Dr. Deva Bhakta Shakya Kathmandu, 24 June 2010 Technical Barriers to Trade ( TBT) Technical Regulations and Standards

Standards Adopted by Nepal Council of Standards Since the major trading partners of Nepal are India and EU countries, priority is given to harmonizing national standards with ISO and other standards used by these countries Only six standards are related to safety and export trade and have been made mandatory (as technical regulations ). None of these are related to the 19 export potential goods and services

Technical Food Regulations (Mandatory Standards)

Process Standards Altogether 408 process standards (guidelines, analysis/tests/ sampling/ measurements methods, etc.) have been introduced by NSC NSC has adopted the following as National Standards: – QMS (ISO 9001:2000) – EMS (ISO 14001:2004) – ISO/IEC 17025:2005 – ISO 22000:2005

Current private sector’s efforts in getting Management Certificates in Nepal In 2006 there were about 194 organizations in Nepal with management system certification (Probably more by now): ISO 9001:2000 certified: 181 ISO 14000: certified: 2 ISO 9001` and ISO certified: 8 HACCP certified: 2 ISO 9001 and HACCP certified organisations: 1 There are 5 food-related industries with HACCP and three more are in a process of getting ISO certificates. There is a lack of a central registry for process certification. Some experts suggest that many of the certified organizations have not renewed and have abandoned the management system they adopted. By 2006, approximately 17 different Certification Bodies (CBs) were working in Nepal but only 3 of these had contact offices in Nepal. There are no internationally recognised Nepalese CBs operating. Most prominent CBs are ICL, ICS, URS, DNV, TUV, BSI, SGS,LRQA, RINA, KVQA etc. Most CBs are operating from India.

Issues and Gaps (1) 1.Long setbacks in follow up activities of NBSM, as the key actor in TBT related matters, resulting from prolonged delays in amendments of acts and regulations and new Act promulgation; 2.Wider consultation process still missing particularly in the case of the National Accreditation Board Act; 3.Only a few products of export interest have national standards adopted. When they do, relevance to export trade is bare minimum. Need to focus on standard formulation and adoption. For significant trade products for Nepal; 4.For the purpose of industrial/trade support, whole package of laboratory testing, calibration/tractability to international standards and certification had to be developed/ considered side by side; 5.Revisiting of the whole program of product certification is required under the guide ISO 65, and then based on observations; future course of action should be planned; 6. There seems to be a lack of interest or understanding of the private sector in standards and certification. Revisiting the current approach for attracting the private sector may be required..

Issues and Gaps ( 2) 7.None of the standards approved by Nepal following WTO accession have been notified officially, as required under the WTO regime. Many technical regulations have been introduced by agencies of the Government other than NBSM/DFTQC. MOCS needs to look into this and consider measures to ensure that TBT commitments are met; 8.More than 200 management system certificates have been issued to various industries in Nepal by more than 17 Certifying bodies from outside Nepal, with huge costs involvements and varying performances. There is an urgency to develop internationally recognised national certification bodies. 9.As far as the EC is concerned, the role clarity does not exist and not functional as expected, Commitment is required to its development as a specialised unit; 10.Getting and retaining competent and functional staff is an issue; 11.There private sector is concerned about getting services and support from Government agencies in a timely manner; based on the reliability of test results ; and negative facilitation environments.

Key Needs in Relation to Technical Standards Proceeding with legal reform and establishing a “national accreditation board” separate from the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM). Later on, ensuring the National Accreditation Board is recognized internationally; Implementing the WTO/TBT Agreement Code of Good Practice on Standards; Achieving international accreditation for a number of government and private sector labs, including NBSM and DFTQC labs; Registering private and international product/management system certifiers; Developing capacity of the TBT Enquiry point, including capacity to provide Nepali exporters with foreign regulations and standards affecting their exports; Improving awareness of standards among Nepali producers and exporters.