U.S. HOLDING UP AGREEMENT ON DOMESTICALLY PROHIBITED GOODS.

Jun 14, 1991

U.S. HOLDING UP AGREEMENT ON DOMESTICALLY PROHIBITED GOODS.

GENEVA, JUNE 13 (CHAKRAVARTHI RAGHAVAN) – The GATT working group on domestically prohibited goods and other hazardous substances is meeting Friday in an effort to wrap up an agreement on this subject, with the U.S. as the major holdout, GATT sources said.

The Working Group is chaired by the former UK delegate John Sankey and has drawn up a draft text of an agreement. This is expected to be the last meeting of the working group, its mandate expiring shortly.

A major thrust of the agreement to be adopted as a decision of the Contracting Parties is to provide for a notification procedure and also a declaratory statement that Contracting Parties signatory to international instruments in this area should sustain and make these instruments more effective, and for other Contracting Parties to become signatories or participants of such instruments.

Another is to recognise the role of other international instruments relating to environment and protection of health and where these have "trade" effects to ensure that the relevant body of the instrument would decide whether the procedures provided under it have been followed.

The instruments listed in an annex include the Montreal protocol on depletion of ozone layer, the Basel convention on control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal, the London UNEP guidelines for exchange of information on chemicals in international trade, the WHO certification scheme on quality of pharmaceutical products moving in international trade, the ILO convention on safety in use of chemicals at work and the UN conventions relating to psychotropic substances and on illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

It would apply to "banned products", "severely restricted products", those determined by a Contracting Party to present serious and direct danger to human, animal or plant life or health or environment in its territory and for reason banned or severely restricted in its domestic market as also to products it considers "hazardous" which have to disposed of in accordance with government regulations.

All measures taken to regulate and control international trade in the products covered by the agreement shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of the General Agreement and where a Contracting Party is signatory to other GATT Agreements and arrangements in accordance with them.

The decisions are not to be applied in such a way as to create unnecessary obstacles to international trade nor would it affect rights and obligations of signatories or participants under international instruments in this area listed in an annex.

Where a Contracting Party is a signatory or participant in an international listed in an annex, the issue whether a CP has applied the procedures of that instrument is to be determined by the body competent under that instrument.

Where a CP has taken measures to ban or severely restrict in its domestic market any of the products concerned (other than those products covered by separate and listed international instruments), it should examine whether the reasons for which it has taken these steps would also require adoption of equivalent measures for exports.

But this is not to used to affect in a discriminatory manner exports of CPs which have different standards of health and environment protection or the prerogative of individual CPs to determine, in their particular situation, whether or not to allow import and use of a product banned or restricted by another CP.

If the bans or restrictions imposed domestically by a CP do not apply to exports, it is to promptly notify GATT of such measures as well as the reasons.

The GATT secretariat is to forward such notifications to all inquiry points established under the agreement.

At the instance of another CP, the CP, which has domestically banned or restricted a product, will also provide information on the potential hazardous effects and domestic regulations concerning their use, transport and labelling.

In an appeal for international cooperation, the agreement would ask signatories and participants in the international instruments listed in an annex are to sustain and make more effective such international cooperation by participating fully in the activities of the instruments. Other CPs "should" where possible become signatories or participants.

A CP signatory to any of the listed international instruments should apply the procedures provided under it to regulate its trade in the product concerned including by participating:

* Effectively in systems for notification, exchange of information and registration,

* In prior informed consent procedures,

* In certification schemes of the instruments, and

* In work of international organisations for further identification of products to which the notification systems, prior informed consent or certification schemes should apply.

The GATT provisions for transparency (prompt publication of all laws, regulations and administrative rulings) are to apply to procedures relating to international trade in the products.

A Committee on Products banned or severely restricted in the domestic market is to be set up in GATT to oversee the implementation of the decision and provide CPs with an opportunity for consultations.