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 GL122.doc
World Trade G/L/122
28 October 1996
Organization
(96-4491)
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
This Report was adopted by the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade on 22 October 1996, for the consideration by the Singapore Ministerial Conference.
The Committee held its first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh meetings on
21 April 1995 (G/TBT/M/1), 14 July 1995 (G/TBT/M/2), 20 October 1995 (G/TBT/M/3), 1 March 1996 (G/TBT/M/4), 28 June 1996 (G/TBT/M/5), 16 October 1996 (G/TBT/M/6) and 22 October 1996 (G/TBT/M/7) respectively.
On 6-7 November 1995, the Committee held a special joint meeting on Procedures for Information Exchange with the SPS Committee to facilitate the implementation of these procedures by Members.
an agreement was reached between the Secretary-General of the ISO Central Secretariat and the Director-General of the WTO to establish a WTO Standards Information Service operated by the ISO to provide information on standardizing bodies under Paragraphs C and J of the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards contained in Annex 3 of the WTO TBT Agreement.
Members are obliged to notify whenever they have reached agreements with any other country or countries on issues related to technical regulations, standards or conformity assessment procedures which may have a significant effect on trade.
The Secretariat has organized together with the ISO and with the ITC three regional seminars in 1996 in South Africa, Latin America and Central America, aiming at providing technical assistance to new Members, in particular developing countries, to better understand the Agreement so that it can be fully implemented.
While there is no consensus on the coverage by the TBT Agreement of eco-labelling schemes and the criteria, based on non-product related processes and production methods, it is generally felt important to review thoroughly the process of eco-labelling, from its design stages to its application in practice, against principles and disciplines of the Agreement relating to transparency, harmonization, non discrimination, the avoidance of unnecessary obstacles to trade, and special and differential treatment of developing country Members.
The Committee held discussions on decisions and recommendations on conformity assessment procedures and heard representations from the ISO on latest developments in ISO/IEC work relating to rules and guides in conformity assessment activities; from the International Laboratory Accreditation Conference (ILAC) on accreditation activities in the conformity assessment area; and from the United Nations - Economic Commission for Europe on rules and work of the UN/ECE.
Annex 1
Notifications made in 1995 and 1996 by Members and by relevant Articles of the Agreement
Members Number of notifications made in 1995 Number of notifications made under the relevant Articles in 1995 Number of notifications made in 1996 Number of notifications made under the relevant Articles in 1996 2.
2 ACCEPTANCE OF THE CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE ENQUIRY POINTS Antigua and Barbuda Argentina x x Australia x 1 x Austria x 2 x Bahrain x x Bangladesh Barbados Belgium x x Belize Benin x Bolivia x Botswana Brazil x 1 x Brunei Darussalam Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Canada x x Central African Republic Chad Chile x 1 x Colombia x 1 x Costa Rica x Côte d'Ivoire Cuba x 1 x Cyprus x Czech Republic x 1 x Denmark x 1 x Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic x Ecuador 1 Egypt 1 x El Salvador x European Community x 3 x Fiji x Finland x 1 x France x 1 x Gabon Gambia Germany x 1 x Ghana x Greece x x Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong x x Hungary 1 x Iceland x India 1 x Indonesia x 1 x Ireland x x Israel x Italy x 2 x Jamaica 1 x Japan x 4 x Kenya 1 x Korea x Kuwait Lesotho Liechtenstein Luxembourg x x Macau x Madagascar Malawi x Malaysia x 1 x Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius x Mexico x x Morocco x Mozambique Myanmar x Namibia Netherlands x 1 x New Zealand x 1 x Nicaragua Nigeria x x Norway x 1 x Pakistan x Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru 1 x Philippines x 1 x Poland 1 Portugal x x Qatar Romania x 1 x Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent &
the Grenadines Senegal 1 Sierra Leone Singapore x 1 x Slovak Republic x 1 x Slovenia x 1 x Solomon Islands South Africa 1 x Spain x 1 x Sri Lanka x Suriname Swaziland Sweden x 9 x Switzerland x 3 x Tanzania x Thailand 1 x Togo Trinidad and Tobago 1 x Tunisia x 1 x Turkey 1 x Uganda x x United Arab Emirates United Kindgom x x United States x x Uruguay Venezuela 1 Zambia x Zimbabwe 1 x Total 42 60 73
Decisions of the General Council: Participation in Meetings of WTO Bodies by Certain Signatories of the Final Act eligible to become Original Members of the WTO (WT/L/27); Guidelines for Observer Status for Governments in the WTO (WT/L/161 - Annex 2); and Observer Status for International Intergovernmental Organizations in the WTO (WT/L/161 - Annex 3).
UNCTAD, ITC (UNCTAD/GATT), ISO, IEC, FAO, WHO, FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, International Office of Epizootics, OECD and UN/ECE are invited to attend meetings of the TBT Committee in an observer capacity.
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