Role and working mechanisms of the TBT committee

摘要

The TBT Committee is one of the subsidiary bodies of the Council for Trade in Goods which in turn is under the overall supervision of the WTO General Council. The Committee is composed of representatives from each of the WTO Members. The Committee meets at least twice a year, once in March and once in October; but it could also meet as and when necessary. Like other WTO bodies, all decisions by the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade are taken on the basis of consensus. Inasmuch as the TBT Agreement governs the preparation, adoption and application of product technical requirements and of procedures used for the assessment of compliance with them, the Committee deals directly with issues arising from these.