WTO/TBT - Overview
What is the WTO/TBT Enquiry Point?
South Africa as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has established a WTO/TBT (World Trade Organization / Technical Barriers to Trade) Enquiry Point to providing citizens， industries and organizations to access information related with foreign technical barriers to trade， making research on foreign technical regulations， standards and conformity assessment， and providing consulting services to exporting and importing entities.
Who is the WTO/TBT Enquiry Point for South Africa?
The Government of the Republic of South Africa designated the South African Bureau of Standards) as the National Enquiry Point in 1996.
How does the WTO/TBT Enquiry Point operate?
The purpose of Enquiry Point is to provide to its subscribers access to key information included in the notifications made by members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), and to collect and fulfill subscriber requests for information related to those notifications. WTO members are required under the TBT Agreement to notify to the WTO certain proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures (CAPs) concerning manufactured products, industrial goods, and/or the labeling of products, including food and beverage products, that could affect trade with other WTO members. The WTO TBT Secretariat issues these notifications so that all members have an opportunity to review and comment on notified actions prior to their finalization and entry into force. Enquiry Point allows users to create a custom profile in order to follow, review, and comment on WTO TBT notifications by country and/or product sector of interest to them.
What we do
- Submits notifications of proposed local mandatory measures (technical regulations, standards and/or conformity assessment procedures) that may have a significant effect on trade;
- Disseminate international mandatory measures which may affect trade to local stakeholders for commenting
- Forward comments received on domestic and foreign measures to the appropriate regulatory agency for consideration;
- Respond to technical enquiries on a variety of topics including: standards and technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures and
- Assist with the Registration for regular TBT updates with ePing https://epingalert.org/en
Subscribe
- ePing is a free online web service, offered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that provides private and public stakeholders with up to date information on regulations in export markets around the world, including product requirements and standards.
- ePing’s email alert service allows registered users to receive SPS/TBT notifications of particular interest to them based on criteria such as products covered or export markets.
- ePing aims to bridge that gap and provide timely information about changes in Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) requirements from trading partners to producers, exporters, governments and other interested users.
- ePing is of potential interest to all types of stakeholders, including government agencies, standardizing bodies, producers, exporters, importers, service providers, small and medium-size enterprises, multinationals, international organizations, research institutes, NGOs etc.
If you have any questions about ePing Alert please email us at wto@sabs.co.za
How to Submit Comments
Comments can be emailed to the contact information below:
Enquiry Point
South African Bureau of Standards
1 Dr lategon Road
Groenkloof
Tel: (012) 428 6229
Email: wto@sabs.co.za
