RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/SPS/W/15
12May1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1242)
Committee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures
SUGGESTED CLARIFICATION OFNOTIFICATION GUIDELINES
Note bytheSecretariat
Atthemeeting of29-30 March 1995, theconcern wasraised thattheagreed notification
guidelines (G/SPS/2) wereunclear withregard toaMember 'sassessment ofwhether aproposed SPS
regulation would have asignificant effect ontrade interms ofParagraph 5ofAnnex Bofthe
SPSAgreement andhence should bethesubject ofanotification. Inparticular, thequestion wasraised
whethertheguidelines(paragraph2)impliedthattheMemberproposingaSPSregulationmustundertake
adetailed orextensive examination ofthepotential difficulties producers inother Members might
experience intheirefforts tocomply withtheproposed regulation. Itwasobserved thatmany Members
didnothavethemeans toidentify andanalyze suchpotential difficulties. TheSecretariat wasrequested
tosuggest possible clarification ofthisguideline.
During theconsultations which resulted intheproposed notification guidelines, theconcern
ofparticipants hadbeentoensure thatincases where importing Members haddoubts about theeffect
ofaproposed SPSregulation ontrade, theynotify itanyway (PC/IPL/6, paragraph 2refers). The
concern wasthustoensure thatanypossible significant change benotified, notthatdetailed analysis
becarried outregarding itspossible effect ontrade. Inlightofthisbackground andexpressed concerns,
theCommittee maywishtoconsider thefollowing revision ofthisguideline (changes highlighted):
2. Application ofAnnex B,Paragraph 5(Preambular Part) oftheSPSAgreement:
Recommendation:
Forthepurposes ofAnnex B,Paragraph 5intheSPSAgreement, theconcept of"significant
effect ontrade ofother Members" mayrefertotheeffect ontrade:
- ofonetechnical regulation onlyorofvarious technical regulations incombination,
- inaspecific product, group ofproducts orproducts ingeneral, and
- between twoormore Members (countries).
When assessing whether theSPSregulation hasasignificant thesignificance oftheeffect ontrade
oftechnical regulations, theMember concerned should takeintoconsideration, totheextent relevant
information isavailable, suchelements asthevalue orother importance ofimports inrespect ofthe
importing and/or exporting Members concerned, whether from other Members individually or
collectively, thepotential growth ofsuchimports, anddifficulties forproducers inother Members
tocomply withtheproposed technical regulations. Theconcept ofasignificant effect ontradeofother
Members should include bothimport-enhancing andimport-reducing effects onthetrade ofother
Members, aslongassucheffects aresignificant.