RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/129
22 March 2000
(00-1182)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
PROJECT FOR A GLOBAL MODEL FOR IMPLEMENTING GOOD REGULATORY
PRACTICE FOR THE PREPARATION, ADOPTION AND APPLICATION OF
TECHNICAL REGULATIONS  VIA THE USE
OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
Communication from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
The following Communication has been received from the UN/ECE Working Party on
Technical Harmonization and Standardization Policies (WP.6) with the request that it be circulated to
WTO Members
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Foreword
This communication has been received from the secretariat of the UN/Economic Commission
for Europe (UN/ECE).  It is being disseminated to the Members of the Committee for information on
N/ECE activities relating to the elimination of technical barriers to trade.
The Project reproduced below has been suggested and prepared by the UN/ECE ad hoc  team
of specialists on Standardization And Regulatory Techniques ("START").
The START Team was established in September 1999.  It works under the auspices of the
UN/ECE Working Party on Technical Harmonization and Standardization Policies (WP.6) which, at
its ninth session in May 1999, decided to establish this team to examine the relationship between
international standardization and technical regulations.  The formation of the team has been confirmedby the UN/ECE Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development.
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Discussions within different international organizations and fora show a clear desire to
harmonize technical regulations with a view to limiting obstacles to international trade and to
facilitating market access.  Some international technical regulations exist, but they tend to be
cumbersome, burdened with details and difficult to formulate.  As a consequence such regulations,
once in place, can be difficult to amend.  Detailed  agreements between a large number of regulatory
authorities are frequently difficult to obtain, and such regulations tend not to achieve full consensus.
2. An international regulatory system comprised of broad, common regulatory objectives might
be easier to develop and might more easily find consensus.  For the detailed requirements that
implement common regulatory objectives recourse could be had to the established mechanisms of
international standardizing bodies, which provide a forum for all interested parties (not only
regulatory authorities), and have established a degree of trust at the international level.G/TBT/W/129
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3. These problems were recognized by the UN/ECE Working Party on Technical Harmonization
and Standardization Policies (WP.6), which, as me ntioned in the foreword, commissioned a team of
specialists to investigate the question - the START (Standardization and Regulatory Techniques)
Team .  The work of the Team is intended to promote guidelines on efficient legislation for regulatory
authorities and to provide a mechanism for co-opera tion between regulatory authorities, standardizers
and industry, so that legislation can make appropriate use of standards.
4. There are major policy activities in this area, particularly under the WTO/TBT Agreement.
However, WP.6 and its members believe it would be both appropriate and useful to develop further
the practical dimensions of the provisions in th at the WTO/TBT Agreement into a general mechanism
for the coexistence of internationally recognized  technical regulations and international standards.
Information for the development of the following proposed provisional “global model” has also been
derived from useful work in other international fora.  These include the WTO’s work in trade policyreview, the OECD’s work in regulatory reform and international standards, and APEC’s and
ASEM’s work in creating guidelines on technical regulations.
5. It is, for example, assumed that whenever a new or revised technical regulation is being
prepared, regulators should follow the principles set out in the WTO/TBT Agreement (in particular,
that technical regulations should be based on relevant international standards, when they exist or theircompletion is imminent, except when such standard s would be ineffective or inappropriate for the
technical regulation in question; that technical regulations should not be more trade-restrictive than
necessary and should be non-discriminatory).
6. However, the draft Global Model proposed goes further than the provisions of the
TBT Agreement.  It is aimed at creating a mechanism to facilitate and accelerate the harmonization oftechnical regulations; to increase their implementation and use at global level through international
standardization; and to further reduce barriers to tr ade that arise from divergent technical rules, and
means of determining compliance with them, at the regional and national levels.
7. The draft Global Model under preparation by the START Team will be submitted for formal
consideration, discussion and approval to the tenth session of the Working Party(6-8 November 2000).  Other international fora and private sector initiatives to reduce technical
barriers to trade will, by appropriate means, be informed and invited to comment on the draft Global
Model.
