Wto Tbt Agreement Code Of Good Practice

kenty9x | October 17, 2021 | 0

Governments are required to “inform” other Members, through the WTO Secretariat, of proposed measures that may have a significant impact on the trade of other Members and that are not based on relevant international standards. These notifications are included in the WTO document series G/TBT/N/ISO 3-digit country code/#. Most of these regulations aim to protect consumers through information, mainly in the form of labelling rules. Other regulations include classification and definition, packaging requirements and measures (size, weight, etc.) to prevent fraudulent practices. Recognizing that no country should be prevented from taking the measures necessary to ensure the quality of its exports or to protect human, animal or plant life or health or to prevent deceptive practices to the extent it deems appropriate, provided that they are not applied in any way, which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustified discrimination between countries under the same conditions or a disguised restriction on international trade and otherwise in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement; Unnecessary barriers to trade may arise when (i) a regulation is more restrictive than necessary to achieve a specific policy objective, or (ii) when it does not meet a legitimate objective. A regulation is more restrictive than necessary if the objective pursued can be achieved by alternative measures which have less restrictive effects on trade, taking into account the risks that failure to achieve the objective would entail. Elements that members can use for risk assessment are: available technical and scientific information, technology or end uses of products. Article 2(2) of the Agreement states that legitimate objectives include, inter alia: national safety requirements, the prevention of fraudulent practices, the protection of human health or safety, the protection of animal and plant life or health or the environment. Article 6.3 of the TBT Agreement strongly encourages WTO Members to enter into negotiations with other Members on the mutual recognition of the results of conformity assessment. The presence of a high degree of confidence in testing and certification bodies is indeed a prerequisite for the proper functioning of an MRA. For this reason, Article 6(1) of the TBT Agreement recognises that prior consultations may be necessary to achieve a mutually satisfactory understanding of the competence of conformity assessment bodies. It also stresses that compliance by compliant assessment bodies with relevant guidance documents or recommendations of international standardisation bodies can be considered as an indication of appropriate technical competence.

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