and
regional standards as stepping-stones to international standardization should also be recognization.  It
is also considered helpful to have explanations from authorities for deviations from international
standards as foreseen under the WTO TBT Agreement.  To avoid confusion and uncertainty
amongst trading partners and to increase transparency, it is necessary to withdraw conflicting
national standards from the collections of the national standards bodies as soon as regional or
international standards are available, provided legitimate regulatory requirements permit.
10. There is, however, widespread concern among the public on the appropriateness, use and
limitations of international standards for political and ethical reasons or due to cultural diversity.
Therefore it should be noted that, under the WTO TBT Agreement, each WTO member has the
sovereign right to define the level of protection it deems appropriate to meet legitimate objectives,
subject to the requirement that they are not applied in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner.  Whilst
international standards may be seen as beneficial in some instances, they may be perceived as littleadvantageous or even as threats in others.  Different national standards or not having a recognization
standard at all could also reflect differences in risk perception, individual tastes or distinctive markets.
If regulatory authorities decide to make recourse to international standards, it is important that
they can make use of standards from standards bodies which can be held accountable for
establishing consensus between all national positions and interested parties.
III. INTERNATIONAL, EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL STANDARDIZATION
COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER
11. Internationally traded goods need intern ational standards whenever possible.  However,
under certain circumstances, international standards may be ineffective or inappropriate, for instance,
because of an insufficient level of protection or regi onal or local differences.  National standardization
is therefore considered to complement the international standardization process while European
standardization provides coherence for free circulation on the European market or to meet European
harmonization and other public interests.  National standardization takes account of national and local
particularities including geographic, cultural and linguistic characteristics; it strengthens the capacity
of the European and international standardization process to reach out to local interests, and it helps toensure a wide participation of stakeholders.  It can be of particular value to consult between
stakeholders nationally and represent national positions independently in the international
context.  For that purpose, it is important that  the national standardization systems allow for
effective participation by all interested parties, and that national positions are coherent with
European policies and legislation, if existing.
12. In view of the amount of financial, technical and human resources required for effective
participation in international standardization, stakeholders, in particular representatives of
environment, consumer and employees’ interest and SMEs are interested in an efficient allocation ofG/TBT/W/170
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their resources.  This is also the case for countries with a lack of technical expertise and financial
resources to participate in international standardization.  To this end, stakeholders may wish to
consider allocating resources for representation in  international work in a targeted manner so that
domestic priorities or societal concerns are reflected properly.  An exchange of information and co-
operation with other participants in international standardization - active or observing - may facilitatepriority setting and allocation of resources.  If the relevant standards were to be used in relation with
public policy or legislation, public authorities should consider support to ensure that all societal
interests are represented at all levels of the international standardization process.
IV. THE WTO ACCEPTED PRINCIPLES FOR INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDIZATION
13. To have one applied standard and one accepted test for each product, process or service
is a trade-facilitating objective.  This principle is commonly promoted by enterprises operating at a
global scale, but it offers also benefits for small and medium sized enterprises.  It seeks to reduce the
costs a manufacturer of a product has to face for goods being re-designed and re-tested when entering
foreign markets.  Such a principle is beneficial for consumers provided that the one applied standard
takes their interests into account and/or meets legal requirements concerning legitimate regulatoryobjectives such as the protection of human health and the environment.  Consequently, such standards
ought to respect some basic requirements.
14. International standards have a maximum effect  in trade facilitation when they are part
of a single and coherent set of standards.  If international standards are used in relation to
technical regulations as promoted by the WTO TBT Agreement, international standards bodies
need to have a clearly defined constituency.  If standards bodies were to produce simultaneously
international and regional or national standards, some partiality, incoherence and conflict in the set of
international standards could arise.  Such a situ ation would be confusing for businesses, users and
public authorities, and the latter would risk creating regulatory barriers if using conflictinginternational standards as a basis for technical regulation.
15. To this end, WTO members adopted a set of principles to clarify and strengthen the concept
of international standards under the TBT Agreement
6.  The WTO accepted principles are:
Transparency
All essential information regarding work planning, work under progress and final results
should be made easily accessible to all interested parties and throughout all stages of standards
development.  Appropriate time and opportunities for written comments should be provided.
Openness
Any interested national member should be provided with meaningful opportunities to
participate in standards development.
Impartiality and consensus
The standards development process should be conducted in a non-discriminatory way and
should not give privilege to, or favour the interests of, a particular supplier or country.  Conflictingarguments must be reconciled to satisfy all national members.
                                                     
6WTO/G/TBT/9 of 10 November 2000, and Annex 4 thereof.G/TBT/W/170
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Effectiveness and relevance
The international standards development process should take account of market needs,
scientific and technological development.  It should also consider regulatory needs and pay due
respect to consumer concerns, and concerns relating to the health and safety of workers and the
protection of the environment.
