TECHNICAL
BARRIERS TO TRADE
WTO Members
Discuss Product Quality, Safety and Standards, Debate New Trade Concerns
·
Quality
Infrastructure
·
Standards
·
Transparency
·
Improved
Notification Procedures Adopted
·
ePing
·
Technical
Assistance: TBT Advanced Short Course
·
Specific
Trade Concerns
Summary of the New Specific Trade Concerns
1. European Union - Ecological Design Requirements
for External Power Supply
2. Brazil - Requirements for Export and
Import Certification of Beverages
3. India - Air conditioner
4. Ecuador - Energy Efficiency Requirements
for Clothes Dryers for Domestic Use
5. Ghana - Motor Vehicles
6. United States - Modernization of the
Labelling and Advertising Regulations for Wine, Distilled Spirits and Malt Beverages
7. Qatar - Shelf Life for Cheese
8. Turkey - Regulation on Cosmetics
9. Brazil - Conformity Assessment Requirements
for Medical Devices
10. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Electrical
Clothes Dryers
11. Republic of Korea - Ballast Water Management
Act
12. Pakistan - Labelling, Shelf-Life and
Halal Certification
At a meeting of the Technical Barriers to Trade Committee on
12-13 November, WTO members held discussions on how to develop coherent ways to
test, measure and demonstrate the safety and quality of products. This “quality
infrastructure” helps build trust in exports, enhances competitiveness and thereby
facilitates trade. These discussions were followed by a regular meeting of the committee
on 13-15 November, where members discussed 62 trade concerns, 12 of which were raised
for the first time.
The first
thematic discussion explored the four main pillars of "quality infrastructure"
(QI): accreditation, metrology, standards and conformity assessment procedures.
These are the institutions that test, measure and demonstrate the safety and quality
of products, vital for achieving market access and establishing trust in traded
goods. Members discussed the importance of these pillars functioning as a cohesive
National Quality Infrastructure ecosystem, their importance for competitiveness,
the need for technical assistance on QI, as well as regional efforts to cooperate
on QI. More information on the session programme, presentations
and webcast is available here.
The thematic
discussion on standards focused on incorporating standards in regulations, including
policy considerations, existing guidelines and best practices. Members highlighted
significant benefits to using standards as a regulatory tool, the importance of
monitoring standards referenced in regulations, and factors that are relevant when
referencing standards. More information on the session programme,
presentations and webcast is available here.
The committee
agreed on a new procedure to improve the transparency of WTO members' measures and
to facilitate access to adopted measures. These are contained in a revised addendum
format for notifications (G/TBT/35/Rev.1). This addendum will facilitate access
to information such as the date of entry into force of a previously notified regulation
and its availability through national websites. This follows on from the committee's
recent recommendation in the Eighth Triennial Review to encourage
members to notify the adopted final texts of regulations.
The WTO
Secretariat presented some of the recent improvements to ePing, a publicly
available alert system for tracking sanitary and phytosanitary
and TBT notifications issued by WTO members. There are currently over 8,400 registered
ePing users from the public and private sectors. The recent
improvements include a more user-friendly home page and an enhanced platform for
sharing additional information on notifications, such as translations, full texts
and comments.
An Advanced
Short Course on the TBT Agreement was organized by the WTO Secretariat in parallel
to the committee meeting from 12 to 15 November 2019. Twenty-five participants from
developing and least-developed members, who are involved at a technical or policy
level with the implementation of the TBT Agreement, attended the course. More information
is available here.
Over
the two-day TBT committee meeting, WTO members discussed 62 specific trade concerns,
including 12 new ones. A full list of the trade concerns is available here.
For more
information on previous trade concerns see the 18-19 June 2019, 6-7 March 2019 , 14-15 November 2018
meeting summaries.
A summary
of the new specific trade concerns is provided below:
China
said the revised EU measure that required placing "output power" information
on products' nameplates was unjustified. This was not in line with International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, which only
require nameplates to contain information on "output voltage" and "output
current". China added that the transition period provided for manufacturers
to follow this requirement is insufficient and requested the EU to extend it for
a year.
