1. Advancing Implementation of the WTO TBT Agreement and Regulatory Coherence
Jennifer Stradtman, Director, Technical Barriers to Trade
Office of the United States Trade Representative
Presentation Mexican Regulatory and Trade Officials
February 10, 2016

2. The United States Trade Representative
Is an agency within the Executive Office of the President
Approximately 200 people work at USTR
Negotiate the Trade Agreements that advance the President’s Trade Agenda
Responsible for monitoring our trading partners compliance
Ambassador Michael Froman is the United States Trade Representative, a Member of The President’s Cabinet

3. Today’s Discussion
How regulators comply with the WTO TBT Agreement and TBT Provisions in our FTAs.
How do regulators maintain a knowledge of the policy areas where understanding of how TBT disciplines are is advancing
Policy discussion such as the Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement
Findings in Dispute Settlement that advance our understanding of the Agreement
Practices of Other Members
How do regulators interact with each other, the trade agencies and the public to ensure compliance with the Agreements

4. Complying with the WTO TBT Agreement

5. TBT Committee Meets three times a year in Geneva, Switzerland
Attended by all 170+ WTO Members.
Objectives
Advance policy discussions on key topics to implementing the agreement
Good Regulatory Practice; Regulatory Cooperation; Use of International Standards; Conformity Assessment Procedures; Inquiry Point Operations
Discuss specific trade concerns among Members
Two days of interventions, spanning issues raised
As a regulator, one of my objectives is to comply, so my proposed regulation does not get discussed in the TBT Committee

6. STCs raised by Member, November 2015

7. Notification of Proposed Regulations to the TBT Committee
Mexico and the United States have good track records of “advanced TBT citizenship” when it comes to publishing our proposed regulations in our official publications (Federal Register/Diario Official).
Notify the TBT Committee of a proposed regulation.
Provide a copy of the proposed regulation for other WTO Members to review.
Identify any deviations from international standards.
Provide a comment period.
Provide a “reasonable interval” for implementation of the final regulation (six months from the date of proposal).
Discuss the other Member comment upon request.

8. Important Aspects for Regulators
Notification to the TBT Committee
Allowing 6 months for comment and implementation
Taking account of the comments in the final regulation
Use of International Standards
Use of conformity assessment procedures
Mutual acceptance of data
Recognition of accreditation

9. 7th Triennial Review
November 2015

10. Conclusions Good Regulatory Practice Regulatory Cooperation
Continue to exchange information on GRP mechanisms.
Thematic Session on Regulatory Impact Assessment in March
Regulatory Cooperation
Factual information sharing on regulatory cooperation activities
Discuss elements of regulatory cooperation between Members
Thematic sessions on regulatory cooperation
June and November 2016
Energy Efficiency Standards and Food Labeling proposed or any other topic proposed by Members could be considered.

11. Conclusions Conformity Assessment
Continue exchange of information in three areas:
Approaches to conformity assessment
Use of relevant conformity assessment standards
Recognition of Conformity Assessment Results
Exchange information to enhance regulator reliance on international or regional schemes for conformity assessment, including sectoral specific schemes.
Discuss approaches to the use of quality infrastructure as it facilitates trade with respect to standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures
Thematic discussion in March to discuss national or regional systems and regional trade agreements as they relate to RTAs.

12. Conclusions Standards
Thematic session in June about referencing standards in regulation
Central Government and non-government standardizing bodies:
to publish their work plans on websites and notify the location to the ISO/IEC Information Center
Share information about the publication of a notice announcing the period for commenting on a draft standard.

13. Conclusions Inquiry Point Technical Assistance
Discuss the internal coordination of the handling of comments
Explore ways to improve their functioning, including through use of on-line tools
Prepare a guide on best practices for Inquiry Points for consideration of Members at the 8th Special Meeting on Information Exchange, November 2016
Technical Assistance
Thematic Session on Technical Assistance November, 2016

14. Schedule of Thematic Sessions
March 2016
Regulatory Impact Assessment; Reliance on international or regional systems of regulatory cooperation, including sectoral schemes and in Regional Free Trade Agreements.
June 2016
Regulatory Cooperation between Members (Energy Efficiency) and how to use standards in technical regulations
November 2016
Technical Assistance, Regulatory Cooperation (potentially food labeling) and Information Exchange
Deliverable on Best Practices for Inquiry Points