The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement has a transparency obligation that requires WTO member countries to publish and notify the WTO, which in turn notifies its member countries, of any draft technical regulations at least 60 days in advance of adoption.
In South Africa the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) serves as the notification point – the South African TBT Enquiry Point – providing a weekly "Early Warning System for WTO/TBT Notifications" email, which contains the notifications on all proposed technical regulations for a specific week. The notification urges recipients to read the notifications relating to their specific area of trade and to provide comment on the draft technical regulations five working days from the receipt of the alert.
The WTO notification contains the following information, (1) Notification Member; (2) Agency responsible; (3) Notified under Article; (4) Products covered (Harmonised System (HS) or Customs Commodity Code Number (CCCN)) where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. International Classification for Standards (ICS) numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable); (5) Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document; (6) Description of content; (7) Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable; (8) Relevant documents; (9) Proposed date of adoption and proposed date of entry into force; (10) Final date for comments; and (11) Text available from – National enquiry point.
Should you be interested in receiving the weekly "Early Warning System for WTO/TBT Notifications" you need simply to contact Ronel Greyvenstein, WTO/TBT enquiry officer at the SABS, at ronel.greyvenstein@sabs.co.za.
The draft technical regulations for the week 3-9 November 2014 are summarised below by Notification; Subject; Title (including Country); and Date:
14-6391 Luminaires, Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, Notification - South Africa – Luminaires, 2014/11/04.
14-6392 Motor vehicles , Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, Notification - South Africa - Motor vehicles, 2014/11/04.
14-6393 Electrical and electronic apparatus - Addendum , Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - South Africa - Electrical and electronic apparatus – Addendum, 2014/11/04.
14-6394 Non-directional household lamps; Directional lamps, light emitting diode lamps, and related equipment, Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - European Union - Non-directional household lamps; Directional lamps, light emitting diode lamps, and related equipment, 2014/11/04 .
14-6342 Passenger cars and light trucks, Addendum, Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - Canada - Passenger cars and light trucks – Addendum, 2014/11/03.
14-6343 Onions, Addendum, Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - United States of America - Onions – Addendum, 2014/11/03.
14-6345 Radiocommunications, Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - Canada – Radiocommunications, 2014/11/03.
14-6346 Chemical substances, Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - United States - Chemical substances, 2014/11/03.