REPORT (2015) OF THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE

1.  The Committee held its 65^th, 66^th and 67^th regular meetings on 18-19 March, 17-18 June and 4-6 November 2015, respectively. The 65^th meeting was chaired by Mr. Filipe Ramalheira (Portugal), and the 66^th and 67^th meetings were chaired by Ms Alana Maria Lanza Suazo (Honduras).^[1]

2.  During these meetings, the Committee heard statements from Members regarding measures taken to ensure the implementation and administration of the TBT Agreement under Article 15.2. In total, since 1995, 131 Members have submitted at least one such statement. In addition, 37 new specific trade concerns were brought to the attention and discussed by the Committee on certain measures, or proposed measures, taken by Members. The Committee also heard exchanges on several trade concerns that had been previously raised. During 2015, the Committee held three thematic sessions on the preparation of the Seventh Triennial Review.^[2]

3.  At the meeting of 18-19 March 2015, the Committee adopted its report of the 20^th Annual Review of the Implementation and Operation of the TBT Agreement under Article 15.3 (G/TBT/36). At the same meeting, the Committee carried out the 20^th Annual Review of the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards (hereafter "the Code"), based on a list of standardizing bodies that have accepted the Code since 1995 (G/TBT/CS/2/Rev.21) and the 20^th Edition of the WTO TBT Standards Code Directory, prepared by the ISO/IEC Information Centre. At its meeting on 4-6 November, the Committee adopted the Seventh Triennial Review on an ad referendum basis.

4.  During the reporting period, representatives of the Codex Alimentarius, ISO, IEC, OECD, BIPM, OIML, UNECE and GSO updated the Committee on activities relevant to the work of the TBT Committee, including on technical assistance. At the 4-6 November meeting, the Committee granted ad hoc observer status to the African Organization for Standardization (ARSO) and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

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