TBT Meet Discusses Tyres, Toy Safety and Food

WTO members aired trade concerns related to tyres, toys, cloning and food when they met as the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade on 4-6 November 2015. Members also agreed on a way forward for organizing the Committee’s work programme for 2016-18.

Specific trade concerns

Delegations raised 17 new specific trade concerns and 39 previously raised concerns during the three-day meeting. This brings the total number of trade concerns discussed in 2015 to 92, the second-highest number in a single year since 1995.

New STCs addressed at the meeting include the following:

Tyres: Members raised concerns about regulatory measures introduced by the European Union and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding tyres. China questioned the scientific basis for the EU’s method of testing tyres, and stressed that this would impose significant costs on producers. In response, the EU stated that the test method was based on an international standard, and could be carried out in most specialized laboratories. For its part, the EU raised concerns about Saudi Arabia’s tyre labelling requirements, and asked for a longer transition period before the requirements are enforced. Saudi Arabia expressed its willingness to discuss this matter bilaterally.

Toy safety: Toy safety was discussed for the second Committee meeting in a row. Members raised concerns about new testing and certification requirements adopted by Brazil and Colombia to address potential safety risks in toys. Canada, together with the European Union and the United States, questioned aspects of Brazil’s certification requirements. They asked, for example, how audits of toy production facilities would be carried out and emphasized the need to document on film the testing of toys as a condition for certification. Meanwhile, the United States and Canada highlighted concerns about Colombia’s requirement that the testing of its imported toys be carried out in Colombia. Brazil and Colombia noted these comments and said that they were in the process of addressing members’ concerns. Brazil and Colombia also highlighted the importance of protecting children from unsafe toys, and stressed that their measures were in accordance with international practices.

Cloning: Members discussed a proposed EU ban on products derived from cloned animals. The United States and Brazil considered that this proposed measure may be more trade restrictive than necessary, and questioned the supporting scientific evidence. The EU provided an update on the ongoing decision-making process for this measure and expressed its willingness to further discuss the matter.

Food: New food related discussions involved organic products as well as apples. Concerns included the limitation of entry points for apples into India (already discussed in other WTO committees) and an EU decision to withdraw “equivalence” recognition of Indian organic products (already discussed in the SPS Committee). “Equivalence” refers to governments recognizing other countries’ measures as acceptable even if they are different from their own, so long as an equivalent level of protection is provided. With respect to India’s decision to limit the entry of apples to the port of Nhava Sheva, some delegations argued that this would increase delays and create additional costs for producers and exporters. India stated that this measure was neither a technical regulation, standard nor conformity assessment procedure, and therefore did not fall within the scope of application of the TBT Agreement. Regarding the EU decision to no longer recognize equivalence of India’s organic products, India was of the view that this measure was overly burdensome for producers and would hinder trade with the EU. The EU in turn argued that India had not satisfied provisions contained in the bilateral agreement which recognized such equivalence.

The discussions will be summarized in a forthcoming document (G/TBT/M/67).

Other issues discussed at the meeting

The Committee agreed on a way forward for 2016-18 (the Seventh Triennial Review). The practice of holding so called “thematic sessions” is set to continue – these sessions are intended to deepen members’ exchange of information on various topics in the TBT area. For example, in March 2016, the Committee will continue its work on “good regulatory practices” (GRP) and discuss, among other topics, developments in international and regional systems for conformity assessment. Later in the year delegations will continue discussions on standards and technical assistance and commence an exchange in the area of regulatory cooperation. Some delegations said they would need more time to consult their capitals, but agreed that the Committee could adopt the report if there were no objections raised by 1 December 2015 (officially known as adopting the decision “ad referendum”).

The Committee also adopted its 2015 Annual Report to the WTO’s Council for Trade in Goods (G/L/1138) and agreed to grant ad hoc observer status to the African Standards Organization (ARSO) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in response to requests from these organizations.