Commenting
on a TBT Notification
GOOD PRACTICE Guide
Note by the Secretariat[1]
In the Ninth Triennial Review, the TBT Committee adopted a
recommendation under the topic of technical assistance to develop a good
practice guide on how to prepare a comment on a TBT notification.[2]
This Good Practice Guide[3]
is primarily intended to assist TBT enquiry points in managing the commenting
process. It can also serve as a useful reference for other stakeholders looking
for guidance on how they may best use and engage with the commenting process.
_______________
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1
INTRODUCTION.. 3
2 OVERVIEW OF THE COMMENTING PROCESS. 3
2.1
Definition and purpose of a comment 3
2.2
Provisions on commenting in the TBT Agreement 4
2.3
Benefits of comments and replies. 5
3 Institutional arrangements and stakeholders. 6
3.1 Role
of the TBT Enquiry Point 6
3.2
Domestic stakeholders. 7
3.3
Regional and international coordination. 8
4 preparing and sending comments. 8
4.1
Setting up alerts to receive notifications and managing translations. 8
4.2
Deciding to comment 8
4.3
Preparation of comments. 9
4.4
Submission of comments. 10
4.5
Awaiting a response. 11
5 Responding to comments. 11
5.1 On
receipt of comments. 11
5.2
Managing requests for extensions. 12
5.3
Drafting a response. 12
5.4
Sending the response. 12
6 ANNEXES. 14
ANNEX A: Useful
links. 14
ANNEX B: Case
studies. 14
1.1. Transparency
provisions – in all WTO
agreements - are essentially about access to information. Transparency is also a cornerstone
of the WTO's Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (the
"TBT Agreement").
It facilitates dialogue and cooperation among Members, encourages
stakeholder engagement, increases predictability, and contributes to reducing unnecessary trade restrictions.
1.2. Notifications are integral to transparency. In the context of the
TBT Agreement, this is mainly about the notification of proposed
technical regulations
and conformity assessment procedures, which may affect trade. This information
is valuable to a wide variety of stakeholders, domestic and international. The comment
period denotes the time provided for Members to respond in writing to notifications. The ePing SPS&TBT
Platform[4] facilitates, among
other functions, access to and communication concerning these notifications.
1.3. The TBT Committee has adopted a series of decisions and
recommendations regarding notifications and the commenting process, which have
been reflected as appropriate throughout this guide.[5]
These include recommendations that Members use specific formats to notify, provide
no less than 60 days for comments and plan a "reasonable interval" of
normally six months between the publication and entry into force of a measure.
[1] This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own
responsibility and is without prejudice to the positions of Members or to their
rights and obligations under the WTO.
[2] _G/TBT/46,
para. 7.13.b.
[3] Following
deliberations in the Transparency Working Group, this document has been
prepared based on inputs from a volunteer group of Enquiry Points (Australia,
Kenya, Namibia, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, and the United States).
[5] See _G/TBT/1/Rev.15,
Section 6 for all TBT Committee decisions and recommendations related to
transparency.