The EU
said that the new regulation will apply from 1 April 2020 and will include updated
energy efficiency requirements in line with the most ambitious international standards.
The new regulation will also improve the information offered by manufacturers to
consumers. The EU said that the regulation will not affect products already on the
market and that the transitional period provided was set to meet the EU’s commitment
to increase its energy efficiency by 32.5% by 2030.
Brazil
said it has decided not to pursue a newly introduced requirement concerning the
addition of water in the production of wine. The United States, South Africa and
New Zealand had raised questions regarding the new regulation.
Brazil
said that the discontinuation of this regulation process will soon be notified to
the committee.
Korea
and the United States raised concerns with a new measure introduced by India which
requires finished products of air conditioners and their related parts to be tested
by laboratories designated by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Korea maintained
that manufacturers are having issues with this regulation due to the absence of
designated testing laboratories.
Korea
and the US requested that India grant a six-month grace period after test laboratories
are designated and are available to use. Korea also urged India to approve alternative
methods such as accepting internationally recognized test reports. The US also requested
that the BIS recognize air conditioner equipment verified by the Air-Conditioning,
Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Certification Program to expedite its
availability to Indian consumers.
India
said that the recognition of laboratories was a continuous and ongoing process.
The BIS has already recognised two outside laboratories,
including one for testing temperature. India said that the recognition of foreign
laboratories is done on a reciprocal and mutually beneficial basis.
Korea
raised concerns about Ecuador's requirements for the minimum allowable energy efficiency
of clothes dryers. These requirements were neither in line with international standards
(IEC 61121), nor with the regulations applied by other Latin American countries.
Ecuador
took note of Korea's concerns, which will be assessed and responded to in due course.
The United
States and Canada commended Ghana for taking steps to improve road safety by adopting
motor vehicle safety and emissions standards, and for notifying the measures to
the WTO. However, the US and Canada are concerned that the measures mean that Ghana
would discontinue accepting vehicles built to comply with US and Canadian regulations.
In their view, basing the standards exclusively on the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE) standards would cause undue barriers to trade, and they encouraged
Ghana to accept vehicles complying with other international standards.
The European
Union expressed its concerns with a proposed measure by the United States related
to the labelling of wine and spirits. In relation to wine labelling, the EU flagged
concerns regarding character size limits on labels and restrictions on the indication
of the vintage and grape variety. The EU was also concerned about certain appellations
of origin for fruit, rice and agricultural wines and a minimum alcohol content of
15%.
Regarding
spirits, the EU raised concerns related to the labelling of alcoholic content, and
multiple distillation claims that are inconsistent with long-standing labelling
conventions. It was also concerned about statements of age, storage and percentage
and standards of identity (e.g. a minimum alcohol content of 40% requirement for
all distilled spirits).
The US
said the comment period for its rulemaking on this measure closed on 26 June 2019.
There are several possible paths forward regarding the modernization of the alcoholic
beverage labelling regulations. The US said it was analysing
hundreds of comments involving a great variety of challenging issues of widespread
interest and was giving all comments and issues the analysis required.
The United
States and the European Union expressed concerns with the measure published by the
Qatari Ministry of Public Health, which restricts the reconstitution of milk and
establishes cheese shelf life parameters. The measure requires that 80% of a cheese
product's shelf life remain at the time of importation. The US and the EU said this
shelf-life requirement is so short that in practice it prohibits dairy products
originating from countries not geographically close to Qatar from being viable purchase
options for importers.
The regulation
restricts the marketing of fluid milks made from reconstituted powdered milks, requires
country of origin labelling, and requires certain white cheeses to be presented
in low-fat form only and the obligatory addition of vitamins to milk. The US and
the EU urged Qatar to notify the measure to the TBT committee and suspend its implementation.
Qatar
said that the purpose of this regulation is to ensure product quality and protect
consumers. Qatar added that the relevant measures apply equally to domestic and
imported goods, and were adopted with WTO obligations in mind. Qatar said that it
will convey comments to the relevant authorities.
