WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.637
10October 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4317)
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 forInternal Affairs
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): Coffins andsynthetics
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Regulation ofthe
Minister forInternal Affairs ontheDesignation ofSynthetics fortheManufacture of
Coffins andother Coverings forCorpses (Decree onCoverings forCorpses)
6. Description ofcontent: TheRegulation states which shrouds, orapplications thereof,
arepermitted inthemanufacture ofcoffins, inconcrete terms, requirements arelaid
down ontheuseofchipboard inthemanufacture ofcoffins, ongluing coffins, the
varnish, handles, decorative screws andother decorations ontheoutside ofcoffins, on
pillows, interior upholstery andfloor covering ofcoffins, andonthecomposition of
printing andedging. Furthermore requirements arelaiddown with regard tothe
material used forshrouds. Therequirements relate togasandwater permeability,
mechanical characteristics, form andchemical composition.
7. Objective andrationale: Theoptimum corpse decomposition when burying takes place if
asfewaspossible, andfullydegradable, synthetics areusedinburying. Inaddition, a
situation must beprevented inwhich thematerials applied involve excessively severe
environmental pollution. Asastarting point forthepermitting ofmaterials and
applications contained inthisRegulation itismaintained thatcorpses, inthe
circumstances asrequired intheDecree onthedisposal ofcorpses, shall becomplete
skeletons within tenyears.
8. Relevant documents: Thedraft Regulation isbased onArticle 4,second paragraph,
subsection b,oftheDecree ontheDisposal ofCorpses
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.637
Page2
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 20November 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 21November 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 19November 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetime-limit havebeenreceived fromother
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: