WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.242
9June1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-2391)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: UNITED STATES
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Department ofHousing andUrban Development (9)
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above:
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Building products
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: HUD Building
Products Standards andCertification Program--Use ofMaterials Bulletins (6pages,
English)
6. Description ofcontent: Thisproposed rulewould adopt anumber ofUseofMaterials
Bulletins (UM) andreferences related tonational voluntary consensus standards in
accordance with Office ofManagement andBudget (OMB) Circular 119A. Italso
supplements theDepartment ofHousing andUrban Development (HUD) Building
Product Standards andCertification Program byrequiring thatadditional information be
included onthelabel, tag,ormark thateach manufacturer affixes tothecertified
product. Inaddition, theadoption ofaUMforaproduct eliminates theneed for
manufacturers toseek HUD acceptance through "Materials Releases" forindividual
products thatmeet thestandard ofaUM. Inaddition, thisproposed rulespecifies the
frequency withwhich products should betested inorder tobeacceptable toHUD; and
modifies section (d)(4)(ii)of24CFR200.935 toallow theuseofAmerican Society for
Quality Controls Standards 9000-94, 9001-94, 9002-04, 9003-94, and9004-94 as
voluntary guidelines inanyquality review.
7. Objective andrationale: Toallow consumers toreadily identify those products that
comply withexisting voluntary consensus standards.
8. Relevant documents: 62FR27486, 19May1997; 24CFR Part200. Willappear in
theFederal Register when adopted.
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:Tobedetermined
10. Final dateforcomments: 18July1997
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: