WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/10.7/N/36
18 April 2002
(02-2153)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
AGREEMENT REACHED BY A MEMBER WITH ANOTHER COUNTRY OR
COUNTRIES ON ISSUES RELATED TO TECHNICAL REGULATIONS,
STANDARDS OR CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT  PROCEDURES
Notification
Under Article 10.7 of the Agreement "Whenever a Member has reached an agreement with
any other country or countries on issues related to technical regulations, standards or conformityassessment procedures which may have a significant effect on trade, at least one Member party to the
agreement shall notify other Members through the Secretariat of the products to be covered by the
agreement and include a brief description of the agreement".  The following notification under
Article 10.7 has been received.
1. Member notifying :  UNITED STATES
2. Title of the bilateral or plurilateral Agreement :  Japanese Recognition of U.S. Organic
Standards for Plant-Based Agricultural Products
3. Parties to the Agreement : United States of America and Japan
4. Date of entry into force of the Agreement :  Upon announcement of U.S. accreditation of 
organic certifying agents expected on or before 22 April 2002
5. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading):
Raw or processed plant-based agricultural products labelled as organic.
6. Subject matter covered by the Agreement (technical regulations, standards or
conformity assessment):  Technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment
procedures related to the United  States National Organic Program
7. Brief description of the Agreement:   The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries recognizes that the grading system of organic agricultural products and processed
organic foods, which is stipulated in the United States National Organic Pr ogram, is equivalent to
the grading system of organic products under the Japanese Agricultural standard stipulated in
Articles 15-7 and 19-6-4 of the Law Concerning Standardization and Proper Labelling ofAgricultural and Forestry Products.
8. Further information available from:
Susan Reid, Foreign Agricultural Service/ITP/FSTSD/USDA
South Building, MS 1027, Washington, DC  20250
Telephone: + 1 202 690 0607
Fax: + 1 202 690 0677; E-mail – susan.reid@fas.usda.gov