WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.448
18September 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-3750)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofAgriculture, Nature Management andFisheries.
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National Enquiry Point
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): Canine muzzles.
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Regulation on
measures toprevent contamination.
6. Description ofcontent: TheRegulation onmeasures toprevent contamination contains
national regulations which muzzles, tobeworn byrabid dogs, must satisfy. Oneofthe
measures which maybeordered bytheMinister ofAgriculture, Nature Management and
Fisheries pursuant toarticle 17.1 oftheAnimal Health andWelfare Actisthatdogs
must wear amuzzle toprevent thetransmission ofinfection. According totheDutch
government, point 5ofthedraft Regulation probably contains technical regulations
within themeaning oftheTBT-Agreement. Specifically, article 2oftheRegulation is
indicated asatechnical regulation, containing requirements withwhich muzzles must
comply.
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Page2
7. Objective andrationale: Fortheobligation formuzzling asgoverned bythepresent
Regulation, account istaken, ontheonehand, ofcontemporary views concerning the
welfare ofanimals muzzled insuchawayand,ontheother hand, ofthewayinwhich
thetransmission ofinfection canbeeradicated. IftheRegulation contains quantitative
import restrictions orequal measures within themeaning ofArticle 30oftheECTreaty
thenthese measures arejustified intheinterests ofprotecting animal andhuman health
andwelfare. Forthebenefit offoreign products which satisfy these requirements,
established inthecountry oforigin, aprovision hasbeenadopted inarticle 2.2relating
tomutual recognition.
8. Relevant documents: Article 17.1oftheAnimal Health andWelfare Act.
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 27October 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 28October 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 26October 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetimelimithavebeenreceived from
other Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: