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
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
TBT Committee

Meets three times a year in Geneva, Switzerland
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Attended by all 170+ WTO Members.

Objectives
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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 50-60 issues raised

As a regulator, one of my objectives is to comply, so my proposed
regulation does not get discussed in the TBT Committee
Turkey
Chinese Taipei
Thailand
Chile
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
UAE
Peru
Korea
Colombia
GSO
Brazil
Russia
Ecuador
Indonesia
EU
India
China
STCs raised by Member,
November 2015
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
# of STCs
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 60-90 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.
Important Aspects for
Regulators

Notification to the TBT Committee

Allowing 6 months for comment and implementation
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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
Conclusions

Good Regulatory Practice



Continue to exchange information on GRP mechanisms.
Thematic Session on Regulatory Impact Assessment in March
2016.
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.
Conclusions

Conformity Assessment

Continue exchange of information in three areas:


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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.
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.
Conclusions
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Inquiry Point



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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
Schedule of Thematic
Sessions

March 2016


June 2016


Regulatory Impact Assessment; Reliance on international or
regional systems of regulatory cooperation, including sectoral
schemes and in Regional Free Trade Agreements.
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