WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.223
28May1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-2242)
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 ofHealth, Welfare andSport
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): Nightwear: anyclothing
which isreasonably expected tobeworn inrelation tosleeping (nightgowns/nightshirts,
pyjamas, dressing gowns andhousecoats)
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Covenant onFire
Safety forNightwear (5pages, inEnglish)
6. Description ofcontent: Bymeans ofthecovenant (agreement), representatives ofthe
organized nightwear industry have agreed tomake every effort toensure thattheir
members (manufacturers, importers, wholesalers andretail traders) onlysellnightwear
which meets thefire-safety requirements setoutinAppendices IandII(pictogram:
reduced fire-resistance) ofthecovenant. Thearrangements concerned havebeenmade
onavoluntary basis. Thecompetent authority, inthiscasetheMinistry ofPublic
Health, Welfare andSport, isco-signatory tothecovenant asithascommitted itself to
monitor whether theindustry isactually meeting itspromises within themarket. The
covenant istobeconsidered asthe(self-regulatory) replacement oftheFood andDrugs
ActDecree onFireSafety forNightwear, which waswithdrawn in1996 within the
framework ofthederegulation sought bytheDutch Government.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.223
Page2
7. Objective andrationale: These arrangements areessential inviewoftheseriousness and
extent ofinjury caused byfiresand,related tothis,theestablished increased firerisk
associated withnightwear. Inthisrespect, wewould alsopoint outthatmany firesstart
inthebedroom anditisafactthatnightwear isasaruleworn nexttotheskin. Also,
nightwear isoften cutgenerously, which means thattheriskofcatching fireandthefast
spreading thereof isquite considerable.
8. Relevant documents: -
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 5March 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 5September 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 22July1997
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: