Daniela García from Ecuador has handed over the role of Committee Chairperson to Beatriz Stevens of the United Kingdom. The recent meeting focused on transparency and development in standards and regulations.
The week began with a special meeting on transparency, where speakers from various regions participated in discussions. Representatives from TBT Enquiry Points shared their experiences regarding domestic institutional arrangements related to transparency, opportunities for commenting on notifications, and timely preparation and submission of TBT notifications. The importance of consulting all stakeholders during the regulatory process was emphasized to improve regulation quality.
Private sector representatives discussed using the ePing platform to track over 4,000 annual notifications on product requirements. They highlighted how technical comments are positively received in regulation development, aligning them with international standards and avoiding trade disruptions.
Throughout the session, members acknowledged the benefits of ePing for tracking information and fulfilling transparency obligations. A new feature allows users to receive translations of notified texts into English, French, and Spanish quickly. Suggestions were made to further facilitate access to ePing for stakeholders.
Significant progress by the TBT Committee since 2023 was noted, including updates to notification templates and guidelines and finalizing a good practice guide for commenting. These improvements result from ongoing efforts by the Transparency Working Group to streamline procedures and enhance information access.
A thematic session held on June 24 explored how developing countries can better use flexibilities under the TBT Agreement. Members' experiences with special and differential treatment disciplines were discussed, alongside targeted capacity-building activities for developing quality infrastructure.
Ambassador Kadra Hassan of Djibouti participated in this session, which featured speakers from Brazil, Cambodia, Ecuador, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, Viet Nam, and Zambia.
During the regular meeting of the Committee, 78 trade concerns were raised about proposed and final TBT regulations. Of these concerns, 20 were new issues addressing regulatory matters related to home appliances, cotton bales, industrial chemicals, energy systems among others.
Japan reported progress on its trade concerns regarding China's standard for information security technology for office devices. Certain provisions have been deleted thanks to China's cooperation.
Two ePing training sessions led by the WTO Secretariat took place on June 25-26. Additionally three side events were organized: a workshop hosted by the United States on international standards for food traceability; an International Trade Centre showcase featuring quality standards supporting development; a UK-led session focusing on market access challenges with tools like ePing aiding private sector engagement in members' work on TBT measures.
The next TBT Committee meetings are scheduled from November 10-14 with thematic sessions planned around international standards for emerging technologies such as AI semiconductors positioning systems good regulatory practices metrology along with discussions concerning non-tariff measures under WTO Information Technology Agreement.