REPORT (2022) OF THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE

1.  The Committee held its 86^th, 87^th and 88^th regular meetings on 9-11 March, 13-15 July, and 16‑18 November 2022, respectively. The 86^th meeting was chaired by Mrs Elisa María Olmeda de Alejandro (Mexico) and the 87^th and 88^th meetings were chaired by Mr Anwar Hussain Shaik (India).

2.  During these meetings^[1], the Committee:

a.    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, 145 Members have submitted at least one such statement;

b.    with respect to notifications^[2]:

i.     received 1875 new notifications from Members;

ii.    received 1301 follow-up notifications (addenda, corrigenda, revisions) from Members;

c.    with respect to specific trade concerns:

i.     discussed 53 new specific trade concerns;

ii.    discussed 188 previously raised specific trade concerns;

d.    took note of the 27^th Annual Review of the Implementation and Operation of the TBT Agreement under Article 15.3 (_G/TBT/47)^[3]; and

e.    held thematic sessions on conformity assessment procedures dedicated to accreditation^[4] and on digital solutions^[5] in March, on Transparency (product coverage and domestic coordination)^[6] and on regulatory cooperation between Members (MSMEs)^[7] in July and, on good regulatory practice and on standards (standards development in Codex) in November. The Committee also held informal meetings dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Guidelines on 10 February, 27 April, 29 June and 13 October.

3.  At the meetings held in 2022, representatives of BIPM, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, IEC, ISO, OIML, UNECE, UNIDO and ARSO updated the Committee on their activities relevant to the work of the TBT Committee, including on technical assistance.