Strategies for Handling
Notifications at National Level
– the Experience of China
Yang Song
Deputy Division Director
WTO/SPS National Enquiry Point of China
the Experience of China on
Transparency
1. SPS System
2. Notifying SPS Measures of China
3. Handling Notifications from Other Members
4. Dealing with SPS Enquires
5. The Website of SPS Notification & Enquiry
6. Difficulties faced
the Experience of China on
Transparency
1. SPS System
1. SPS System of China
 government authorities involved
• General Administration of Quality Supervision,
Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ)
• Ministry of Commerce
• Ministry of Agriculture
• Ministry of Health
• Certification and Accreditation Administration of
China
• The State Food and Drug Administration
• The State Forestry Administration
1. SPS System
 The Inter-Ministerial Coordination
Mechanism on TBT and SPS Measures
• Established in 2002
• Led by AQSIQ
• To promote coordination on:
 The implementation of SPS Agreement
 SPS related training
 Commenting on notifications that have crucial impact
on the trade (Positive List, Anti-terrorism, etc.)
1. SPS System of China
 The SPS National Enquiry Point
Established in AQSIQ to coordinate the
notification, enquiry and comment issues
domestically
 The Notification Authority
Established in the Ministry of Commerce to
submit notifications
the Experience of China on
Transparency
1. SPS System
2. Notifying SPS Measures of China
2. Notifying SPS Measures of China
 Drafting of new SPS measure - competent authority
 Deciding whether to notify or not - competent
authority
 Filling out the notification form in both English and
Chinese - the competent authority
 Submitting the notification to SPS Enquiry Point
 Reviewing the notification - SPS Enquiry Point
 Submitting to the Notification Authority
 Submitting to WTO - through the Permanent
Mission of China in Geneva
2. Notifying SPS Measures of China
241 SPS notifications including:
•140 notifications according to the Accession
Commitment
•95 notifications on new SPS measures
•6 addendum notifications
Improvement
The awareness of the importance of notification
is increasing among competent authorities
the Experience of China on
Transparency
1. SPS System
2. Notifying SPS Measures of China
3. Handling Notifications from Other Members
3. Handling Notifications from Other
Members
 Receiving and translating notifications - SPS
Enquiry Point
 Selecting notifications to comment- SPS Enquiry
Point
 Distributing notifications to relevant authorities
Both electronic version and paper version
 SPS Notification Newsletter – including all
notifications, published every two weeks
 Notifications and their Chinese translation also
available on the website of the SPS Enquiry Point
3. Handling Notifications from Other
Members
 Studying and making comments on notifications Expert group established by relevant Chinese
government authorities related to SPS issues
 Collecting comments - SPS Enquiry Point
 Examining comments – AQSIQ
 Translating the final comments into English and
submitting to the notification Member - the Enquiry
Point
 Coordination
• Important notifications
• Disagreement on comment
3. Handling Notifications from Other
Members
 Receiving responses - SPS Enquiry Point
 Feedback for reference or further comment
the Experience of China on
Transparency
1. SPS System
2. Notifying SPS Measures of China
3. Handling Notifications from Other Members
4. Dealing with SPS Enquires
4. Dealing with SPS Enquires
 The SPS Enquiry Point is responsible to
answer reasonable questions asked by
domestic and foreign government authorities,
industries and other stakeholders.
 During the 4 years after the Accession, it
have received and answered more than
1100 enquiries and the number of enquiries
is increasing year by year.
the Experience of China on
Transparency
1. SPS System
2. Notifying SPS Measures of China
3. Handling Notifications from Other Members
4. Dealing with SPS Enquires
5. The Website of SPS Notification & Enquiry
of China
5. The Website of SPS Notification &
Enquiry of China
 Functions
• Provide information on proposals notified by all
WTO Members including China
• Provide information on SPS measures of China
and other Members, including laws, regulations,
decrees, standards and etc.
• A channel for comment online
• A channel for enquiry online
5. The Website of SPS Notification &
Enquiry of China
 Contents
Dozens of databases:
• Notifications from China
• Notifications from other members
• Laws, regulations, decrees, standards and etc.
• Risk alert system
• Analysis reports
5. The Website of SPS Notification &
Enquiry of China
 The website is established in 2003, and
available to government authorities,
industries and other stakeholders
 Feed back by users - informative and useful
 630,000 visits total, 270,000 in 2005
www.tbt-sps.gov.cn
the Experience of China on
Transparency
1. SPS System
2. Notifying SPS Measures of China
3. Handling Notifications from Other Members
4. Dealing with SPS Enquires
5. The Website of SPS Notification & Enquiry
of China
6. Difficulties faced
4. Difficulties faced
 Translation
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•
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Large amount – notifications and full texts
Costly for both money and time
Unpopular languages
Solution - share informal translations
Problem - not a common practice
4. Difficulties faced
 Commenting period
• Some notifications less than 60 days
• Request for extending with no answer
4. Difficulties faced
 The initiative to make comments
• As a new Member of WTO, there is not much
awareness of the importance of making
comments on notifications from other Members.
Especially industries should be involved more
deeply.
• the training of industries should be
strengthened.
• Experience sharing on commenting encouraged.