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.
Comments on the notifications of all draft technical regulations may be submitted to ronel.greyvenstein@sabs.co.za.
The notifications on all draft technical regulations are for the week 02 to 08 February 2015, comment on which may be submitted to ronel.greyvenstein@sabs.co.za.
15-0806, Boilers, Notification, United States of America, 2015/02/06
15-0807, Boilers and process heaters, Notification, United States of America, 2015/02/06
15-0808, Child restraint anchorage systems, Notification, United States, 2015/02/06
15-0809, Hazardous materials, Notification, United States, 2015/02/06
15-0811, Bottles used as measuring containers, Notification, Ukraine, 2015/02/06
15-0817, Telecommunications equipments and electrical appliances, Notification, Republic of Korea, 2015/02/06
15-0765, Cotton, Revision, Notification, Brazil, 2015/02/05
15-0766, Products subject to health surveillance, Notification, Brazil 2015/02/05
15-0767, Pharmaceutical substances under special control and medicines containing them, Notification, Brazil 2015/02/05
15-0768, Jewels, Notification, Brazil, 2015/02/05
15-0769, Weighing machines, Notification, Brazil, 2015/02/05
15-0770, Instruments and apparatus for measuring, level pressure, Notification, Brazil, 2015/02/05
15-0771, Chemical substances - Long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylate (LCPFAC), United States of America, 2015/02/05
15-0772, Pharmaceuticals, Notification, Republic of Korea, 2015/02/05
15-0779, Cotton feather, Corrigendum, Notification, Brazil, 2015/02/05
15-0795, Gas-volume conversion devices, Addendum, Czech 2015/02/05
15-0796, Measuring equipment for measuring the length of wound goods, Addendum, Czech Republic, 2015/02/05
15-0797, Machines for measuring the surface area of leather, Addendum, Czech, 2015/02/05
15-0798, General service lamps, Addendum, Notification, United States of America, 2015/02/05
15-079, Respirators, Addendum, Notification, United States of America, 2015/02/05
15-080, Automatic commercial ice makers, Addendum, Notification - United States of America, 2015/02/05
15-0801, Lamps – Addendum, United States of America, 2015/02/05
15-0802, Recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs), Addendum, United States of America, 2015/02/05
15-0749, Lamps, Notification, Singapore, 2015/02/04
15-0750, Meters and measuring systems for liquefied gas flow, Addendum, Czech Republic, 2015/02/04
15-0751Meters and measuring systems for liquefied gas flow, Addendum, Czech Republic, 2015/02/04
15-0752, Fuel dispensers, Addendum, Notification , Czech Republic, 2015/02/04
15-0753, Graduated flasks, burettes and pipettes used to check volume, Addendum, Czech Republic, 2015/02/04
15-0754, Electrical and gas end-use equipment, Notification, 2015/02/04
15-0760, Zip lines services, Notification, Honduras, 2015/02/04
15-0761, Tobacco products, Notification, France, 2015/02/04
15-0736, Fruit juices and nectars, Notification, Kingdom of Saudi, 2015/02/03
15-0737, Wheat flour, Notification, Kuwait, Wheat flour, 2015/02/03
15-0738, Fruit juices and nectars, Notification, Kuwait, Fruit juices and nectars, 2015/02/03
15-0744, Livestock products, Notification, Republic of Korea, 2015/02/03
15-0745, Medical devices, Notification, Republic of Korea, 2015/02/03
15-0693, Solar energy engineering , Notification - United Arab Emirates 2015/02/02
15-0694, Electrical installations, Addendum, Notification, 2015/02/02
15-0695, Parts and accessories of motor vehicles, Notification, 2015/02/02
15-0696, Parts and accessories of motor vehicles, Notification, Malaysia, 2015/02/02
15-0697, Safety helmet , Notification, Malaysia , 2015/02/02
15-0719, Substances with probable effects on the central nervous system, Notification, Japan, 2015/02/02
15-0722, Pre-packaged vitamin and mineral tablets and capsules, Addendum, The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, 2015/02/02
15-0723, Gas-fired instantaneous water heaters for the production of domestic hot water, Chile, 2015/02/02
15-0724, Gas-fired domestic cooking appliances, Notification, Chile, 2015/02/02
15-0725, Halogen lamps, Notification, Chile, Halogen lamps, 2015/02/02
15-0726 , Washing machines, Notification, Chile, 2015/02/02