The United
States raised concerns regarding new product filing, labelling and testing requirements
introduced by Turkey between 2016 and 2018. The US is concerned that the proposed
amendment would require companies to disclose highly confidential business information
related to product formulation and test data that is not typically required during
a product filing.
The US
said that while it understands that Turkey’s objective is to provide Turkish consumers
with information on products in the marketplace, information being disclosed could
enable counterfeits and competitors to mine information. The United States asked
Turkey to suspend the implementation of this new measure until the draft amendment
is notified to the TBT committee, and that a 60-day comment period be provided.
Turkey
said that cosmetics regulation is one of the areas where harmonization with the
EU legislation is continuing. After receiving and evaluating the comments of the
European Commission on the draft regulation, Turkey will notify the measure to the
TBT committee with a 60-day comment period.
The United
States expressed its concern with a proposed measure by Brazil regarding the validity
periods for testing and certification of medical devices and the requirements for
the application of the Compliance Identification Seal for medical devices sold on
the Brazilian market.
The US
said that it appreciates the positive changes that Brazil has introduced in the
finalization of Ordinance 259/2019 (notified to the WTO on 13 June 2019), which
would eliminate the validity periods for testing and certification of medical devices.
The US understood that Brazil will also allow the application of Compliance Identification
Seal at the port of export or after arrival in Brazil without prior facility inspection.
Brazil
informed the committee that all validity periods originally introduced will be withdrawn.
The proposed text already allows for the Seal to be affixed in Brazil and that the
extra requirements for inspection of the facilities in which the Seal is affixed
will also be withdrawn. Manufacturers and importers will be responsible for ensuring
their compliance with the affixation requirements.
Korea
raised concerns with Saudi Arabia's criteria for power consumption tolerance of
electrical clothes dryers and flagged that it is very narrow and different from
international standards (IEC 60335-1). Korea asked Saudi Arabia to harmonize its
regulation with international standards to avoid any unnecessary trade restrictions.
Saudi
Arabia said that it will discuss the matter bilaterally with Korea.
The European
Union raised concerns with Korea’s requirements on certification of ballast water
treatment systems (BWTS) for vessels registered under the Korean flag, in particular
regarding the lack of recognition of tests performed on BWTS outside Korea. The
certification requirements introduced by Korea create additional costs and administrative
delays, with negative impact on the competitiveness of EU companies. The EU asked
Korea to fully recognise all tests previously performed
according to International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements and the G8 guidelines.
The EU also urged Korea to notify the measure to the TBT committee.
Korea
said that domestic and foreign manufactured goods (including from the EU) are subject
to the same requirements with respect to the certification of BWTS for vessels registered
under the Korean flag. Korea said that the Act foresees the possibility of recognizing
foreign BWTS certification systems as equal to the Korean system.
The United
States and the European Union raised concerns with a new regulation introduced by
Pakistan, which requires mandatory labelling, halal certification and shelf-life
for all consumer food and beverage products. While the EU and the US recognize the
importance of ensuring that products are halal for Pakistani consumers, they urged
Pakistan to develop halal policies that meet the needs of consumers without being
overly burdensome or trade prohibitive.
The US
encouraged Pakistan to not only recognize halal certifiers accredited by the International
Halal Accreditation Forum and the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic
Countries but also to recognize halal certificates from other US-based halal certifiers
recognized by other Islamic countries. The EU was concerned that the use of stickers,
overprinting, stamp or scratched labelling is prohibited. The EU and the US stressed
the importance of notifying any future revisions to the WTO at the draft stage,
providing WTO members with an opportunity to comment.
Pakistan
said that the shelf life and other labelling requirements are not new and existed
previously at the sub-federal and provincial levels. Pakistan said that the new
measure is meant to incorporate and streamline the existing measures with national
laws. The measures are applicable on a non-discriminatory basis and Pakistan remains
open to bilateral discussions with concerned members.
The chair
of the committee, Mr Sung-hwa
Jang (Republic of Korea), announced that the next regular meeting will be held on
26-27 February 2020. It will be preceded by an informal meeting on 25 February.