 WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/243 
5 October 2004  
 
(04-4151) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
   
CHINA'S TRANSITIONAL REVIEW MECHANISM 
 
Questions and Comments from Japan to China
 
   The following communication, dated 1 October 2004, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Japan. 
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 1. Japan welcomes that, in the third year af ter accession, implementation by China of its 
commitments on TBT has progressed and entered into a cruising phase.  In a transitional period of 
evolving regulations, the importance of regulator y transparency, predictability, stability and 
consistency is paramount;  the value of market ac cess commitments and the efforts to implement them 
could be easily clouded out by a shortness of such elements, either in regulations themselves or in 
their application.  The transitional review mechan ism could be useful for making those transitional 
efforts more efficient and productive, and it is a pleasure for Japan to contribute to this process. 
2. In this context, China is further invited to ta ke necessary steps to ensure regular and effective 
application of public comments procedures, timely publication of laws and regulations, avoidance of 
abrupt regulatory change, clear demarcation of de partmental responsibilities, improvement in inter-
departmental and central-provincial coordination and consistency, etc. 
3. In accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Protoc ol on the Accession of the People’s Republic of 
China, which states that “China shall provide releva nt information to each subsidiary body in advance 
of the review” and in the spirit of cooperation to render the TRM process most efficient and effective, 
Japan requests China to provide in advance of the meeting of the Committee on TBT responses and 
relevant information to the fo llowing questions and comments. 
I. GENERAL COMMENTS 
4. China has promised the active participation in the development of international standards and 
the periodical review of the technical regulations  and standards in order to harmonize them with 
relevant international standards, according to pa ragraph 180 and 184 of the Report of the Working 
Party on the Accession of People’s Republic of China. 
5. In enacting, revising and implementing technical  regulations and standa rds, Japan would like 
China to continue to ensure transparency under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.   
II. SPECIFIC COMMENTS 
1. Automobiles 
6. Article 10 of the "Auto Industry Developmen t Policy", which was published and came into 
effect on 1 June 2004, states that "prior to 2010,  the regulation of proclaiming product’s fuel 
consumption should be enacted based on the compul sory requirements of technical regulations on 
energy saving."  G/TBT/W/243 
Page 2  
 
7. In connection to this, when the Government of China prepares any technical regulation or 
standard, such as fuel efficiency regulation, safet y technical regulation and type approval regulation, 
Japan requests that China notify them to othe r Members or publish a notice on them under the 
TBT Agreement and relevant decisions and recomme ndations adopted by the TBT Committee.  Japan 
also requests that China allow enough time and oppor tunities for any interested parties to submit 
comments and discuss the issues. 
2. Digital cameras 
8. Japan understands that a technical regulation for di gital cameras is being prepared in China.  
Please provide us with the information as to whet her this technical regulation will be based on the 
relevant international standard.  Japan would like to request that a notification will be made at an early 
appropriate stage, when a draft text of the pr oposed technical regulation is available and when 
amendments can still be introduced and taken in to account under the TBT Agreement and relevant 
decisions and recommendations adopted by the TBT Committee. 
3. CCC Certification Scheme for electrical products 
9. Japan welcomes China’s efforts to implement th e unification of the former two certification 
schemes into one scheme, “CCC certification scheme”,  under paragraph 196(b) of the Report of the 
Working Party. 
10. However, there are some concerns about implementation of the CCC certification scheme. 
(i)  Problem with the reduction of time period for certification 
 
11. Although China made a commitment to shorten th e time period to no more than three months 
for CCC certification, as in the third tiret of para graph 196 (b), by the unification of the duplicate 
certification schemes (i.e., CCIB and Great Wall mark ing), it still takes more than three months for 
overseas manufacturers to obtain the CCC certification in some cases. 
12. In order to solve this problem, Japan requ ests that China take measures to accept data 
obtained from tests and inspections performed by foreign agencies that meet certain technical 
requirements, as some of them are required to be performed by the designated testing 
laboratories/inspecting bodies in China. 
(ii)  Problem with discrepancy of certification product lists 
 
13. The delay in customs clearance has been cause d for some imported products due to the 
discrepancy between the “First Catalogue of Pr oducts Subject to Compulsory CCC Certification”
1 
issued by AQSIQ (State General Administration of the People’s Republic of China for Quality 
Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine) and CNCA (Certification and Accreditation 
Administration of the People’s Republic of China) and the HS code used by the customs authority. 
14. Japan requests that the list of products subject to the CCC certification, used by the testing 
laboratories for granting CCC certification, should be used by the customs authorities as well.   
                                                      
1 The catalogue referred to by designated test labo ratories for granting CCC certification:  “Joint 
Announcement No. 33: 2001 issued by AQSIQ/CNCA: First Catalogue of Products Subject to Compulsory 
Certification” and “Implementation Rules issued by CNCA.”   G/TBT/W/243 
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(iii)  Problem accompanying the estab lishment or revision of GB standards 
 
15. Under the current CCC certification scheme, th ere is no established rule on transitional 
treatment for products complying with the existin g GB (Guojia Biaozhun) standards when a new or 
revised GB standard has been published. 
16. Therefore, Japan would ask China to allow a reasonable transitional period according to the 
TBT Agreement in the case of the establis hment or revision of GB standards. 
4. Registration of Initial Imports of Chemical Products 
17. Japan appreciates that China enforced the Provi sions on the Environmental Administration of 
New Chemical Substances on 15 October 2003, and late r issued detailed administrative instruction.  
However, Japan has some concerns about the impl ementation of the regulation, and requests that 
China improve the following problems in order to prevent potential trade barriers. 
(i) First, the new regulation has a provision that  the eco-toxicological data of new chemical 
substances shall include those obtained throug h biological tests performed in China using 
China’s test organisms.  Japan has a concer n about the fact that there are only a few 
organizations published as the testing laborator ies, which might affect the notification 
procedures.  Japan would like China to designate  many organizations in  terms of facilitating 
assessment. 
 
(ii) Second, the revised inventory of existing chemicals has not been published after the fifth 
enlargement submission, for which applicati ons were received until March 2004.  It will 
impose an unreasonable procedural burden on some  importers if the revised inventory is not 
published promptly.  There is information that the inventory will be published at the end of 
the year, but Japan would be grateful if China c ould make sure that the inventory is published 
as soon as possible. 
 (iii) Third, Japan understands that the simplifie d notification is approved only in the case of 
importing chemical substances for the purposes of research and technological development.  However, requiring the same range of data from all importers regardless of import volume would impose an excessive economic burden on im porters of small amounts and might affect 
their importation.  Japan would like China to consider promptly expanding the scope of the 
simplified notification to include importation of small amounts of new chemical substances.   
 (iv) Fourth, certain polymers are exempt from the notification.  Generally, any procedure to apply 
for exemption of notification is not required fo r exempted substances.  Japan would ask China 
to explain why such procedure is required for those polymers. 
 (v) Fifth, a holder of the registration certifi cate who manufactures or imports new chemical 
substances is required to submit records of flow, within five days of distributing them across 
borders between prefectures.  However, it is im possible to submit those records within five 
days, considering the actual way of chemical substances distribution.  Japan asks China to reconsider this point. 
 
(vi) With regard to the Import and Export Regi stration Regulations of Dangerous Chemicals, 
Japan would like to know what progress has been  made in the consideration of the comments 
by interested parties.  Japan would like China to make the revised draft based on the 
comments by interested parties, and to sincer ely address this issue through due procedures 
including a WTO/TBT Notification. 
 G/TBT/W/243 
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III. BACKGROUND 
18. In paragraph 196(a) of the Report of the Working Party, China has committed to enact and 
implement, within one year after its accession, a new law and relevant regulations regarding 
assessment and control of chemicals for the protectio n of the environment, in which complete national 
treatment and full consistency with  international practices will be ensured.  In paragraph 196(a), 
China has also committed to ensure that chemicals listed in the “inv entory chemicals” annexed to the 
above new law and its regulations will be exempted from a registration obligation, and that a uniform 
assessment procedure will be established for domestic  and imported products under the new law and 
its regulations. 
19. To establish a new system, China drafted and published an initial version of the Import and 
Export Registration Regulations of Dangerous Chemicals in September 2002, and an initial version of 
the Provisions on the Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances in December 2002 
to collect tentative comments from in terested parties in and outside of China.  Japan understands that 
the final version of the draft of the Import a nd Export Registration Regul ations of Dangerous 
Chemicals has not yet been published.  On the other hand, the Provisions on the Environmental 
Administration of New Chemical Substances were  enforced on 15 October 2003, and the detailed 
administrative rules (tentative) were published on 9 December 2003.  With regard to the Provisions 
and its administrative rules, there are some unc lear points in the details, which affect the 
implementation of the regulation. 
20. With regard to the Provisions on the Envi ronmental Administration of New Chemical 
Substances, problems including the following remain: 
 - The revised inventory of existing chemi cals has not been published after the fifth 
enlargement application, for which appl ications were accepted until March 2004. 
 
 - Regarding the eco-toxicological data of ne w chemical substances, it is required that 
the eco-toxicological data of new chemical substances shall include those obtained through biological tests performed in Chin a by the application of China’s test 
organisms.  However, there are a few organizations published as the testing 
laboratories, and Japan has a concern about capacity of conducting tests in China. 
 
 - The simplified notification is approved only in the case of importing chemical 
substances for the purposes of research and technological development.  Requiring 
the same range of data of all importers regardless of import volume would impose an 
excessive economic burden on importers of small amounts of new chemical 
substances and might affect the their importation.   
 
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