WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.96.263
20August 1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-3265)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: BELGIUM
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Cabinet JanPeeters, Av.Galilei 5,1210 Brussels
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):
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Law onProduct
Standards toProtect theEnvironment andPublic Health andtoPromote Sustainable
Methods ofProduction andConsumption
6. Description ofcontent: Theobjective oftheLawistocreate anoverall andcoordinated
legalframework fortheintroduction ofproduct standards sothattheirmanufacture, use
(seeArticle 3.1(a) ofDirective 91/156/EEC) anddisposal make nocontribution ormake
thesmallest possible contribution toincreasing theamount orharmfulness ofwaste or
creating anyother form ofpollution.
TheKing isempowered totaketheimplementing measures interaliatoprohibit
marketing, tointroduce prior authorization ornotification, tohavewithdrawn from sale,
toregulate theproperties oftheproduct, toencourage reuse, toestablish compulsory
analyses ortests, toimpose aninformation requirement, ...(Article 4.1).
Thedraft provides thelegal bases foranysectoral agreements concluded
(voluntarily) withindustry, prescribing inter aliathattheagreements become binding
upon signature byalltheparties (Article 5).
Thedraftcontains special chapters onbiocides andpackaging (Articles 8to14).
Thedraft'sfinal provisions include monitoring provisions aswell asthe
customary penal provisions andalsoallow forthepossibility ofestablishing byroyal
decree feestofinance theresponsibilities given toadministrative authorities under this
Law.
./.G/TBT/Notif.96.263
Page2
7. Objective andrationale: There isnohorizontal legal framework inBelgium topermit
theapplication ofstandards andproducts forthepurposes mentioned above. The
provisions alsoallow speedier implementation oftheharmonization directives onthe
environment adopted intheEC.
8. Relevant documents:
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:60days
10. Final dateforcomments:
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: CIBELNOR