WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/220
30 June 2003
(03-3461)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
THIRD TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE TBT AGREEMENT
Submission by the United States
1. The United States welcomes the opportunity to review the operation of the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) in the Third Triennial Review.  Technical regulations and
mandatory conformity assessment procedures are receiving increased attention as impediments to
market access.  The TBT Agreement creates a sound framework of disciplines and requirements that
the United States believes, if duly and responsibly implemented, will prevent the creation of
unnecessary obstacles to trade.  It is our expectation that the exchange of information in this TriennialReview will result in enhanced awareness of the importance of internalizing those disciplines and
finding the most effective and efficient approaches to implementation.  Two broad areas deserving
priority consideration are:  (a) approaches to technical regulation and associated conformity assurance
requirements; and, (b) technical assistance and capacity building.
A. APPROACHES TO TECHNICAL REGULATION AND ASSOCIATED CONFORMITY
ASSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
 2. The TBT Agreement does not prescribe how governments are to achieve domesticcompliance with its obligations not to create unnecessary barriers to trade.  The development and
application of technical regulations and associated conformity assessment requirements often falls
within the purview of a broad range of regulatory agencies.  To ensure domestic compliance with the
Agreement’s obligations, a Member would likely need a law, policy, or another administrativemechanism to provide practical guidance to ensure all agencies “internalize” TBT obligations when
designing, revising, or applying technical regulations and associated conformance requirements.
These obligations include:
• non-discrimination;
• transparency, including the provision of sufficient information on the rationale and
justification for a proposal to ensure interested parties have a meaningful basis for
providing comments and non-discriminatory consideration of the comments received
in the preparation of a final technical regulation;
• consideration of trade impact and alternative approaches to achieving the particular
objective;
• non-discriminatory and cost-based fee structures;
• use of appropriate international standards, guides and recommendations which
comply with the TBT Committee’s Decision, if they are effective as a basis for
technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures;
• specification of technical regulations in terms of performance rather than design or
descriptive product characteristics;
• acceptance of results of conformity assessment procedures conducted by bodies in an
exporting Member country (when such results are required) on terms no less
favorable than those accorded domestic bodies; and,G/TBT/W/220
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• ongoing review of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures to
ensure their ongoing effectiveness in achieving the legitimate regulatory objective.
 
 3. Mechanisms for intra-governmental coordination and interface with relevant non-
governmental parties are essential not only to ensure ongoing and effective compliance with the
obligations in the Agreement but also to benefit fr om its rights.  Mechanisms for administrative or
judicial appeal should also be considered.
 
 4. TBT Committee discussions on trade concerns arising from the imposition of labeling
requirements illustrate the importance of abiding by the provisions of the Agreement and reinforce the
need for domestic institutions to ensure technical regulations are justifiable and effective in relation to
the legitimate objective pursued (see also G/TBT/W/165).  The United States would highlight the
merits of transparency in the development and application of technical regulations, including thebenefits of seeking information and reactions from all interested persons at a sufficiently early stage.
 
 5. A decision as to whether to mandate conformity assessment procedures to assure conformity
to a specified technical regulation is also an important aspect of regulatory policy.  TBT Article 5
acknowledges that a positive assurance of conformity may not always be required; however, Article 6creates disciplines that apply to the recognition of conformity assessment procedures by bodies
located in the territory of another Member.  In the Second Triennial Review the Committee developed
an indicative list of approaches to facilitate acceptance of the results of conformity assessment.
Subsequent discussions in the Committee have ad vanced an exchange of information on mutual
recognition agreements, and approach the U.S. believes can be successful in limited situations.  Therehas been less discussion of the implementation of Article 6.4 which would enable suppliers to use
qualified conformity assessment bodies of their choice to provide testing and certification to a given
Member’s requirements.  This approach is likely to appeal to regulatory officials and win their
confidence as the qualification of conformity assessment bodies is accomplished using the same
process as that used for domestic bodies.
 
 6. The Statements on Implementation required under Article 15.2 provide some information on
how Members have approached domestic implementation and often include reference to domestic
infrastructure to ensure quality in the development and application of technical regulations and
conformity assurance requirements.  In order for Members to better utilize the information providedand learn from the experience of others, the Committee should have a comprehensive listing, by
Member, of the document numbers of the Statement.
 
 7. In addition to national policies and approaches, the OECD (see www.oecd.org/regreform ) and
APEC (see www.apecsec.org.sg/scsc/scsc-tech-reg.html ;  and
www.apecsec.org.sg/scsc/SCSC_GoodPrac_TechReg.html ) have developed documents outlining
principles of good regulatory practice that may be of use to Members considering ways to improve
domestic compliance mechanisms.  Principles endorsed in these fora emphasize that good regulatory
practice serves clearly identified policy goals and is effective in achieving those goals.  The
Third Triennial Review affords an opportunity for the Committee to intensify its exchange on these
issues with a view to deepening effective implementation of the obligations.
 
B. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING
 8. The Second Triennial Review resulted in a TBT Committee Decision to operationalize Article
11 by encouraging the exchange of information on needs for technical assistance and potential donors
via the WTO Secretariat.  The TBT Committee recognized that technical assistance would continue to
be provided on a bilateral basis and, if Members agreed, the information provided on needs andassistance would be included in the documentatio n prepared for annual reviews of the Agreement.
The Second Triennial Review also resulted in technical assistance becoming a standing item of theG/TBT/W/220
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Committee’s agenda and mandated the Committee to embark on a demand-driven technical
cooperation programme.  Its development of a survey to identify and prioritize TBT-related assistance
needs, the subsequent responses by some 50 WTO members, and the discussions at Committee
meetings and workshops have fostered a better understanding of the variety of needs associated with
implementing the Agreement and the diversity of assistance provided.  Emphasis has been placed onthe responsibilities to identify and prioritize needs, and for assistance to be structured, sustained, and
tailored to the infrastructure and societal context in which it will be received.
 
 9. The Committee must now assess the progress made in executing the technical cooperation
programme.  The United States believes the Committee could continue to serve as a forum to
exchange information on needs and generate potential responses to requests, and it should continue to
explore possibilities for increasing coherence betw een the multilateral and bilateral donors.  To this
end, the United States supports continued discussions on the types of assistance that have proven
beneficial to recipients and facilitated their implementation of the Agreement.  The Committee could
serve a useful role in identifying gaps where resources need to be directed.
 
 10. The United States also proposes that information on the assistance provided by the
WTO Secretariat related to this Agreement be made available to the Committee on a routine basis.
This will help avoid duplication, reduce costs, and better ensure the effectiveness and responsiveness
of assistance to identified needs.  However, the limitations of the types of assistance the WTO
Secretariat can provide should be recognized.  While the Secretariat is capable of explaining the
provisions of the TBT Agreement and the operation of the WTO, the Secretariat lacks the resources toprovide such assistance as technical guidance on the application of specific standards and technical
regulations, or information on the physical infrastructure and other capacity that is frequently the
object of assistance requests.  Such assistance is not only important for domestic regulatory needs but
may also be a determinant of global market access.  The Committee should explore how it could
establish communication with the Institute for Traini ng and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) so that the
results of Committee discussions (e.g., on needs identified, lessons learned, gaps) could be taken into
consideration in its future plans.
 11. Currently, the Committee’s Annual Review contains a brief statement on technical assistance
activities in which the WTO Secretariat has participated.  As part of the Committee’s standing agenda
item on technical assistance, the WTO Secretariat should routinely deliver information on its near-
term plans on assistance and feedback on programmes recently concluded.  This information couldalso be summarized in the Annual Report.  The report should:
 
• include information from all divisions of the Secretariat that have delivered assistance
relevant to the TBT Agreement, including the ITTC;
• include information on the Director General’s efforts to respond to concerns raised by
developing countries about participation in the development of international
standards;  and,
• describe in more detail the distinctions between “seminars, workshops and technical
missions,”(G/TBT/12, section V) the substantive content of the programmes, thenumber of participants, and feedback on its responsiveness to needs identified.
 The Secretariat partners with a variety of organizations in its assistance activities.  Information on thecriteria it uses to determine with whom it partners, and why, would be beneficial not only for the
Committee but other prospective donors who may wish to contribute their resources.
 
 12. As a result of the recent Workshop on Technical Assistance, the Committee is looking at
possibilities for databases to contribute to its wo rk.  The United States appreciates the information
provided by the Secretariat in G/TBT/W/207 on some of the existing databases.  The United States
would support further discussions in the Committee on how to work with the existing databases toG/TBT/W/220
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make them more accurate and effective.  The Committee should avoid duplicative efforts and
devoting too many resources in an attempt to develop a new database.  One way to improve the
databases is to make sure that donors are accurately reporting TBT assistance.  Frequently donors do
not understand the breadth of activities that this may encompass.  The Committee should explore
possibilities for defining subcategories of TBT assistance so that donors better know what to reportand where to direct resources.  A useful starting point could be the topics identified in the TBT
Committee’s Survey (G/TBT/W/178). Committee Members should be encouraged to coordinate with
donor agencies and database providers to ensure the results of such effort, if any, are considered for
adoption.
 
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