WTO
Standards (TBT) Committee Advances Transparency and Mutual Recognition
At meetings of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
(TBT) on 8-11 March, WTO members discussed accreditation and digital solutions
for product certification and set up a new working group on transparency. The
committee also addressed 80 specific TBT-related trade concerns raised by
members, 20 of which addressed new concerns related to artificial intelligence,
data protection, the regulation of alcoholic beverages, and environmental
protection, amongst others.
Members
also made progress on work to develop guidelines to help regulators determine
which conformity assessment procedures to apply in situations where risks
associated with products are different.
The
Committee held an in-depth exchange of experiences on conformity assessment
procedures at a meeting on 8 March. A thematic session on accreditation
featured case studies on how accreditation systems can reduce technical
barriers to trade and facilitate trade through cooperation between
accreditation systems in WTO members. Members underlined the importance of the International
Accreditation Forum and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation
frameworks while recognizing challenges with respect to accommodating diverse
national or regional approaches. The
session highlighted in particular how cooperation between accreditation systems
has been crucial for accelerating trade in medical goods and personal
protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accreditation bodies
worldwide turned to remote assessment to ensure continuity of their work while ensuring
rigor and confidence in their assessments.
A
thematic session on digital solutions for conformity assessment procedures
heard that such procedures are still paper-intensive and burdened by red tape,
despite technological advances. The session highlighted how digitization can be
an enabler to upgrade the infrastructure needed by national conformity
assessment bodies (CABs) to provide their services more efficiently. The
session also outlined how digital technologies and solutions can help improve the
objectivity and transparency of conformity assessment procedures and provide
better integrity in supply chains, and highlighted some of the increasingly
complex challenges that arise with new technologies such as medical devices and
3D printing. The session made clear that many developing countries lack
adequate digital infrastructure and lag in the uptake of these technologies,
requiring solutions to overcome this divide.
The
sessions took place on International Women's Day. The chair of the TBT Committee,
Mrs. Elisa María Olmeda de
Alejandro (Mexico), said: “I would like to acknowledge all the women in this
Committee, and the work they carry out daily to achieve equality and to break
away from prejudice. Let us carry on inspiring future generations of women and
show them the opportunities for improving this world, whatever its focus, as
this year's #breakthebias theme begs us to do.”
In
response to various recommendations in the area of transparency, the committee
agreed at its 9-11 March meeting to advance work in this area through a new
working group on transparency open to all WTO members. The deliberations and
suggestions from the working group will be reported to the committee for
consideration or follow up action as necessary. The working group will begin by
addressing two new issues — the revision of notification formats; and use of harmonised system codes to identify products in measures
that are notified to the TBT committee.
The
WTO Secretariat gave a preview of a new integrated ePing
SPS & TBT platform which will provide a single-entry point to track and
follow up on information regarding product requirements. A series of training
and outreach sessions will be offered as the new platform goes live by the end
of March.
The
committee registered progress on work to develop guidelines to help regulators
determine which conformity assessment procedures to apply in situations where
risks associated with products are different. The work, mandated in the Ninth
Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement (adopted in November
2021),
is based on proposals submitted by members. Ahead of the meeting, new
submissions were received from Australia, Colombia, Malaysia, South Africa, the
United Kingdom, and the United States.
Members
discussed 80 specific trade concerns at the committee meeting, of which 20 were
discussed for the first time. The full list of trade concerns raised can be
found here.
Confirming
a growing trend, a significant share of the new concerns involved digital
issues. Topics discussed included risks
posed by artificial intelligence systems, the protection of data collected by
vehicle sensors in accidents, interoperability of smartphones for making
emergency calls more effective, affixing QR codes in energy efficiency labels,
and network security.
Many
issues also related to conformity assessment, touching on a wide variety of
products such as motor vehicles, air conditioners, spices and toys. Concerns
raised by members in this area included challenges faced for on-site
inspections and visits of testing facilities due to pandemic-related travel
restrictions, as well as the need to expand the coverage of accredited
laboratories for testing and certification of regulated products outside the
importing country.
A
number of new concerns addressed issues related to the environment, with a
focus on solar photovoltaic (PV) products, energy efficiency labels, and energy
conservation tests, and fuel economy standards. On solar PV products, members
discussed the need to review life cycle assessment reports in accordance with
relevant international standards and ensure the same treatment of imported and
domestic solar PV products.
Many
members took the floor to express their strong opposition to the invasion of
Ukraine. The Russian delegate responded by saying that the WTO was not the
proper venue for a discussion of this nature.
The
Secretariat reported that since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020,
WTO members have submitted a total of 192 COVID-related TBT notifications.
These notifications comprise more than 40% of all COVID related WTO
notifications to date. Eight members submitted 11 new COVID-19 related TBT
notifications since the last committee meeting in November 2021. These
notifications cover a range of products, including COVID-19 antigen tests,
vaccines and swabs, amongst others. The notified measures broadly relate to
emergency authorization and procedures to streamline access for these medical
goods, new safety and quality requirements, as well as other regulatory
flexibilities adopted during the pandemic.
The
Committee adopted the twenty-seventh Annual Review of the Implementation and
Operation of the TBT Agreement. The review provides a factual presentation of
developments in the committee in 2021 relating to the implementation and
operation of the Agreement. The Annual Review is available in G/TBT/47.
Highlights
from the review:
·
3,966 notifications of new or changed TBT
measures (a record) were submitted to the committee. 83 members submitted at
least one notification during the year.
·
Strong participation from developing and
least-developed members (LDCs) is driving overall growth in notifications,
accounting for the vast majority of new notifications (85%) last year.
·
In 2021, LDCs members submitted 63% more
notifications compared to 2020, a 5% increase over the 2019-2020 period.
·
African members were amongst the most active
in submitting TBT notifications, submitting over a third of all new
notifications in 2021.Five East African Community countries were among the top
ten notifying members: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
·
Members reviewed a total of 257 specific
trade concerns, including 64 new concerns. The number of new concerns raised is
the highest in any one year since 1995.
·
As a group, developing country members in
2021 raised the largest number of new STCs in any year since 1995.
The
Secretariat announced it will organize a “TBT Symposium on Alleviating
Regulatory Bottlenecks in Global Supply Chains” on 14 October 2022.