Coherence
The standards development process should result in a coherent set of international standards
that do not conflict with each other.  International standards bodies should co-operate and co-ordinate
with each other to avoid conflicting international standards.
Development dimension
International standardization should take the constraints on developing countries to
effectively participate in standards development into consideration.  Provisions for capacity buildingand technical assistance within international standards bodies should also be considered.
16. The principles adopted in relation with the WTO TBT are in line with Europe’s thinking on
international standards, and they are consistent with the basic principles respected by the European
standards bodies and their national members.  Howe ver, from a European perspective, not only the
standards development process, but also the constitution of the bodies developing internationalstandards plays an important role if public authorities were to use international standards as a basis for
regulation.  The WTO principles taken as a whole en sure that international standardization
bodies are open to participation by national standards bodies and produce international
standards that do not conflict with each other.  Another important element is the participation of all
stakeholders including environmental and consumer interests in international standardization.
17. Whilst there is an emphasis on contributing to global convergence by elaborating and using
coherent international standards, this is sometimes  difficult in fast moving technology sectors.  In
such sectors, there are a number of initiatives outside the scope of international standards bodies
which are intended to contribute to global convergence in an early phase of standards development,
however, and pending a possible further elaboration and adoption in international standards bodies.This is notably the case in the telecom and information technologies field.  To contemplate such
situations, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), for instance, has set up
liaison committees with other regional associations to ensure common understanding on specific
developments concerning telecom standardization.  In addition, extended use of the mechanism in
ETSI known as the “Partnership Project” has been applied to develop specifications at the earliest
moment in new emerging technological areas requiring stabilization at global level.  Some sectors, in
particular  fast moving technology sectors, may benefit from an early phase standards
development outside international standards bodi es and it is important that, if required, such
work could be channelled into international standards bodies.  However, further reflection on the
standards making process is needed in view of the fast pace of technology evolution in some sectors.
V. STANDARDS CAN OFFER A POTENTIAL FOR DEREGULATION
18. When legislation is needed to protect legitimate public objectives, regulatory authorities may
have an interest to concentrate on the setting of public policy objectives and to keep the necessary
mandatory regulation slim, stable and technology neutral, allowing for innovation.  This may be
achieved by leaving detailed technical work leading to compliance with legal requirements to private
sector standards bodies.  The voluntary use of standards in regulation requires a clear definition
of each party’s roles and competencies.  Where objectives are set out by legislation, standards canG/TBT/W/170
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offer solutions for compliance with essential lega l requirements.  The voluntary standardization
process, however, cannot duplicate or replace governmental responsibility for the protection of
fundamental public interest such as the protection of human health and safety and the environment.
Voluntary standards can reduce the need for regu lation, respectively government intervention.
This is notably the case in the telecom and information technologies sectors where open standards
aiming at achieving interoperability can play an important role to ensure that the benefits of
competition can be maximization for consumers, reduc ing the risk that they become locked into a
specific technology.
19. The strive for deregulation and trade facilitation at global level has triggered conceptual
thinking and discussion in a number of international and intergovernmental fora in order to achieve a
common understanding on good regulatory practice and to closer align regulations and standards.  Thevariety of means considered range from agreement on equivalency of standards, alignment on
international standards to international harmonization of regulations.  The identification of common
regulatory objectives is often the starting point for a regulatory dialogue which can help to
approximate legal requirements, if fundamental cultural and societal concerns permit and if the level
of protection defined by each country is comparable.
20. The use of international standards as a basis for technical regulations offers a presumption of
conformity with international trade rules, notably wi th WTO rules.  However, countries have the right
to go beyond the level of protection defined by international standards in order to achieve the desired
level of protection at the domestic level, provided the respective measures are not arbitrary and do notdiscriminate.  An important element in these efforts is to provide information on existing regulations
and standards in order to explore commonalties.  European initiatives are also directed to build
common understanding of best regulatory practice with trading partners.  The European side can
share with third countries and other regions  more than 15 years experience on its New
Approach to technical harmonization and standardization which was a significant step in theimplementation of the Single Market in Europe.
VI. STRIVING FOR MORE EFFICIENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDIZATION
21. The use of deliverables from single standards developing organizations or other specifications
promoted by private consortia meets the requirements of industry in some sectors, allowing direct
representation by industry.  This approach is of relevance in areas with fast moving technology or in
cases with no environment, health and safety aspects or other public interest in standardization.
Therefore, it co-exists along the more formal approach where standards from international standards
bodies offer consensus via national member bodies.  It is important to ensure that national positions
balance the interests of all concerned parties, including economic, social, health and safety concerns,
environmental aspects and, if needed, respond to regulatory concerns through participation ofregulators in all phases of standards development.
22. To obtain efficiency in international st andards development and effective responses to
sectoral needs, a large spectrum of standards developing organizations should be avoided.
