GENERAL AGREEMENT TBT/37 15 October 1993 on TARIFFS and TRADE Special Distribution
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RESTRICTED GENERAL AGREEMENT TBT/37 15 October 1993 ON TARIFFS AND TRADE Special Distribution Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE AGREEMENT Background Document by the Secretariat The Committee will hold its fourteenth annual review under Article 15.8 of the Agreement at its meeting on 2 November 1993. This document contains information on developments in the implementation and operation of the Agreement during the period from 26 September 1992 to 30 September 1993. Information covered by the previous review was circulated in document TBT/34. Data on review items relating to consultation points, panelists and information exchange have been circulated in separate documents referred to under those headings. The contents of this document are as follows: Page 1. Composition of the Committee 3 2. Implementation and administration 4 2.1 General 4 2.2 Consultation points 4 2.3 Panelists 4 3. Notifications 5 3.1 General 5 3.2 Comment period 6 3.2.1 Length of time actually allowed for 7 presentation of comments 4. Technical assistance and special and differential treatment Il1 5. Dispute settlement 1l 93-1721 TBT/37 Page 2 Page 6. Acceptance, accession and reservations 11 7. The use of international standards; 11 participation in regional standardizing bodies or international and regional certification systems 8. Transparency 12 8.1 Publications 12 8.2 Information exchange 12 8.3 Enquiries and responses 12 9. Testing procedures and acceptance of test results 30 TBT/37 Page 3 1. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE Chairman: Mr. J.A, Clarke (Hong Kong) until May 1993 Mr. C. Cozendey (Brazil) from May 1993 Vice-Chairman: Mr. C. Cozendey (Brazil) until May 1993 Ms. V. Nicholas (Canada) from May 1993 Signatories Argentina' Hong Kong Norway Australia Hungary Pakistan Austria India Philippines Belgium Indonesia Portugal Brazil Ireland Romania Canada Israel Rwanda' Chile Italy Singapore Czech Republic Japan Slovak Republic Denmark Korea, Rep. of Spain Egypt Luxembourg Sweden European Economic Community Malaysia Switzerland Finland Mexico Tunisia France Morocco United Kingdom Germany Netherlands United States Greece New Zealand Yugoslavia2 Observers3 1. Governments Bangladesh Ghana Senegal Bulgaria Malta Sri Lanka China, People's Nicaragua Tanzania Republic Nigeria Thailand Colombia Peru Trinidad and Tobago Côte d'Ivoire Poland Turkey Cuba Russian Federation Zaire Ecuador Saudi Arabia, Gabon Kingdom 2. International Organizations IMF, UNCTAD, ITC(UNCTAD/GATT), ISO, IEC, FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, IOE 'Signed acceptance pending) ²Refers to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ³For procedures relating to the participation of observers, see TBT/M/2, paragraphs 4 and 5 and Annex. TBT/37 Page 4 2. IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION 2.1 GENERAL The following legislative, regulatory and administrative actions have been taken by Parties since 26 September 1992 to implement the provisions of the Agreement. Mexico The following standards-related publications were issued over the period under review: a Resolution (Acuerdo) published in the Official Gazette of 3 August 1992, compiling the regulatory framework of mandatory Mexican official standards currently in force; a Public Notice relating to the procedures for demonstrating compliance with mandatory Mexican official standards and provisions on labelling, marking or inscriptions providing commercial information; and a National Standardization Programme for 1993 published on 29 March 1993, listing the titles of Mexican official technical regulations and voluntary standards to be prepared. Hong Kong The number of Hong Kong ordinances relevant to the implementation and administration of the Agreement has increased from fourteen to fifteen as the Toys and Children's Products Safety Ordinance has been implemented. This information supplements that contained in TBT/10 and Corrs. 2 and 3 and Suppl. 1, TBT/28, TBT/29, TBT/33 and TBT/34. 2.2 CONSULTATION POINTS Up-to-date information is contained in document TBT/W/62/Rev. 1 and Corrs. 1-4. 