RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/105
19 February 1999
(99-0660)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
SURVEY ON THE ELECTRONIC FACILITIES AVAILABLE
IN NATIONAL ENQUIRY POINTS
At its meeting on 20 November, the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade agreed that the
Secretariat would carry out a survey on the electronic facilities available to national enquiry points.The survey might be useful to determine what steps need to be taken to facilitate the electronic
transmission of documents between Members, and could, among other things, facilitate efforts to
better target technical assistance and training.  In January 1999, questionnaires (Annex 1) were sent to
the National Enquiry Points of 89 Members (as listed in document G/TBT/ENQ/13), and replies have
been received from 51 enquiry points of 47 Members. This note contains the outcome of the survey.G/TBT/W/105
Page 2ComputersInternet
Service
ProviderInternet WebsiteWeb
Publishing
SoftwareEmailElectronic
trans-
mission of
documentsEnquirypoints ofMembers
yes number yes no yes no yes no yes no yes no yes noWord processor
version
A u s t r a l i a x l a n xx xx xx W o r d  9 7
A u s t r i a x 1 2 xxxxxx
Barbados x 13 x x x x x x MS Office 97
Benin x 1 x x x x x x Word .6
B r a z i l x 8 xxxxxx
Bulgaria x 1/1 x x x x x x Windows 97, Office 97
Canada x - x x x - - x x Word 97
C o s t a  R i c a x 1 xxxxxx W i n d o w s  9 5 ,  W o r d  9 7
Cuba x 4 x x x x x x Word 97, WP
Czech
Republicx 2 xx xx xx W o r d  9 7
D e n m a r k x 6 xxxxxx W o r d
Dominican
Republicx - xx xx xx W o r d  9 7
Egypt x 1 x x x x x x Word 97
El Salvador x 10 x x x x x x
F i j i x 6 xx xx xx
France x - x x x x x x
Germany x 1/1 x x x x x x Windows NT
Hong Kong,
Chinax 1 3 xxxxxx W o r d  9 7
H u n g a r y x 4 xxxxxx W o r d  9 6 ,  9 7
Indonesia x 20 x x x x x x Word 96
I r e l a n d x - xxx x xx
Israel x 1 x x x - - x x Word 97
J a m a i c a x 4 xx x xxx W o r d  9 5G/TBT/W/105
Page 3ComputersInternet
Service
ProviderInternet WebsiteWeb
Publishing
SoftwareEmailElectronic
trans-
mission of
documentsEnquirypoints ofMembers
yes number yes no yes no yes no yes no yes no yes noWord processor
version
Japan1
Japan2xx2
115x
xx
xxx
xxx
xxx Word 97, Corel, WP 8
Windows 95, Word 97
Kenya x 3 x x x x x x Word 7, Window 95
K o r e a x 3 xxxxxx W o r d  9 7
Macau x 10 x x xxxx W o r d  9 7 ,  P e n t i u m  I I
M a l a w i x 3 xx xx xx
M a u r i t i u s x 2 xx xx xx W o r d  9 6 ,  W i n d o w  9 5
Myanmar x 1 x x x x x x Office 97
Netherlands3
Netherlands4x
x40
3x
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
xWord 97, 3 PCs, WP5.1, Word 96
WP5.1, Word 96
N o r w a y x 7 xxxxxx W i n d o w s  N T
P o l a n d x 2 xxxxxx W o r d  9 6
P o r t u g a l x 2 xxxxxx W i n w o r d
Romania x 1 x x x x x x Word 97
S i n g a p o r e x 6 6 5 xxxxxx M S  O f f i c e  9 7
Slovak
Republicx 3 xx xx x x W i n d o w s  9 5
S l o v e n i a x 3 xx xx x x W o r d  9 6
S p a i n x 1 0 xx xx xx W o r d  9 7
Switzerland x 4 x x x x x x Word 95, Windows 95
T h a i l a n d x 2 0 xxxxxx W o r d  9 7
Trinidad &
Tobagox 5 xxxxxx W o r d  9 6
Tunisia x - x x x x x x
Turkey x 2 x x x x x x Word 97
                                                     
1Standards Information Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2Standards Information Service, Japan External Trade Organizations
3Enquiry point for Article 10.1.3, Council for Accreditation
4Enquiry point for Article 10.1.1, Ministry of FinanceG/TBT/W/105
Page 4ComputersInternet
Service
ProviderInternet WebsiteWeb
Publishing
SoftwareEmailElectronic
trans-
mission of
documentsEnquirypoints ofMembers
yes number yes no yes no yes no yes no yes no yes noWord processor
version
United
Kingdom5
UnitedKingdom
6x
x3
100x
xx
xxxx
xx
xxx
Windows 97
U n i t e d  S t a t e s x 6 xxxxxx W o r d  9 7 ,  W P 6 . 1
Zimbabwe7
Zimbabwe8x
x29
50x
xx
xx
xx
xx
xx
x Lotus Word Pro, MS-Word
TOTAL 47 51 51 0 46 5 27 24 22 27 50 1 37 14
______________________________
5Enquiry point of Article 10.1, Department of Trade and Industry
6Enquiry point of Article 10.3, BSI Information Centre
7Standards Association of Zimbabwe
8Enquiry point for agricultural products , Ministry of Land and Agriculture
9Computers are exclusively for the use of the enquiry pointG/TBT/W/105
Page 5
CONCLUSION
1.
