WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/223
1 July 2003
(03-3487)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
THE INTRODUCTION OF DISCUSSIONS ON GOOD REGULATORY PRACTICE
IN APEC
Submission from Japan
1. This paper introduces a concept and a discussion on Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) in the
APEC/SCSC (the Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance).
2. In 1997, recognizing the importance of GRP through discussions on the alignment work for
technical regulations, the SCSC worked out the following guidelines on implementation and operationof the Articles 2 and 5 in the WTO/TBT Agreement for government officials.
“Guidelines for the Preparation, Adoption and Review of Technical Regulations.”
(1) “Legitimate objectives” and “Risk assessment ”
- Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement -
(2) Performance based regulations
- Article 2.8 of the TBT Agreement -
(3) Implementation on alignment of members’ domestic standards with international
standards
How to consider the following points:- Fundamental climatic or geographical factors
- Fundamental technological problems, etc.
-Article 2.4 of the TBT Agreement –
(4) Importance of conformity assessment procedures on each trade step
- Considering trade impact of technical regulations
(5) Importance of establishing review, monitoring and discussion process
- After the development of technical regulations and conformity 
assessment schemes
(6) The necessity for the TBT notifications from a viewpoint of transparency(7) Examples of the alternatives to the technical regulations and the conformity
assessment procedures
3. In 2000, developing GRP argument through disc ussions on MRA in mandatory and voluntary
areas in an ad-hoc group established in the SCSC, the SCSC worked out the following two
documents:G/TBT/W/223
Page 2
“Principles and Features of Good Practice for Technical Regulations”
“Information Notes on Good Regulatory Practice for Technical Regulations”
(1) Principles and Features of Good Practice for Technical Regulations
- Essence of principles and features of GRP- For policy makers and regulators in governments
(a) Importance of considering “the reliability of the regulatory scheme” and “the
possibility of the alternatives” before introduction of technical regulations
(Possible alternatives)
- Implementation Laws;
- Insurance Schemes;
- Society Structures;
- Education Programmes;
- Standards;
- Self-Regulation, etc.
(b) Importance of developing a check scheme for assessing the adaptability of
regulations after consideration of unnecessary trade restrictions and risk
assessment.
(c) Features of GRP:
- Ensuring transparency and non-discrimination;
- Being performance-based;
- Referring to international standards or internationally aligned
standards where applicable, taking into account health, safety
technological, climate developmental and other factors;
- Reference to only those standards, or parts thereof necessary to
achieve the legitimate regulatory objectives;
- Being subject to review to maintain flexibility and adaptability to
modern needs.
(2) “Information Notes on Good Regulatory Practice for Technical Regulations”
- Referential guidance on implementing and operating GRP
- For policy makers
(a) Appropriate framework for regulating products (policy framework);
(b) Appropriate practices for technical regulations;
(c) Appropriate practices for conformity assessment procedures;
(d) Regulatory safety net;
(e) Post-market surveillance;(f) Methods for risk assessment;
(g) Flowchart showing necessary points to be considered when establishing
regulations.
4. Since 2000, the SCSC has been taking the following actions with regard to GRP:
(1) Holding seminars and workshops on GRP (total 5 times)
- to share members’ experience of GRP;
- to collect successful examples of GRP;G/TBT/W/223
Page 3
- case studies.
(2) Discussing performance-based regulations:
- Being selected as one of the priority areas agreed by members in
August 2001;
- Being discussed intensively in 2002;
- A format for performance-based regulations is now being developed to
collect examples of successes.
5. As a lead economy in APEC/SCSC members, Japan is glad to report the progress of
GRP discussions in APEC/SCSC to the TBT Committ ee.  Japan would be happy if the APEC/SCSC’s
discussion of GRP is useful to the fruitful discussion, especially with regard to the discussion on the
third triennial review in the TBT Committee.
Note:
The three APEC/ SCSC documents concerni ng GRP are at the following URL on the
APEC Secretariat’s website.
(1) “Guidelines for the Preparation, Adoption and Review of Technical Regulations”
http://www.apecsec.org.sg/scsc/scsc-tech-reg.html
(2) “Principles and Features of Good Practice for Technical Regulations”
http://www.apecsec.org.sg/scsc/SCSC _GoodPrac_TechReg.html
(3) “Information Notes on Good Regulatory Practice for Technical Regulations”
http://www.apecsec.org .sg/download/scsc/SCSC_InfoNotes_TechReg.pdf
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