Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus The Notification Procedure under the WTO/TBT Agreement : An Instrument to prevent New Technical Barriers to Trade Brussels, 29 March 2007 The experience of the Member States in the TBT notification procedure Mr C. Arvíus Head of Department for Internal Market and Technical Rules, National Board of Trade, Sweden

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus WTO TBT Agreement - Notification procedures and Enquiry Point functions National technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, standards etc. (adopted or proposed) The growth of new, proposed, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures etc. Notification procedures Enquiry Point functions (everything)

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus EU (Directive 98/34) and WTO/TBT (Articles 2.9, 2.10, 3.2, 5.6, 5.7 and 7.2) - notification procedures Notification Authority Other interested parties (Trade and Industry, conformity assessment bodies, standardization bodies, NGOs etc.) Regulatory Ministries/Authorities WTO Secretariat EC Commission 27 Member States 150 Member States Sending info Receiving info

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Products on the EU Market – proportions? Products not subject to legislation Products subject to national legislation Products subject to EU legislation

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Swedish administration - notification of draft technical regulations to EU and WTO Parliament Ministries: Authorities: SNBT EC Com.WTO Secr. Harm. area Non-harm. area

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Swedish Ordinance on Technical Rules ( SFS 1994:2029, latest version SFS 2006:309) - some main features Provisions related i.e. to obligations for Sweden contained in WTO/TBT and WTO/SPS Agreements and in EC Directives 98/34/EG and 98/48/EC Definitions Provisions which government bodies should observe with regard to their technical rules;

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Government bodies shall, well in advance, communicate to the NBT proposed technical rules together with relevant basic documents and other relevant information, e.g. reasons for deviating from international or European standards Government bodies shall upon request provide NBT with background information for preparing replies to comments. If a detailed opinion has been delivered such background information shall always be provided Government bodies shall communicate to the NBT the text of technical rules when adopted

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus The National Board of Trade shall: - make notifications of draft technical rules to the WTO Secretariat and the EC Commission; -inform the Government and authorities concerned about any reactions to notifications made; -prepare for the Government draft replies to reactions made by other countries; -after decision by the Government send replies to other countries; -perform the functions as Enquiry Point.

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Exceptions from making notifications Postponement of the adoption of a notified draft technical regulation (stand still period etc.) National Board of Trade shall supervise the application by government bodies of the Ordinance (SFS 1994:2029) and may issue implementation regulations to the Ordinance (such an Implementation Regulation has been issued by the NBT as KFS 1999:1; Format for communication of draft technical regulations to the NBT has also been drawn up)

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus The Swedish TBT administration the EC TBT administration The Notification Procedure under the WTO/TBT Agreement : & a double eagle function in the WTO/TBT system….

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus WTO system Swedish TBT administration WTO TBT Secretariat EC Commission (EC Enquiry Point & Notification Authority) Other WTO Members Enquiry Points National Board of Trade (Enquiry Point & Notification Authority) National stand. bodies, testing/cert. bodies, trade and industry etc. All Swedish Regulatory Authorities International and regional standardization bodies EC Council Working Parties and Standing Committees EC TBT administration Ministry for Foreign Affairs All other Swedish Ministies

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Are the EU Member states active enough? In making notifications to WTO/TBT? The Notification Procedure under the WTO/TBT Agreement :

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Notifications made in 2006 CountryWTO/TBT98/34 Austria-42 Belgium228 Bulgaria-- Cyprus-1 Czech Republic521 Denmark524 Estonia18 European Communities40- Finland518 France857 Germany-77 Greece-5

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Hungary215 Ireland-6 Italy120 Latvia-10 Lithuania12 Luxembourg-2 Malta-7 Netherlands571 Poland148 Portugal-7 Romania10- Slovak Republic-9 Slovenia1311 Spain370 Sweden1550 United Kingdom259 (119)(668)(WTO members total 771)

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus More notifications will imply increased transparency...to other WTO members (e.g. DCs) on TRs deemed necessary …and a comprehensive picture on TRs applicable on (your own) national market …and no hindrance to the national decision process (since all TRs are to be notified according to 98/34 procedure etc.) The Notification Procedure under the WTO/TBT Agreement :

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Are the EU Member states (and its interested parties) active enough? In haunting for TBTs in notifications made by third countries? The Notification Procedure under the WTO/TBT Agreement :

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus More could be done …. Most TBT cases against other WTO members are now triggered by European Commission In Sweden we are working towards establishing a networks between NBT officials and representatives from regulatory authorities/trade and industry (in sectors/sub-sectors) The Notification Procedure under the WTO/TBT Agreement :

Swedish National Board of Trade - Christer Arvíus Thank you for your attention !