All the 51 enquiry points possess computers.  The num ber of computers range from one to 665.  The
most commonly used word processing software is Word 97.
2. There are Internet Service Providers in the territories of all the 47 Members.
3. Almost all the enquiry points have internet access, except the ones in Benin, Cuba, Myanmar,
Romania and Zimbabwe.  Although they are planning to acquire such access, the main obstacles are
the technical constraints, lack of resources and permanent premises (Romania).
4. Out of the 51 enquiry points, 24 of them do not have websites, and the reasons provided
include the following:  (i) there are general websites re lated to their relevant authorities or Ministries;
(ii) they do not think there is a need to establish one;  (iii) the lack of financial resources;  and
(iv) communication problem.  Some of the enquiry points stated their intention to create their own
website (Barbados, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Domi nican Republic, Egypt, Fiji, Ireland, Jamaica,
Mauritius, the Netherlands, Slovak Republic, Tunisia and Zimbabwe), and a number of themindicated that technical assistance would be needed.
5. Twenty-two of the enquiry points are equipped with web publishing software.  The reasons
for those which do not possess the software are the lack of funding and technical know-how, or they
hire outsiders for such service.  Some of the enquiry points indicated that they are considering toacquire such software.
6. All of the enquiry points have access to email, except the one in Benin due to financial and
technical constraints.
7. Thirty-seven enquiry points transmit documents electronically regularly or depending on
demands.  The reasons for those which do not do so are:  (i) there is a higher demand for hard copy
texts;  (ii) their documents are not available in electronic format;  (iii)  due to the limited funding and
training;  (iv) lack of the relevant facilities;  (v) software incompatibility;  and (vi) procedural or
technical difficulties.  However, some enquiry points are planning to start transmitting documentselectronically.G/TBT/W/105
Page 6
(Annex 1)
QUESTIONNAIRE
ELECTRONIC FACILITIES AVAILABLE TO
NATIONAL ENQUIRY POINTS
1. Does your enquiry point have access to computer(s)?
Yes If yes, how many?  ……….. , and
which word processor and which version? ……………………………………
No If no, why? ………………………………………………………………, and
do you plan to install in the near future?………………………………………
2. Does your enquiry point have publication software?
Yes NoIf no, why? ……………………………………………………………………………….., and
do you plan to install in the near future?………………………………………………………..
3. Are there Internet Service Providers in your country?
Yes NoIf no, will they be available in the near future?…………………………………………………
4. Is (Are) your computer(s) installed with e-mail connection?
Yes No 
If no, why? ………………………………………………………………………………., and
do you plan to install in the near future?……………………………………………………….
5. Does your enquiry point have Internet access, including access to the World Wide Web
through an Internet browser?
  Yes No
If no, why? ……………………………………………………………………………….., and
do you plan to install in the near future?……………………………………………………….
6. Has your enquiry point established a web site
Yes No
If no, why? ………………………………………………………………………………..., and
do you plan to install in the near future?………………………………………………………..G/TBT/W/105
Page 7
7. Does your enquiry point regularly transmit documents electronically?
Yes No If not, why? ……………………………………………………………………………….., and
do you plan to do so in the near future?…………………………………………………………
__________