RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/2/Add.8
31May1996
ORGANIZATION(96-2055)
Original: English Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
IMPLEMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION OFTHE AGREEMENT
ONTECHNICAL BARRIERS TOTRADE
Thefollowing Statement under Article 15.2oftheAgreement hasbeenreceived from the
delegation ofAustralia.
_______________
1. Inaccordance withArticle 15.2oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade Australia
wishes toinform theCommittee ofthemeasures taken toensure theimplementation and
administration oftheAgreement inAustralia.
2. Australia hasafederal constitutional system inwhich legislative, executive andjudicial
powers areshared between theCommonwealth andtheconstituent States andTerritories.
Consequently, theimplementation oftheAgreement throughout Australia iscarried outbythe
Australian, State andTerritory Governments having regard totheirrespective constitutional
powers. TheAustralian Government consults withtheState andTerritory Governments toensure
thattheyareaware ofandabide byAustralia 'sobligations under theAgreement.
3. Further, theAustralian Government formally recognizes theroleofthetwoprincipal
non-governmental organizations concerned withstandards inAustralia. TheStandards Association
ofAustralia (Standards Australia) hasbroad national authority inthestandards setting areaandit
isthegenerally accepted peakstandards writing body inAustralia. TheNational Association of
Testing Authorities (NATA) isthenational authority generally responsible foraccreditation of
laboratories performing tests, measurements, calibration andrelated services tostandards ofgood
laboratory practice. TheAustralian Government hasamemorandum ofunderstanding withboth
Associations andregularly consults withthem toensure thattheirpractices areinharmony with
andsupportive oftherelevant Articles oftheAgreement.
4. Generally, notices oftechnical regulations, standards andconformity assessment
procedures arepublished intheCommonwealth ofAustralia Gazette. Additionally, standards are
alsopublished widely innational newspapers, in-house journals andother relevant Australian,
State andTerritory Government publications. Notices arealsopublished inthejournals of
Standards Australia andNATA, "The Australian Standard" and"NATA News".
5. Aperiod of60daysisgenerally allowed formaking comments ontheadoption of
technical regulations, standards andconformity assessment procedures. Although comment
periods mayvary(depending forexample onurgency considerations), theminimum of60daysis
acommon period formany measures.
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Page2
6. TheAustralian Enquiry Point issituated within theDepartment ofForeign Affairs and
Trade. Itisthecentral point fortheexecution ofallnotifications under theAgreement, andthe
initial point ofcontact forenquiries from other Members.
7. Theaddress forenquiries is:
Director
WTO Enquiry Point
Trade Obligations Section
Trade Negotiations andOrganizations Division
Department ofForeign Affairs andTrade
PARKES ACT 2600
Telephone: International +(616)2613037
Telex: 62007 or62001
Facsimile: International +(616)62731527
8. Requests forconsultations under theAgreement should bedirected totheaddress forthe
Enquiry Point provided above.