RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/SPEC/2
14February 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-0304)
Original: Spanish
ACCESSION OFPANAMA
Communication from Panama Concerning theAgreement on
Technical Barriers toTrade
Thefollowing communication wassubmitted bytheGovernment ofPanama forcirculation
tomembers oftheWorking Party.
__________________
AGREEMENT ONTECHNICAL BARRIERS TOTRADE
Statements ontheImplementation andAdministration
oftheAgreement
Attherequest oftheGovernment oftheUnited States, theGovernment ofPanama submits
thefollowing informal communication concerning theinternal regime applicable toindustrial standards
andtechnology.
Thiscommunication usesthemodel forstatements ontheimplementation andadministration
oftheAgreement, exclusively forpurposes ofclarity.
1. Thelegislation oftheRepublic ofPanama which regulates technical andindustrial standards
iscontained in:
Decree 282of13August 1970.
Decree 63of4May1971, "toapprove theregulations implementing Cabinet Decree 283of
13August 1970, which establishes theComisión Panameña deNormas Industriales yTécnicas
(COPANIT) (Panamanian Commission forIndustrial andTechnical Standards)".
Thepurpose ofDecree 63istodetermine thepowers andfunctions oftheDepartments ofthe
PanamanianCommissionforIndustrialandTechnicalStandards(COPANIT)whichisresponsible
forstudying andrecommending technical standards andestablishing thegeneral system for
suchstudies inthecontext ofuniversally applied technical standardization practices.
Law2ofthe11February 1982, "creating andassigning functions totheDirección General
deNormas yTecnología Industrial" (theDirectorate-General forIndustrial Standards and
Technology).WT/SPEC/2
Page2
2.
(a) Name ofpublications usedtoannounce thatwork isproceeding ondrafttechnical regulations
orstandards andrules ofcertification systems.
Theprocedure foramending existing regulations consists ofthree phases:
1. Preparation ofthedraft.
2. Study ofthedraft.
3. Public discussion: Once thedrafthasbeenapproved itgoesthrough apreliminary
project stage which consists ofpublishing anannouncement inalocal newspaper,
indicatingatime-limitof60daysforanyrecommendationorcommentonthedocument.
Once recommendations, ifany,havebeenreceived, thepreliminary draftissubmitted tothe
plenary ofthePanamanian Commission forIndustrial andTechnical Standards (COPANIT) forapproval
andratification bytheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry andthenthedocument ispublished intheBoletín
delaPropiedad Industrial (Industrial Property Bulletin) oftheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry.
Once thestandard hasbeenapproved andpublished intheIndustrial Property Bulletin, the
Directorate-General forIndustrial Standards andTechnology sends acopytoallnational entities and
international standardization bodies (Article 7ofExecutive Decree No.63of4May1971).
(b) Theexpected length oftimeallowed forpresentation ofcomments inwriting ontechnical
regulations, standards orrules ofcertification systems
Theexpected length oftimeallowed forthepresentation ofcomments is60days(Article 6
ofExecutive Decree No.63of4May1971).
Ifasaresult ofobjections itisnecessary todraftasecond proposal, thismust bepublished
forpublic inspection foraperiod of30days.
(c) Thename andaddress oftheenquiry point(s) foreseen inArticle 10oftheAgreement with
anindication astowhether itis/they arefullyoperational
Dirección General deNormas yTecnología Industrial
Comisión Panameña deNormas Industriales yTécnicas (COPANIT)
Apartado 9658. Zona 4
Panamá. Rep.ofPanamá
TheDirectorate-General performs alltheinformation andassistance functions described in
Article 10.
(d) Thename andaddress oftheagency withwhich togetintouch ifconsultations aretobe
requested under Article 14
Ministry ofForeign Relations
Entrega General, Zona 4
Panamá, Rep.ofPanamaWT/SPEC/2
Page3
(e) Thename andaddress ofanyother agencies thathavespecific functions under theAgreement
Currently, thespecific functions under theAgreement arecarried outthrough theDirectorate-
General forIndustrial andTechnical Standards (COPANIT). However, theGovernment oftheRepublic
ofPanama isdrawing upprovisions inthisrespect, inorder torespond more effectively tothe
requirements oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade, when Panama becomes aMember of
theWTO.
(f) Measuresandarrangementstoensurethatnationalauthoritiespreparingnewtechnicalregulations
orcertification systems, orsubstantial amendments toexisting ones, provide earlyinformation
ontheirproposals inorder toenable thepartyinquestion tofulfilitsobligations onnotifications
under Articles 2.5,2.6,7.3and7.4oftheAgreement
COPANIT isamember ofthePan-American Standards Commission, aninternational
standardization andcertification body which, inturn, isamember oftheInternational Organisation
forStandardization (ISO). COPANIT hasthebases forstudy andapproval ofstandards andcertification
systems applicable toallcases where thereareinternational standards. Thesystem isharmonized with
international systems.
COPANITworksinclosecommunicationwiththeMinistryofTradeandIndustry,aninstitution
ofcentralgovernment.TheCommissionhastheauthoritytoundertakeitsactivities,includinginspections
ofinstitutions, atnational andlocallevel.
Furthermore,COPANIThasrecentlybeenacceptedasamemberoftheInternationalOrganization
forStandardization (ISO).
Once Panama isaMember oftheGATT/WTO andultimately asignatory totheAgreement
onTechnical Barriers toTrade, itwillguarantee tofulfil allitsprovisions.