WTO Debates TBT
·
India on the Mat for Compulsory Testing of Imported
Cosmetics and Toys
·
India says Cosmetics Still at Draft Stage, Toys Draft
only at Stakeholder Consultation Stage
In line with the 2019-2021 work plan to improve the
operation and implementation of the WTOs Agreement on Technical Barriers to
Trade (TBT), WTO members held a thematic session on transparency on 18 19 June
at WTO headquarters. On 20-21 June they participated
in a regular meeting of the TBT committee, where they discussed 65 TBT-related
trade concerns, 12 of which were addressed for the first time.
As
part of the implementation of the committee's 2019-2021 workplan,
WTO members held a thematic session on transparency. The aim of the thematic
session was to further deepen the Committee's exchange
of experiences in this area. The session covered, among other issues, the
general functioning of enquiry points, tracking and reacting to members'
measures and notifications, and handling comments. The programme,
presentations and webcasting of the session are available here.
Over
the two-day TBT committee meeting, WTO members discussed 65 specific trade
concerns, including 12 new concerns. The new concerns ranged from drones to
cosmetics, food and beverages, toys, recycling, waste and the environment. A
full list of the trade concerns is available here.
For more information on previous trade concerns see
the 6-7 March 2019 , 14-15 November 2018, 19-21 June 2018 meeting
summaries.
A
summary of the new specific trade concerns is provided
below:
Japan
and Korea, supported by the United States, said the proposed measure by China
could be discriminatory with respect to the need to conduct animal testing,
inspection requirements for imported and domestic cosmetics, and submission of
samples. They said China should adopt a flexible framework through which test
results from an in-house or foreign laboratory can be
accepted. Members added that the new regulation can
have an impact on the shelf life of certain inspected products. China was requested to provide an adequate transition period to
allow industry to adapt.
China
said that the regulation on cosmetic inspection was notified
to the committee in February 2019 and is still in the drafting phase. China
welcomed members' comments on this draft and said it will provide a response at
a later stage.
China
said that a new proposed regulation by the European Union concerning unmanned
aircrafts and drones is not aligned with relevant international standards and
contains impractical requirements for testing and limitations on range which China said could impede innovation and overall
performance. China asked for an opportunity for comment on the new version of
the regulation.
The
EU said that the draft regulation took into account comments and suggestions
provided by China. The EU said the range limitations were
introduced for safety and privacy reasons and that there will be a
three-year transition period for the operation of the unmanned aircrafts.
The
United States, supported by the European Union, expressed concern with India's
draft requirements that imported cosmetics be tested
in India in line with local standards developed by the Bureau of Indian
Standards (BIS) and submit a product certification and testing protocol. They
were also concerned that India does not accept tests conducted outside India,
nor does India refer to international standards in the cosmetics sector.
The US asked India to notify the draft rules and provide a suitable period for
comments by interested parties.
India
said that it had notified the proposed rules in June 2019 and gave 60 days for
interested members to submit comments.
The
United States, supported by the European Union and Canada, asked whether India
had a timeline for the implementation of the proposed measure for quality
control of toys. The US was concerned that India had changed its approach by
requiring in-country testing of imported toys, while
previously toy manufacturers could test to either the ASTM, ISO or EN toy
safety standards in the country of manufacture by a laboratory accredited under
the ILAC system.
The
US and Canada believe that the new measure is burdensome, and that India did
not provide enough information regarding the evaluation of specific toy hazards
to explain the regulatory change. The EU, the US and Canada encouraged India to
notify the TBT committee of the proposed change.
India
said that the matter is still undergoing stakeholder consultations at the
domestic level and once the draft is ready, it will be
notified to the WTO.
The
United States, supported by Canada, urged Korea to notify the regulation on
package recycle labelling and allow a suitable comment period for stakeholders.
The US is concerned that the classification regulation does not consider
current efforts to promote recycling in other countries, and that the
Korea-specific packaging requirement could disrupt trade. The US said that the
measure does not refer to relevant ASTM international standards and could affect
a large range of products
Korea
said that this measure is under preparation and that it will notify it to the
WTO with enough time for stakeholders to comment and for industries to adapt.
The
United States, supported by Switzerland, the European Union and Russia,
expressed concern with a proposed measure by Saudi Food and Drug Associations
(SFDA) which introduces an upper limit of sugar on imports of food and
beverages. The US noted that there are numerous products where the use of sugar
is necessary as a preservative and stabiliser and
that there is no viable alternative.
Members
said that while they appreciate the objective of the new regulation to address
obesity and diabetes, they believe that there is a lack of scientific evidence
to justify the limits prescribed. Members encouraged Saudi Arabia to conduct
consultations with private sector stakeholders in a transparent manner. The US
added that if the measure is implemented, it will
disrupt the export of a wide range of products such as jams, ice-creams,
carbonated drinks and confectionaries.
Saudi
Arabia said that the implementation of this measure will
be suspended until further notice. It added that the regulation will be reviewed and that it will continue bilateral
consultations with interested members.
The
United States and Chile, supported by Australia, South Africa and New Zealand,
expressed concerns with Uruguay's prohibition of imports of wine containing
exogenous water. They are also concerned that the new measure requires
importers of wine to present a certificate that the wine does not contain
exogenous water.
