WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/288
29 October 2001
(01-5311)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
JOINT PROJECT BETWEEN THE COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT AND THE
INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE ON CASE STUDIES TO DETERMINE
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE NEEDS IN THE AREA OF TECHNICAL
REGULATIONS, SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
Communication from the International Trade Centre (ITC)
A. GENERAL
1. The WTO Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and on the Application of
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) require countries to base their technical regulations,sanitary and phytosanitary measures on internationa l standards.  The two agreements further lay down
that there shall be presumption that such regulations /measures do not cause barriers to trade if they are
based on international standards.  The TBT Agreemen t does not define what constitutes international
standards, but generally states that the standards prepared by international standardizing bodies shall
be treated as international standards.  The main bodies which are at present responsible for thepreparation of international standards in the context of the two agreements include:
International Organization for Standardization (ISO);
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC);
International Telecommunication Union (ITU);
Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC);
Office international des épizooties (OIE)
International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).
2. Further, in order to ensure that internati onal standards are used to the maximum extent
possible by countries in adopting their technical regulations and SPS measures, the two agreements
urge countries to "play full part, within the limits of their resources" in the preparation by
international standardizing bodies of international standards for products for which they have eitheradopted or expect to adopt such regulations/measures.
B. P
ROBLEMS FACED BY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN PARTICIPATING IN INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDIZATION ACTIVITIES
3. Even though these two Agreements thus lay down an obligation on the Members to use
international standards in their technical regulations and SPS measures and call on them to take anactive part in international standardization activities, only a few of the developing countries are able
today to participate in the work at international level on developing standards.  The participation of
these limited number of countries is not also in most cases "effective", as it is not supported by
"background research and analysis" that is required to ensure that technical specifications and
production processes used in their manufacture and production are adequately taken into account indeveloping standards.G/SPS/GEN/288
Page 2
4. In most of the industrialized countries, research and analytical work required for this purpose
is undertaken either by the association of industries or of agricultural producers, or sponsored by them
by making financial support available to a research agency.  Barring a few cases, industries and the
business communities in most of the developing countries are not as yet fully aware of the
contribution which they have to make through supporting research and analysis in order to ensure thatinternational standards that are accepted take into account adequately, in respect of products of export
interest to them, the "product" standards which they apply and where relevant, the "process and
production method (PPM)" standards which they use in their production.
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5. The inability of a large number of developing countries to participate "effectively" in
international standardization activities because of the reasons mentioned above poses serious actual
and potential problems to the trade of these countries.  For products where an importing country in its
technical regulations and SPS measures uses international standards, exporting enterprises would haveto change their standards to bring them in confor mity with such mandatory regulations if the product
specifications in the standards they use are not refl ected in international standards.  Otherwise, they
would not be able to market their products to that country.  Even where international standards are not
applied on a mandatory basis, exporting enterprises would find it difficult to market such products, as
consumers generally prefer to buy products which meet international standards.
C. P
ROBLEMS FACED BY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN MEETING TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS IN
EXPORT MARKETS
6. Even when technical regulations are based on international standards, it may be a difficult and
costly process for exporters from developing countries to meet these requirements and demonstrate
compliance with them.  Firstly, they may have to modify their production technology to meet therequirements of the relevant international standard.  Secondly, they may have to rely on the services
of foreign certification bodies at high cost since the national infrastructure for conformity assessment
may not be adequate.  National conformity assessment bodies may not be accredited, or they may be
accredited by the national accreditation body which is not a member of the multilateral mutual
recognition agreement of the International Accred itation Forum or not have mutual recognition
agreements with members of the International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation.
7. Consequently, the certificates issued by these national conformity assessment bodies may not
be recognized in overseas markets, leading to recertification in the importing country.
