WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.656
10October 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4328)
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 vanOnderwijs, Cultuur enWetenschappen
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): Electronic andgraphics
display calculators (calculating devices)
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Regulation Governing
AidsinFinal andState Examinations
6. Description ofcontent: TheRegulation which isestablished bytheChairman ofthe
Central Examinations Committee setting questions (hereinafter: CEVO) indicates inthe
appendix which aidsmay beused forthefinal andstate examinations forfurther
education. This ranges from dictionaries tocalculators, forexample inmaths
examinations. Article 2provides inter aliaforthebanoncalculating devices which
exceed themeasurements ofcirca 15cmx9cm(pocket size). Article 2arelates tothe
useofgraphics display calculators. During experimental mathematics examination B
onlygraphics display calculators ofatypeandmake approved byCEVO maybeused.
Thepresent Regulation states explicitly which devices have already been approved by
theCEVO (Texas Instruments TI-83; theHewlett Packard HP-38-G; andtheCasio
cfx-9850 G;theCEVO knows ofnoother equipment which conforms totheestablished
conditions.) Paragraph 4contains aprocedure fortheapproval ofgraphics display
calculators ofanother make andtype.
Because inpractice thedistinguishability ofthetypeandmakes stated inthe
second paragraph willbegreater than themakes andtypes which arepermissible
pursuant toparagraph 4,anamended textisproposed inthedraftRegulation which, in
essence, states that:
- InArticle 2a,paragraph 2,theapproved makes andtypes arenotfurther
mentioned withprecedence;
- Alistofapproved equipment ispublished intheOfficial Journal oftheMinistry
ofEducation, Culture andScience. Keywords: calculator(s), calculating device,
calculating devices, GR,make(s), type(s).
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.656
Page2
6. Description ofcontent: (cont'd)
- Article 2(entered intoeffect inMarch 1991); Anindicative summary ofthe
remaining technical regulations appears below;
- Article 2a(which entered intoeffect inMay1997) stipulates twocriteria which
aretested bytheCEVO:
1. suitability withregard todevelopments incentral examinations;
2. theprevention ofunintentional advantage when using devices.
Intheexplanatory notetothedraft Regulation, these criteria areclarified by
means ofanindicative summary ofthetechnical regulations withwhich graphics display
calculators must comply (seetheappended draftRegulation).
7. Objective andrationale: Theregulations governing theuseof(graphics display)
calculators aredeemed necessary forthepurposes ofundertaking final andstate
examinations. Theregulations serve inter aliatoprevent acandidate from causing
inconvenience by(excess) noise forinstance orfrom gaining anunintentional advantage
byusing acalculating device which isnotpermitted. With regard tographics display
calculators, theestablishment ofanabstract listofspecifications hasbeen dispensed
with. Ample developments arestilltaking place inthefieldofthese devices, whereby it
isdifficult toissue objective technical descriptions. New devices, which cannot be
evaluated asperthesaidabstract listmayatanygiven point, however, beintroduced
ontothemarket. Inschools, moreover, itisvirtually impossible toascertain whether
eachdevice usedbyacandidate during examinations conforms tothespecifications. For
thisreason, alistofgraphics display calculating devices ofapproved makes andtypes
hasbeenopted for.
8. Relevant documents:
- Regulation onpermissible aidsinfinalandstateexaminations (Explanation in
OenW-Regulations No.9dated 20March 1991);
- Amendment totheRegulation onpermissible aidsinfinalandstateexaminations
(Explanation inOCenW-Regulations No.16dated 11June1997).
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 from other
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: