RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/W/16
22November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3643)
Original: English Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING ONPROCEDURES FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE
OFTHE COMMITTEES ONTECHNICAL BARRIERS TOTRADE AND
SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
Report bytheChairperson
1. On6-7November 1995, aspecial jointmeeting oftheTBTandtheSPSCommittees was
heldtofacilitate theimplementation byMembers ofprocedures forinformation exchange
(notifications andenquiry points)(G/TBT/M/2, paragraph 58). Itwasagreed thatnoformal
decisions would betaken atthemeeting, butthatanyproposals emanating from thediscussions
would bebrought totheattention oftheseparate Committees attheirregular meetings.
2. Themeeting wasco-chaired bytheChairpersons oftheTBTandSPSCommittees.
Representatives from 52delegations attended themeeting, among them some from national
enquiry points.
3. Theagenda ofthemeeting contained inWTO/AIR/193 wasadopted.
4. Under eachagenda item, attention wasdrawn totherelevant provisions ofthetwo
Agreements andrecommendations agreed bytherespective Committees (G/TBT/1/Rev.2).
Information ontheoperation oftheCentral Registry ofNotifications andontheWorking Group
onNotification Obligations andProcedures wasalsoprovided. Itwasnoted thatwhile the
notification obligations under Articles 2and5oftheTBTAgreement were aninter-governmental
procedure, Enquiry Points were opentoallinterested parties.
5. TheSecretariat made apresentation toclarify thedifference incoverage oftheTBTand
SPSAgreements (G/SPS/W/32). Itwasrecognized thatsome regulations might contain elements
relevant toboththeTBTandSPSAgreements. Ifthiswere thecase, itwassuggested that
Members could either submit asingle notification, clearly indicating which elements ofthe
proposed regulation were sanitary orphytosanitary measures andwhich were subject tothe
TBTAgreement, anditwould becirculated asbothaSPSnotification andTBTnotification bythe
Secretariat. Alternatively, Members could submit twoseparate notifications, oneunder the
SPSAgreement andanother under theTBTAgreement, eachofwhich would contain onlythose
elements oftheproposed regulation covered bytherespective Agreement.
6. With respect tothenotification formats under Articles 2,3,5and7ofthe
TBTAgreement, thefollowing suggestions were made:
(a) under point 9,thetitleshould be"Proposed dates ofadoption andentry into
force" sothatinformation regarding thedateofadoption andthedateofentry into
force could beprovided separately;
./.G/TBT/W/16
Page2
(b) under point 5"Title andnumber ofpages ofthenotified document", the
language(s) inwhich notified documents areavailable should beindicated;
(c) theauthority oragency designated tohandle comments regarding thespecific
notification should beindicated ontheformat;
(d) thepossibility ofdeveloping asingle format forbothSPSandTBTnotifications.
7. Regarding notification obligations under Article 10.7oftheTBTAgreement, asuggestion
wasmade thatanotification format might benecessary.
8. TheSecretariat indicated thattheprocessing ofnotifications could bemade more efficient
ifMembers ensured thatthenotification formats were filled outcompletely andcorrectly. If
Members prepare theirnotifications inmore thanoneoftheWTO working languages, theywere
encouraged tosubmit these alsototheSecretariat.
9. Theissue ofderestricting notifications wasraised. TheChairman oftheSPSCommittee
recalled thatboththeSPSandTBTAgreements require governments topublish notice ina
national publication ofaproposed regulation andsuggested further discussions intheCommittees
ontheissue ofderestriction. Were theytobederestricted, thepossibility ofmaking notifications
accessible through Internet inorder tomake them more rapidly available wasalsodiscussed.
10. Inprocessing requests forbasic documents mentioned innotifications, itwassuggested
thatMembers useFAX facilities totheextent possible andthattheyacknowledge receipt of
requested documents. Members were alsoencouraged togivefavourable consideration torequests
forextension ofcomment periods, inviewofdelays often experienced inreceiving andtranslating
therelevant documents.
11. With regard totheoperation ofEnquiry Points, thefollowing suggestions were made:
(a) theE-mail addresses, where available, beincluded onanyrevised listofEnquiry
Points (G/TBT/ENQ document);
(b) thelistsofEnquiry Points bemade available asunrestricted documents;
(c) theSecretariat prepare abrochure which would provide apractical description of
thefunctions ofEnquiry Points, highlight thebasic requirements and
recommendations, andidentify good practices inthisregard.
12. Theneedfortechnical assistance toenable developing countries toestablish andensure the
effective operation oftheirnational enquiry points wasraised, anddeveloping country Members
were encouraged tomake known theirneeds inthisregard.
13. TheTBTCommittee hastaken adecision thatregular meetings ofpersons responsible for
information exchange including persons responsible forenquiry points willbeheldonabiennial
basis (G/TBT/1/Rev. 2).Inthisregard, asuggestion wasmade thatsuchspecial meetings should
bescheduled tocoincide more closely witharegular meeting oftheCommittee.