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WTO/NAFTA Notification Practices: Determining Necessity and Completing Formats

This article discusses the necessity and completion of notification formats for WTO/NAFTA agreements, including determining what to notify, when to notify, and how to complete the notification format. It also provides information on the Canadian Enquiry Point's role in implementing the agreements.

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WTO/NAFTA Notification Practices: Determining Necessity and Completing Formats

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  1. Notification Practices: Determining the necessity to notify and completing the notification formats Andrea Spencer Coordinator, WTO/NAFTA Enquiry Point (Canada) TBT Special Meeting on Procedures for Information Exchange, Geneva November 7, 2007

  2. The Canadian Enquiry Point • Primary responsibility for implementing all of the WTO Agreements in Canada lies with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). • Requirement under WTO TBT/SPS Agreements for each Member country to have a National Notification Authority (NNA) and National Enquiry Point (NEP). • Under contract to DFAIT, the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) operates both the Canadian SPS & TBT Notification Authority and Enquiry Point. • History • 1980: Established as GATT Enquiry Point • 1994: Assumed notification & information responsibilities under NAFTA • 1995: WTO TBT/SPS Notification Authority and Enquiry Point

  3. Operation of the Enquiry Point

  4. Fulfilling the Transparency Obligations of the TBT Agreement TBT Agreement • Whenever a relevant international standard does not exist or the technical content of a proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure is not in accordance with the technical content of relevant international standards, and • If the technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure may have a significant effect on trade of other Members, Members shall:

  5. Transparency Obligations • publish a notice in a publication at an early appropriate stage; • notify other Members through the Secretariat of the proposed regulation; • Upon request, provide copies of the proposed regulation; and • Allow for comments, and take received written comments and the results of these discussions into account.

  6. Determining the Necessity to Notify • What to Notify? • Technical regulations • Conformity Assessment Procedures • Mandatory labeling requirements • How to find about new or amended measures? • Review government gazettes or departmental web sites for proposed legislations • Advised by regulator of proposed legislations • Determine which Agreement the measure falls under (SPS, TBT or both)

  7. Determining the Necessity to Notify • Necessary to Notify? Consider: • Whether international standard exists or the content of the proposed measure is substantially the same as the content of an international standard • Effect on trade • Interests of transparency • When to notify? • When a DRAFT with the complete text of a proposed technical regulation and conformity assessment procedure is available, and when amendments can still be introduced and taken into account. • In the case of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures adopted for urgent reasons, the notification must be immediately upon adoption.

  8. Completing the notification format… Section 1: • Member notifying • If applicable, local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2) Section 2: Agency responsible:       • Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above Section 3: • Notified under Article 2.9.2 [   ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other: • Proposed: Articles 2.9.2 (technical regulations) and 5.6.2 (conformity assessment procedures) • Urgent adopted: Articles 2.10.1(technical regulations) and 5.7.1 (conformity assessment procedures) • Other: Articles 3.2, 7.2, 8.1, 9.2

  9. Completing the notification format… Section 4: • Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable) Section 5: • Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document      Section 6: • Description of content      Section 7: • Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable  

  10. Completing the notification format Section 8: • Relevant documents       Section 9: • Proposed date of adoption Proposed date of entry into force Section 10: • Final date for comments       Section 11: • Texts available from: National enquiry point [   ] or address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body      

  11. Preparation and Submission of Notifications in Canada… • Criteria for notification includes assessment of: • Whether international standard exists or technical content differs from international standards • impact of regulation on trade • countries affected by regulation • whether regulation deals with technical requirements or SPS measures for a product/group of products (relevance under the TBT and SPS Agreements) • Various sources can be consulted: • TBT Agreement, and relevant Committee recommendations and decisions • regulatory agency responsible for the regulation

  12. Preparation and Submission of Notifications in Canada PREPARATION: • Complete notification format pursuant to recommendations cited in G/TBT/1/Rev.8, as well as any other recommendations made by the TBT Committee since the issuance of G/TBT/1/Rev.8. • Clear and descriptive outline of the regulatory proposal • Copy and paste the content from the electronic gazette or departmental web site into the notification format • Include URL of full text in notification format - box #11 • significant reduction in requests for full text • Prepare English and French notification formats SUBMISSION: • Prepared notifications are sent to WTO Central Registry of Notifications (CRN) and stakeholders in one electronic transmission

  13. Four Types of TBT Notifications • Statement of the Implementation and Administration of the TBT Agreement (G/TBT/2/Add.#) • Article 15.2 • Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures (G/TBT/N/Country Symbol/#) • Draft: Articles 2.9.2 and 5.6.2 • Urgent adopted: Articles 2.10.1 and 5.7.1 • Sub-national: Articles 3.2 and 7.2 • Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements (G/TBT/N/10.7) • Article 10.7 • Adherence to, or withdrawal from, the Code of Good Practice and the existence of a work programme (G/TBT/CS/N/#) • TBT Agreement Annex 3, paragraph C – Acceptance of / Withdrawal from Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards • TBT Agreement Annex 3, paragraph J – Existence of Work Programmes

  14. CONTACT: Andrea Spencer Coordinator, WTO/NAFTA Enquiry Point Standards Council of Canada 200-270 Albert Street Ottawa, ON K1P 6N7 Canada E-mail: aspencer@scc.ca Tel: (613) 238-3222, ext. 479 WTO DocsOnline:http://docsonline.wto.org WTO:http://www.wto.org

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