RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/W/18
26January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0284)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATIONS MADE UNDER THE TOKYO ROUND
AGREEMENT ONTECHNICAL BARRIERS TOTRADE
Note bytheSecretariat
Atitsmeeting of20October 1995, theWTO TBTCommittee agreed thatthefirstAnnual
Review oftheImplementation andOperation oftheWTO TBTAgreement would takeplace atthe
firstmeeting in1996 withtheformat contained indocument G/TBT/W/12 (G/TBT/M/3).
TheAnnual Review willinclude, interalia:atableindicating thenumber ofnotifications
made byMembers under relevant Articles since theentry intoforce oftheAgreement; anda
tableproviding thenumber ofnotifications made under different objectives andrationales stated in
notifications byMembers.
TheSecretariat hasexamined notifications made under theTokyo Round TBTAgreement
fortheperiod 1980-1994. ThisNote contains theSecretariat 'sfindings regarding:
(i)notifications made bySignatories under relevant Articles oftheTokyo Round TBTAgreement;
and(ii)different objectives andrationales stated innotifications byMembers.
Regarding notifications made under relevant Articles, Table Ishows that84.5%ofthe
notifications were made under Article 2.5.2 oftheTokyo Round TBTAgreement; thisArticle
corresponds toArticle 2.9.2 oftheWTO TBTAgreement.
Regarding objectives andrationales stated innotifications byMembers overtheperiod,
tencategories havebeengrouped ofwhich fivearestated inArticle 2ofboththeTokyo Round
andtheWTO TBTAgreements: "...interalia:national security requirements; theprevention of
deceptive practices; protection forhuman health orsafety, animal orplant lifeorhealth, orthe
environment...". Theother fivecategories are:quality requirements; harmonization; adoption to
newdomestic laws; lowering orremoval oftrade barriers; andcostsaving andincreasing
productivity. Incases where anotification doesnotcontain aclearly defined objective, ithas
beenincluded inthecategory which appears most suitable. Certain notifications provide several
objectives andrationales andtheyhavebeenclassified under more thanonecategory.
Thefollowing isabriefdescription ofthefivecategories ofobjectives andrationales not
stated inArticle 2oftheAgreement:
- "Quality Requirements" covers minimum quality andperformance requirements
thatproducts must comply with, especially inthecaseofnewproducts taking
account oflatest advances intechnology (e.g., intheareaoftelecommunications).
Thetechnical regulations concerned usually involve quality andstandard controls
suchascertification andinspection procedures.
- "Harmonization" involves theadaptation oflaws, regulations andstandards to
international standards andregional standards.G/TBT/W/18
Page2
- "Adaptation toNewDomestic Laws" involves adaptation ofexisting technical
regulations tonewdecisions andregulation reviews andamendments.
- "lowering orRemoval ofTrade Barriers" covers notifications ofregulations whose
purpose istofacilitate trade andallow animprovement inmarket access;
e.g.lowering orwithdrawing ofastandard, exemption from requirements,
withdrawal ofbans, broadening oftherange ofgoods permitted forsale,
simplification andrationalization ofadministrative procedures.
- "Cost Saving andIncreasing Productivity" covers costreducing andproductivity
increasing objectives.
Over theperiod of1980-94, themost frequently citedobjective andrationale wasthe
"protection ofhuman health orsafety" which made upover47%ofnotifications. Thisrefers to
theprotection ofthegeneral public, consumers orworkers andtheirproperty. "Quality
requirements" isthesecond largest category, followed bythe"Prevention ofdeceptive practices",
"Harmonization" and"Protection oftheenvironment". Relating tothe"prevention ofdeceptive
practices", thegreater partconcerns theprotection ofconsumers through consumer information,
mainly intheform oflabelling requirements. Others include classification anddefinition,
packaging requirements, andmeasurements (size, weight etc.)fortheassurance ofgood results in
trade andmarket transparency.G/TBT/W/18
Page3
1.NOTIFICATIONS MADE UNDER RELEVANT ARTICLES
Thefollowing tabledepicts thepercentage ofnotifications made under different articles ofthe
Tokyo Round TBTAgreement byyearandthetotalfortheperiod of1980-1994.
Year Percentage ofnotifications made under therelevant Articles eachyear
2.5.2 2.6.1 7.3.2 7.4.1 other notstated
1980 72.2 11.9 9.9 5.0 0.9 0
1981 77.0 8.0 4.7 0.3 9.6 0.3
1982 73.0 6.4 17.6 2.0 0 1.0
1983 63.9 7.1 28.2 0.4 0.4 0
1984 73.5 11.2 12.6 0.9 0.4 1.3
1985 75.1 10.7 9.6 4.6 0 0
1986 71.8 19.0 7.4 0 0 1.9
1987 82.4 8.0 9.0 0.5 0 0
1988 87.2 5.7 4.6 0.4 0.4 1.8
1989 93.6 2.7 3.4 0 0 0.3
1990 89.3 5.5 2.7 0 0 2.5
1991 89.7 5.0 2.8 0.3 0.8 1.4
1992 93.2 3.0 2.3 0.3 0 1.3
1993 89.8 4.2 2.6 1.0 0 2.4
1994 89.8 6.3 2.0 0.2 0.2 1.6
TOTAL 84.5 6.8 6.6 0.7 0.8 1.22.NOTIFICATIONS MADE UNDER DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES AND RATIONALESG/TBT/W/18
Page4
Objectives
and
RationalesPercentage ofNotifications Made
1
9
8
01
9
8
11
9
8
21
9
8
31
9
8
41
9
8
51
9
8
61
9
8
71
9
8
81
9
8
91
9
9
01
9
9
11
9
9
21
9
9
31
9
9
41980-
1994
1.National Security Requirements 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 0.2 0 0.3 0.6 0 0.1 0 0 0 0.1%
2.Prevention ofDeceptive
Practices 8.4 8.5 10.1 8.4 7.3 6.6 8.6 10.2 8.5 13.2 8.8 12 8.8 12.4 6.79.4%
3.Protection ofHuman Health or
Safety66.2 54.5 55.7 50.1 45.3 51.5 53.9 55.8 47.6 45.8 47 41.6 35.4 43.1 4747.4 %
4.Protection ofAnimal orPlant
LifeorHealth4.6 2.1 1 2.3 1.9 2 1.2 1.7 2.9 1.2 0.6 2.4 1 3.4 5.22.3%
5.Protection oftheEnvironment 7.1 7.6 4.5 3.5 9 4.6 5.3 7.5 9.6 7.2 10.6 9.4 8.7 12.8 8.5 8.3%
6.Quality Requirements 9.1 8.5 17.8 16.3 23.5 21.6 14.2 12.6 15.9 11.1 16.4 11.9 22 15.4 15.4 15.6%
7.Harmonization 1 7.6 5.2 3.3 7.8 2.5 8.4 3.2 8.1 15.2 9.4 10.2 19.4 6.7 11.6 9.1%
8.Adaptation toNew Domestic
Laws1.5 1 0.2 7.5 2 2.3 1.9 2 1.5 2.6 3.5 7 1.9 1.2 1 2.5%
9.Lowering orRemoval ofTrade
Barriers 1 8.6 4 8.2 1.6 5.3 4.2 6.6 4.9 1.8 2.4 4.1 2.3 3.6 44.1%
10.Cost Saving andIncreasing
Productivity0 0.7 0 0.4 0 0 0 0 0.2 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.7 0.20.3%
Other 1 1 1 0 1.6 3.6 2.3 0.5 0.4 0.6 1.1 1.1 0 0.6 0.4 0.9%
TOTAL 100%