While
members acknowledged that Uruguay's objective is the prevention of deceptive
practices and consumer protection, they are concerned that the measure is more
trade restrictive than necessary and not in line with international standards
such as OIV. They further asked Uruguay to define the term exogenous
water and the scope of the application of the measure.
Uruguay
said that the scope of this regulation is limited to wine, and that Uruguay
will continue consultations with other WTO members on this matter.
Indonesia
raised concerns with the European Union's measure related to the introduction
of a product environmental footprint for intermediate paper products entering
the EU market. Indonesia said the measure discriminates against pulp and paper
products from tropical countries through accounting rules that favour plantations in Europe.
The
EU said that the rules for calculating the footprint profile are voluntary and
do not fall under the WTO TBT Agreement. The new rules were
developed in a pilot process and in response to mistrust and confusion
among consumers arising from a proliferation of environmental information.
China
expressed concern with newly issued eco-design regulations on servers and data
storage products, washing machines and washer dryers. China said that there is
uncertainty about the scope of products covered, and that certain test methods
are inconsistent with international standards established by IEC. Moreover,
China said that specific requirements on spare parts delivery
cannot be met by overseas manufacturers, and that the requirements can
cause unnecessary trade obstacles and cost.
The
European Union said that the notification gave a suitable period
of time for comments from different stakeholders and that it included
new circular economy requirements to improve the durability, operability and
efficiency of the recycling process.
Guyana
voiced concerns regarding a new regulation under which the European Union has
introduced a revised spirits definition and is restricting the use of the term
"agriculture" (in all languages) for spirits drinks. Guyana is
concerned that this new regulation may constitute an unnecessary obstacle for
the country's exports of rum to the EU market. It also invited the EU to
consider a less restrictive measure that would allow it to achieve the
objective of protecting the geographic indication of other exporters of spirits
drinks.
The
EU said that the reservation of the use of the term "agriculture" on
rum has existed in the EU since 1989. The EU noted that it had not received any
comments during the extended comment period provided on this proposed
regulation.
The
United States, supported by Canada, raised concerns regarding the
implementation of the medical device regulations introduced by the European
Union. The US, for instance, said that it is concerned about the insufficient
number of bodies designated to test and certify products ("notified
bodies") under the new regulation, and the lack of availability of
implementing regulations, and therefore urged the EU to delay the implementation
for three years to allow industries to adapt.
The
EU said that the regulations will enter into force in
May 2020 and May 2022. The EU is aware of the time limitations imposed on
various stakeholders involved in the process, and the challenge of ensuring
sufficient notified bodies. It also added that there will
be transitional periods allowing manufacturers to place products in the EU
market under the old directives until May 2024.
Indonesia
expressed concern with India's implementation of the regulation on moisture
content for Cassia Vera. Indonesia noted that its exports no longer have access
to India's market despite being compliant with the maximum content of moisture
set in the regulation, which it said is being applied
inconsistently by India. Indonesia further asked India to provide scientific
evidence for setting a more stringent limit on moisture content than the
existing ISO international standard.
India
said that the quality parameters for Cassia Vera in the regulation were notified to the WTO in 2010, and adopted in 2011, and
were set to avoid the formation of certain aflatoxins, considering the
geographic location of India. India also noted that this issue should be addressed in the trade facilitation context and
not the TBT committee.
In
line with the Eighth Triennial Review adopted on 15 November 2018, the TBT
committee started work on developing non-prescriptive practical guidelines to
support regulators in the choice and design of appropriate and proportionate
conformity assessment procedures. WTO members began discussions on this matter
during an informal meeting on 18 June, with a submission from the European
Union. A number of members stated their
intention to provide further written contributions.
In
conjunction with the transparency thematic session, the WTO Trade and
Environment Division organized a transparency workshop with an emphasis
on ePingfrom
17-21 June. The course was attended by 38
government officials who are involved at a technical or
policy level with the implementation of the TBT Agreement. ISO, the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Swedish Board of Trade
supported the participation of nine capital-based officials.
The
interactive workshop provided an opportunity for participants to clarify
technical points, practise online tools (ePing, TBT IMS and the online
notification submission system - TBT NSS), learn from each other's experiences
and come up with action plans for follow-up. Four participants and two experts
also presented their national experiences during the thematic session on
transparency.
On
20 June, the Swedish National Board of Trade, in cooperation with the Swedish
Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the European Commission, organized a side
event entitled "Improving TBT Technical Assistance Coordination".
This event highlighted how the coordination of technical assistance among WTO
members and observers to the TBT committee has proved useful and helped improve
effectiveness of interventions. It included panellists
from Australia, Liberia, the Philippines, the US and Zambia.
Mr
Sung-Hwa Jang (Republic of Korea) took up his duties
as the new Chair of the TBT Committee during that meeting. He further announced
that the next meeting of the committee will be held on
13-14 November 2019. It will be preceded by thematic
sessions on quality infrastructure and standards on 12 November. A special
event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the 1979 Tokyo
Round's TBT Agreement - the "Standards Code" will
be held on 15 November.