Document Detailed Content

World Trade
Organization G/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.
This paper sets out in a single document a number of established policy principles on international standardization and on the use of international standards in Community policies, in the light of the advantages offered by international standards, notably their potential to facilitate trade in goods.
And it may serve as a reference document for contacts with third countries and in relation with technical assistance projects supported by the Community.
They ensure that parts produced across borders are compatible and that networks are interoperable, they reduce costs for manufacturing and warehousing.
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 medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
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.
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 of standards-receptive economic and legal conditions.
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.
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.
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 of their resources.
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 regulatory objectives such as the protection of human health and the environment.
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.
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 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, reducing the risk that they become locked into a specific technology.
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.
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 of regulators in all phases of standards development.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) elaborates recommendations that, in some cases, have binding status and/or regulatory implications, notably in the ITUR sector, but also to a lesser extent in the ITUT sector.
In some specific cases where international standards are not considered appropriate, for instance, when they do not meet regulatory requirements for European legitimate objectives, or in those areas where international standards do not yet exist, the European standards community may deviate from international work.
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.
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