Furthermore, attaining these objectives does not re duce the need for a coherent set of international
standards reflecting the consensus of all national members.  Within international standards bodies,
measures to improve their efficiency should further be deployed .  However, striving for more
efficiency should not conflict with accountability which is co nsidered important if standards
were used as a basis for legislation.  While the standardization process should be stepped up to
become more efficient, it must not fail to be ope n for participation by all interested parties and to
strike a balance of national interests, considering the constraints of developing countries.G/TBT/W/170
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23. Sectoral characteristics are mirrored at the in ternational level by the fact that, in addition to
the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC), other specialised standardization bodies exist.  Most of them are
intergovernmental organizations.  The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) elaborates
recommendations that, in some cases, have binding status and/or regulatory implications, notably inthe ITU-R sector, but also to a lesser extent in the ITU-T sector.
24. When converging technologies blur the boundaries between sectors, bodies with similar rules
are well positioned to respond by setting up joint groups, for instance.  Generally, there are groups for
sectoral focus in standardization bodies such as technical committees or workshops, and they bring
the relevant stakeholders together.  These groups operate on a common platform and share procedures
and principles for consensus.  This ensures consistency and coherence and allows easily a
combination of efforts in cross-sectoral matters without having to set up additional organizationalstructures.  It may be beneficial to channel standards, specifications and other deliverables into
the international standardization process that  have reached a certain consensus outside
international standards bodies.  In such cases, it is essential to define criteria for a coherent
integration into the existing set of international standards and for an impartial maintenance of such
standards.  In other cases, research aimed at solving technical problems that impede the drafting andimplementation of international standards may be needed.  Such research should address the most
pressing problems on a consistent world-wide basis, and avoid duplication.
25. Co-operative agreements do already exist between international and regional or national
standards organizations.  The Vienna and Dresden Agreements between ISO and CEN, respectively
the IEC and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) are usefulexamples how to enable for input, to avoid double work or to speed up standardization work.  These
agreements provide, if wished, for development in one body and approval, by parallel voting, in both.
These arrangements provide at the international scale for early information and the possibility to
provide comments.  Another example for a co-operative agreement is the one between the ITU and
ETSI.  With regard to the co-operation between international and regional or national standardsbodies, it is important that the maintenance of the international standard is considered first with the
international standards body who may decide whether or not to delegate the maintenance
responsibility to the originating body.
26. Co-operative arrangements with international standards bodies offer a systematic
framework to take over international standards and/or to contribute to the international
standards making process.  In some specific cases where international standards are not considered
appropriate, for instance, when they do not meet regulatory requirements for European legitimateobjectives, or in those areas where international standards do not yet exist, the European standards
community may deviate from international work. In such instances, the co-operative agreements need
to provide a framework to indicate and justify such deviations in a transparent way.  Other regional or
national standards bodies may also find it beneficial for their constituency to set up transparent
agreements for co-operation with the respective international standards body.
VII. CREATE AWARENESS AND ENABLE THIRD COUNTRIES TO JOIN FORCES
27. The EC and its Member States provide considerable technical assistance to third countries to
help them aligning their technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment structures and
procedures as well as the quality of their products and services to European and internationalrequirements.  The type of assistance provided is decided on a case-by-case basis, taking into account
the situation and the development level of the recipient country.  The decision about priority areas for
assistance in the various countries is generally made jointly by the donor and the recipient.G/TBT/W/170
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28. The Community generally supports, in line with its political objectives, the development
of a (preferably regional) infrastructure for st andardization.  The EC also promotes the
creation of legal and economic conditions which facilitate trade and which are receptive to the
use of voluntary consensus standards.  Typical assistance areas are: if needed, regional integration,
the harmonization of legislation and technical regulations, standardization and conformity assessmentinfrastructures, effective participation in regional or international standards bodies, and questions
concerning marking issues and market surveillance systems.  The EC supports also research projects
that contribute to standardization and harmonization of technical regulations.
29. A more efficient implementation of the WTO TBT agreement is another goal pursued in the
EC’s technical assistance activities.  Special attention is also directed to trading partners having
an interest in using European standards direc tly - be it in the absence of appropriate
international standards or for other reasons such  as regional integration or close liaison with
Europe.
VIII.  AN OPEN INVITATION
30. Increasing the effectiveness of international standardization, building on the synergies that
can be created by standards-receptive economic and legal conditions as well as the support of third
countries in international standardization require communication and co-ordination between all
relevant stakeholders to avoid overlap and duplication.  Hence, European actors should
communicate with each other to ensure mutual understanding and positions in respect of legal
requirements or in support of policies of the EC .  While representing their own constituencies in
specific discussions, European actors are invited to follow the principles set out in this paper
which, taken together, define the European polic y in relation to international standardization.
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