D. W
IDE DIFFERENCES IN DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDIZATION AND CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT
ACTIVITIES
8. In this context it is important to note that there is a wide gap in the extent to which
standardization and conformity assessment activities are developed in different developing countries.From this point of view, it may be possible to divide countries into three groups.  In the first group
would fall many least developed countries and some other low-income countries where work at
                                                     
1 Some of the basic features of the procedures adopted for development of international standards also
put developing countries in a disadvantageous situatio n in participating in international standardization
activities.  The work on standardization is not undertaken at the headquarters of the international standardizationbodies.  The responsibility for developing them rests with countries, which agree to provide "secretariat" for
work on development of the standard for a particular product.  The country which has agreed to provide the
secretariat facilities carries most of the financial burden  associated with coordination of the work on research
and on cost of arranging meetings.  Because of the fi nancial costs involved, only a few developing countries
have been able to request for and get the right to provide such secretariat facilities in respect of products inwhich they have vital trade interest.  The international standardization bodies have been, however, in recentyears taking steps for facilitating and improving participation of developing countries in the work on
international standardization.G/SPS/GEN/288
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national level in the area of standardization and conformity assessment is at a nascent stage.  Some of
these countries do not yet even have national standards bodies.  In the second group would fall a
number of developing countries that have now been able to make some progress in work on
standardization and conformity assessment by establishing national standards bodies and conformity
assessment bodies.  The capacity of these countrie s to participate in international standardization
activities is at present at least somewhat limited.  In the last group would fall the limited number of
developing countries which now have well-developed national institutions engaged in standardization
and conformity assessment activities.  Most of these countries are taking active interest in
international standardization activities.  For reasons mentioned above, their participation in these
activities is however, far from effective.
E. ASSESSMENT OF THE NEEDS FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN STANDARDIZATION AND
CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT
9. It is evident from what is stated above that this is an area where developing countries would
need technical assistance.  The type of assist ance that would be required would, however, vary
considerably according to the stage reached in the development of standardization and conformity
assessment activities by countries in each of the three groups.  The first step would therefore have to
aim at identifying the type of assistance that is needed by countries falling in each of these groups.For this purpose it is proposed to undertake case studies in two selected countries in each of the
groups mentioned above.
10. The aim of these case studies would be to provide a basis for identification of the technical
assistance needs of developing countries, both in the immediate and long term period, for their
improved and effective participation in interna tional standardization activities and for developing
effective national infrastructures for conformity assessment.  Towards this objective these case studies
shall, inter alia, examine the need for assistance of countries in each of the groups for:
(a) further development of activities for developing/adopting standards for products of
export interest;
(b) developing technical regulations and SPS measures based on international standards;
(c) for creating greater awareness among industries (producing both goods and services)
and their associations of the need to undertake background research and analytical
work that is necessary for:
(i) their effective participation in standardizing activities at national level, and
(ii) assisting the national standards bodies and/or the government in participating
in the work at international level on developing international standards,
taking into account
• the existing rules, procedures and practices adopted by the
international standardizing bodies (e.g. ISO and Codex AlimentariusCommission) in formulating and establishing international standards,
and
• the steps which the international standardizing bodies are taking for
facilitating improved and effective participation of developing
countries in the development of such standards
(iii) developing/strengthening national infrastructures for demonstrating
compliance with technical regulations and SPS measures in export markets.G/SPS/GEN/288
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11. The case studies shall also examine the problems and difficulties, if any, which are being
encountered as a result of the technical regulati ons and SPS measures applicable in the main export
markets of the countries covered by them.
F. MODALITIES
12. The work on the preparation of case studies would be undertaken jointly by the International
Trade Centre and the Commonwealth Secretariat by using the services of consultants having expertise
in this area.  To ensure that uniform approach is adopted in the preparation of case studies, two
consultants would be given the responsibility for the preparation of a background paper containing
inter alia:
− description of the procedures and practices which are followed by the international
standardizing bodies in developing and accepting standards, and
− the elements that should be covered in the case studies.
13. The responsibility for guiding the work at techni cal level would rest with the Senior Adviser
on Export Quality Management at ITC and with the Adviser on WTO matters from the
Commonwealth Secretariat.
14. Taking into account the result of the case studies, the two organisations shall prepare for
providing both jointly and separately, technical assistance to developing countries for:
− capacity building at national level, and
− dissemination of information on the results of the case studies by arranging regional
workshops.
G. IMPLEMENTATION
15. The first phase was conducted by two consultants (one for TBT and one for SPS) in
July 2001.  It focussed on procedures for the preparation of standards by international standards
bodies and the elements to be covered in the case studies.
16. The second phase was conducted in September/October 2001.  The countries covered were
Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda, Namibia, Jamaica and Ma laysia.  Six consultants went in teams of two to
two countries each.
17. The case studies will be published in a joint publication on TBT and SPS by the
Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Trade Centre.
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