2.3 PANELISTS Up-to-date information is contained in document TBT/W/25/Rev. 12. TBT/37 Page 5 3. NOTIFICATIONS 3.1 GENERAL From 1 January 1980 to 30 September 1993, 3,780 notifications have been made by 34 Parties. The table on page 7 of TBT/34 contains the total number of notifications made by each Party from 1980 to 1991. The relevant data for 1992 and 1993 (up to 30 September) are given below. Parties Year of entry 1993 1992 Total into force (1980-1993) Argentina* Australia 1992 25 1 26 Austria 1980 4 5 103 Belgium 1981 13 10 77 Brazil 1980 3 Canada 1980 34 34 342 Chile 1981 Czech Republic 1993 4 4 Czech & Slovak (1982 to 1992) 6 97 Fed. Rep. Denmark 1980 10 21 119 EEC 1980 17 39 195 Egypt 1983 Finland 1980 22 41 292 France 1980 53 Germany 1980 5 1 52 Greece 1987 Hong Kong 1986 5 26 Hungary 1980 15 India 1983 2 76 Ireland 1980 18 Israel 1990 Italy 1980 4 Japan 1980 28 35 510 Korea, Rep. of 1980 26 4 47 Luxembourg 1980 Malaysia 1993 Mexico 1988 8 16 24 Morocco 1993 Netherlands 1981 16 31 87 New Zealand 1980 3 4 107 Norway 1980 43 29 172 Pakistan 1981 Philippines 1981 2 100 Portugal 1985 Romania 1980 63 Rwanda* *Signed (acceptance pending) TBT/37 Page 6 Parties Year of entry 1993 1992 Total into force (1980-1993) Singapore 1980 1 2 17 Slovak Republic 1993 2 2 Spain 1981 56 Sweden 1980 13 47 396 Switzerland 1980 18 35 128 Tunisia 1981 1 United Kingdom 1980 1 2 70 United States 1980 43 20 416 Yugoslavia* 1982 2 4 82 The distribution of notifications under the relevant Articles of the Agreement in 1992 and 1993 (up to 30 September) are as follows: 1993 1992 Article 2.5.2 310 368 Article 2.6.1 12 11 Article 7.3.2 6 9 Article 7.4.1 1 1 Not specified/other 12 5 Thirteen notifications in 1992 and thirty in 1993 indicated that the proposed technical regulations were based on relevant international standards. 3.2 COMMENT PERIOD Statements by Parties on the length of time that they expect to allow for other Parties to present their comments in writing on technical regulations, standards or rules of certification systems (Article 2.5.2, 2.5.5, 2.6.3, 7.3.4 and 7.4.3) are included in TBT/10, pages 58-62; TBT/10/Suppl.1, page 3; TBT/17, page 9; TBT/17/Suppl.1, page 5; and TBT/31, page 6. *Notifications made before 22 April 1993 are included. TBT/37 Page 7 3.2.1 LENGTH-OF TIME ACTUALLY ALLOWED FOR PRESENTATION OF COMMENTS The Committee has recommended sixty days as a minimum length of time to be allowed for the presentation of comments from other Parties. The table on the following page gives the relevant data on the observation of the recommended comment period by each Party in 1992 and 1993. In 1992, Parties allowed an average of fifty-four calendar days for comments, the comment period had lapsed for seven notifications, and the number of notifications that did not specify a comment period was forty-seven. The respective figures in 1993 (up to 30 September) were fifty-five days, four notifications and forty notifications. OBSERVATION OF THE RECOMMENDED COMMENT PERIOD BY PARTIES 1993 Party (up to 30 September) 1992 Less than 45-59 60 days Not Less 45-59 60 days or Not Total 45 days days or more specified Total than 45 days more specified or lapsed days or lapsed Australia 25 21 1 3 - 1 I - Austria 4 I 1 - 2 5 - 5 Belgium 13 I - - 12 10 - 10 Canada 34 16 4 13 1 34 23 5 3 3 Czech Republic 4 - - - 4 - - - - - Czech and - - - - - 6 1 2 1 2 Slovak Republic Denmark 10 7 1 2 - 21 3 5 12 1 EEC 17 2 3 7 5 39 3 18 13 5 Finland 22 4 10 7 I 41 10 5 24 2 OBSERVATION OF THE RECOMMENDED COMMENT PERIOD BY PARTIES (continued) 1993 Party (up to 30 September) 1992 Less than 45-59 60 days Not Less 45-59 60 days or Not Total 45 days days or more specified Total than 45 days more specified or lapsed days or lapsed Germany 5 1 I 1 2 I - I Hong Kong 1 - 1 - - 5 4 1 - India 2 1 - - 1 - - - - | Japan 28 2 26 - 35 1 9 25 Korea, Rep. of 26 6 4 15 1 4 2 1 - 1 Mexico 8 - - - 8 16 - - 4 12 Netherlands 16 1 9 4 2 31 12 9 5 5 New Zealand 3 - 2 1 - 4 2 - 1 1 Norway 43 13 11 19 29 19 J 2 8 - OBSERVATION OF THE RECOMMENDED COMMENT PERIOD BY PARTIES (continued) H w D 1993 Party (up to 30 September) 1992 Less than 45-59 60 days Not Less 45-59 60 days or Not Total 45 days days or more specified Total than 45 days more specified or lapsed days, or lapsed Philippines - 2 - 2 Singapore r - - - 1 2 1 - - 1 Slovak Rep. 2 - - - 2 - - - - - Sweden 13 - 3 10 - 47 19 14 13 1 Switzerland 18 - 18 - 35 4 31 - - United Kingdom 1 1 - - - 2 - - 1 1 United States 43 14 17 10 2 20 5 9 5 1 Yugoslavia* 2 - - 2 - 4 - - 4 - TOTAL 341 89 88 120 44 394 110 110 1 120 54 *Notifications made before 22 April 1993 are included. TBT/37 Page 1 1 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT ASEAN and European Communities A regional seminar on the GATT Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade was held on 29 May - 2 June 1993 in Thailand.