REPORT (2016) OF THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE

1.  The Committee held its 68^th, 69^th and 70^th regular meetings on 9-10 March, 15-16 June and 10-11 November 2016, respectively. The 68^th meeting was chaired by Ms Alana Lanza (Honduras), and the 69^th and 70^th meetings were chaired by Ms Esther Peh (Singapore).^[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, 137 Members have submitted at least one such statement. In addition, 31 new specific trade concerns were discussed by the Committee on measures taken by Members. The Committee also heard exchanges on 51 specific trade concerns that had been raised in previous years.

3.  During 2016, the Committee held seven thematic sessions. The topics covered were conformity assessment procedures, good regulatory practice, standards, regulatory cooperation between Members (energy efficiency and food labelling), technical assistance and transparency. The thematic session on transparency included the Committee's Eighth Special Meeting on Procedures for Information Exchange.^[2] At the Information Exchange meeting, held on 8 November, an Alert System for SPS and TBT Notifications ("ePing") was launched.^[3]

4.  At the meeting of 9-10 March 2016, the Committee adopted its report of the 21st Annual Review of the Implementation and Operation of the TBT Agreement under Article 15.3 (G/TBT/38/Rev.1). At the same meeting, the Committee carried out the 21^st 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.22).

5.  During the reporting period, representatives of the ACP, ARSO, BIPM, Codex Alimentarius, CROSQ, IEC, ISO, OECD, OIML, UNECE and WHO updated the Committee on activities relevant to the work of the TBT Committee, including on technical assistance. At the 15-16 June meeting, the Committee granted ad hoc observer status to the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ).

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