II. THE LEGAL BASIS FOR THE PROPOSED MODEL
8. It is thought that the proposed Global M odel would be primarily useful to government
officials dealing with preparation of technical regulations.  The Model could be given legal status if it
were formalized as an agreement between countries that are ready to use the proposed best practicesand procedures as a basis for their co-operation in harmonizing technical legislation.  This could be
linked to the preparation of a proposed International Agreement on technical harmonization issues,
the content of which is currently being considered by the UN/ECE Working Party on Technical
Harmonization and Standardization Policies.  The proposed International Agreement is envisaged as a
framework agreement with horizontal undertakings, to be complemented with protocols on specificsubjects.  Thus, the Global Model might become one of the protocols to that agreement.  Drafts of the
proposed Agreement (document TRADE/WP.6/1999/16) and of its protocols
(document TRADE/WP.6/1999/16/Add.1) are publicly  available on the web site of the UN/ECE.
(http://www.unece.org/trade/stdpol  under "major working documents").G/TBT/W/129
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III. THE CONTENT OF THE GLOBAL MODEL
A. MECHANISMS AND PROCESSES FOR THE HARMONIZATION OF TECHNICAL REGULATIONS
9. The Model addresses the need for internationa lly recognized technical regulations, either
where no technical regulation exists or where  non-harmonized technical regulations exist in a number
of countries.  In addition to the principle of harmonizing technical regulations, the nature of suchinternationally recognized technical regulations might be adjusted to define common regulatory
objectives that would reference international standards in order to fulfil or implement those
objectives.  In both cases it is proposed that such international technical regulations could either be
linked to existing international standards or generate  a call for the development of new international
standards.
10. A distinction is necessary between the specifications applicable to products, as such, and the
conformity assessment requirements to be used to ensure that the products placed on the marketconform to the characteristics required.  The global model is intended to cover both these issues.
B. I
DENTIFICATION OF THE NEED , AND ELABORATION OF INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL
REGULATIONS
11. The Model will address the issue of how to iden tify a need for harmonization of existing and
new technical regulations (including through the existing notification procedures in the WTO).  It willalso cover the process of preparing and adopting an international technical regulation, and the
common regulatory objectives that the regulation is intended to address, and will suggest an
administrative procedure which countries interested  in the joint preparation of such a technical
regulation might follow.
C. A
DDITIONAL PROCEDURES FOR THE PREPARATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
12. The model is intended to provide for reference to standards as a means to meet the defined,
common regulatory objectives.  It will address the question of how international standardization
bodies can be approached to provide standards to meet the technical product requirements of an
international technical regulation, and the responsibilities of countries participating in the preparationof an Internationally Recognized Technical Regu lation to support relevant technical work done in
international standardization bodies.
D. P
LACING COMPLIANT PRODUCTS ON THE MARKET
13. If a system of international technical regulation is to be effective in opening trade, there
should be a mechanism to avoid unnecessary conformity assessment procedures for products that
comply with it.  Determining, and where appropriate,  assuring conformity with international technical
regulation will also be covered.
14. Although it has become clear that the supplier’s declaration of conformity is the favoured
method of determining compliance with rules, certification issues will also be covered, including the
mutual recognition of certificates issued by reco gnized certification bodies, and how conformity with
an international technical regulation could be claimed or demonstrated by a supplier.  Market
surveillance and protection issues will also be covered.  Finally, the Global Model will address theissue of how potential disputes might be resolved.G/TBT/W/129
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E. DRAFT DETAILED RULES
15. Detailed requirements will be set out in annexes to the draft Global Model on the
administrative procedures for registration and establishment of an international technical regulation;
procedures for the technical work; a model for an internationally recognized Standardization Request;
the elements to be included in an international technical regulation ("Model international technical
regulation’s");  questions of marking or otherwise attesting to conformity with an international
technical regulation; and finally a glossary of technical terms.
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