RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/W/22
15March 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0932)
Original: English Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS BYTHE UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived bytheDirector-General from theUnited
Nations Economic Commission forEurope UN/ECE requesting observer status inthe
WTO Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade.
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AspartoftheECE'sefforts toimprove coordination between itself andother
inter-governmental organizations, during thelastsixmonths theECE Trade Division has
undertaken aseries ofmeetings withWTO staffinareas ofcommon interest. Asaresult ofthese
meetings, wehavealready applied, andhavebeenaccepted, asanobserver totheCommittee on
Trade andDevelopment.
Atthistimewewould liketomake afurther application tobecome anobserver tothe
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade.
Standards areanimportant aspect oftechnical barriers totrade. TheECE'swork on
standards policy andinternational conventions inareas suchastransport demonstrate thatitisvery
active inthisarea. Itswork benefits oraffects countries throughout theworld. Thisoccurs
because:
- other Regions takesimilar measures, anexample being theTIRconvention forfacilitating
thetransit ofgoods byroadwhich hasbeenadopted bymany countries intheMiddle
East, Africa andLatin America;
- ECE standards areapplied bycountries andindustry groups outside oftheregion, an
example being UN/EDIFACT (UNElectronic DataInterchange forAdministration,
Commerce andTransport) which isusedinalmost allcountries intheworld; and
- theECE region accounts forapproximately 65percentofallinternational trade;
- ECE standards orconventions often havetobemetbythose wishing toexport tothe
region, examples being standards related toperishable foodstuffs andmotor vehicles.
Asaresult, webelieve itisimportant toestablish andimprove thecommunication flows
between WTO andECE inthisareaandbelieve thatbecoming anobserver totheCommittee on
Technical Barriers toTrade would beanimportant stepinthisdirection. ECE staffwould be
pleased tomake abriefpresentation ofourrelevant work totheCommittee onTechnical Barriers
toTrade, ifitissodesired.
./.G/TBT/W/22
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TheExecutive Secretaries oftheUNRegional Economic Commissions haveagreed to
specialize based ontheirexpertise andregional location. Because ofitsrecognized expertise
within theUNsystem intheareaofnorms andstandards, anditsGeneva location, theECE would
thusberepresenting allfiveUNRegional Economic Commissions intheCommittee onTechnical
Barriers toTrade.
TheECE anditsmember States place particular importance onworking closely withthe
WTO, especially inthecontext ofourroleastheUNRegional Economic Commission forthe
large majority ofcountries intransition. Webelieve thatthiscooperation would bemutually
beneficial tobothourorganizations andlookforward tobothdeepening andwidening our
collaboration.
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TheChairperson isproposing thatthisrequest forobserver status beconsidered atthe
Committee 'snextmeeting.