Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) reviewed proposals aimed at improving implementation of the TBT Agreement. Members had submitted the proposals under the current Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the TBT Agreement, which seeks to define the Committee’s next cycle of work, from 2021 to 2024.

The proposals span 81 specific trade concerns, 20 of which are newly-raised. The new trade concerns relate to issues on the environment and labeling of electric and electronic equipment. Other concerns cover a range of products including, inter alia, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals, and cryptography products, and relate to how labelling, testing, and certification requirements could be viewed as burdensome or overly complicated.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, several members at the 23-26 February 2021 meeting emphasized the difficulty of enforcing or complying with current requirements, exacerbated by lack of harmonized international standards. Members flagged specific countries’ measures as burdensome, including Saudi Arabia’s measure on restricting hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, which, the country explained, had been taken in response to an “urgent health problem” posed by non-conforming products. Members emphasized that their concerns could be addressed or eased by applying international standards.

Members considered proposals and concerns as part of the ninth Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement. The next TBT Committee meeting is scheduled to be held from 1-3 June 2021. The review will be completed at the TBT Committee’s final meeting of the year, to be held from 8-11 November 2021.

At the meeting, the TBT Committee also adopted the 26th Annual Review of the Implementation and Operation of the TBT Agreement, covering the calendar year 2020. The Review flags that in 2020, the TBT Committee piloted and launched eAgenda, which enabled members to submit specific trade concerns in real time, allowed work to continue in a remote environment, enhanced transparency, and provided additional time to prepare for meetings. In 2020, 82 members submitted a record 3,354 notifications of new or changed TBT measures, with African members being among the most active.

The TBT Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1995, and belongs to the family of multilateral WTO agreements dealing with trade in goods. As a WTO Multilateral Trade Agreement, the TBT Agreement is binding for all WTO members. Additional information on the TBT agreement is available in the TBT Agreement Handbook. [WTO News Release] [TBT Committee Ninth Triennial Review (2021)]