Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 38 • 13th November 2003

TBT Committee Concludes Triennial Review


The WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) at its 7 November meeting concluded the third Triennial Review of the operation and implementation of the TBT Agreement. The Review of the TBT Agreement, which takes place every three years, focuses on issues related to good regulatory practice, conformity assessment procedures, transparency and technical assistance. Members also discussed various TBT-related concerns, including the EU’s proposed regulation on wine labelling.

Technical Assistance

The Review (G/TBT/13, searchable at http://docsonline.wto.org) highlights technical assistance (TA) as an "area of priority work". It identifies a range of factors that can impede developing countries’ ability to comply with the TBT Agreement, including the lack of awareness of the Agreement, lack of capacity (particularly in terms of human resources), and lack of legislation and technical infrastructure. TA, the Review concludes, should be tailored to a particular country’s needs. It stresses the importance of coordination and coherence among national authorities, as well as with donors. The Review also notes that the selection and preparation of participants for TA activities is critical, together with: the strengthening of institutions; the use of internal measures to complement TA; assessment and following-up of TA activities; and awareness-raising about the use and benefit of the TBT Agreement. The Review acknowledges the constraints faced by the TBT Committee and the WTO Secretariat in building infrastructure and institutions, which could be addressed by governments and other relevant regional and international organisations.

Transparency

Regarding transparency, the Review urges Members to fulfil their transparency obligations, in particular those related to the notification of draft technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. It notes a number of trade concerns related to the lack of transparency that have been brought to the attention of the TBT Committee, including procedural problems, such as failures to notify, short comment periods and inadequate handling of comments. The Review reminds Members of their obligation to publish information on the introduction of a particular technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure "at an early appropriate stage". It recommends developed country Members to provide more than the required 60 days for comments, in order to improve developing countries’ ability to comment and to be "consistent with the principle of special and differential treatment". Similar transparency-related concerns have also repeatedly been raised in the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, including a Mexican proposal for a pre-notification process (see BRIDGES Weekly, 5 November 2003).

Conformity Assessment

The Review establishes a work programme for ‘conformity assessment’, including a workshop on the different approaches to conformity assessment and on the acceptance of assessment results. Conformity assessment is defined by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) as an "activity that provides demonstration that specified requirements relating to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled". It covers such activities as calibration, testing, inspection and certification, as well as the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies. The Trienniel Review notes that the use of relevant international standards, guides, or recommendations can provide transparency to the ’suppliers declaration of conformity’ (SdoC) process (i.e. a procedure by which a supplier provides assurance of conformity to the specified requirements), and can support its value and usability. In particular, exporters in developing country Members can improve market access when importing Members accept their SdoC.

European wine regulation again under criticism

A number of Members, including New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, the US, Chile and South Africa, again raised concerns over the EU’s proposed legislation governing the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain wine sector products (see BRIDGES Weekly, 3 July 2003). The regulation sets out the information that must be presented on labels, restricts the use of certain bottle types and introduces a system to protect "traditional terms" used to describe a wine. The countries requested the EC to postpone the implementation of the regulation, currently scheduled for February 2004. The EC responded that it had already introduced changes to the regulations in response to Members’ comments, including criticism that the regulation was discriminatory and overly trade restrictive, but that it might make further changes to take into account additional comments.

For further details on the EC regulation, see http://europa.eu.int/eur- lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2002/l_118/l_11820020504en00010054.pdf.

ICTSD reporting.

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