1 NIST Notify U.S. A Service of the National Center for Standards and Certification Information (NCSCI)

2 NCSCI at NIST Under GATT (1979) and WTO (1995), NIST/NCSCI was designated by the Department of Commerce as responsible for: 1. Operation of USA national standards information center 2. Operation of USA technical offices for various trade agreements 3. Coordinating with ITA and USTR on international standards-related activities 4. Ensuring that U.S. private sector participation in international standards activities is effective

3 Trade Agreement Technical Offices Support 1.World Trade Organization “Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade” (WTO TBT) 2. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

4 and … 3. Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 4. ISONET 5. Eleven U.S. Bilateral and Multilateral Free Trade Agreements

5 WTO TBT Agreement 1. Recognizes the important contribution of - international standards - conformity assessment systems 2. Encourages development of such 3. Desires to ensure that technical regulations and standards, including packaging, marking, and labeling requirements, and procedures for assessment of conformity with technical regulations and standards do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade

6 WTO TBT Agreement “Each [WTO] Member shall ensure that an inquiry point exists which is able to answer all reasonable inquiries from other Members and interested parties in other Member’s countries, as well as to provide relevant documents.”

7 “… the technical regulation may have a significant impact on trade” and … “whenever a relevant international standard does not exist or the technical content of a proposed regulation is not in accordance with the technical content of relevant international standards.” WTO TBT Agreement

8 Responsible for 1. for industrial products 2. for agricultural products when their labeling, marking, or packaging is regulated USA Inquiry Point

9 Service for U.S. Exporters  “Early Warning” Alert System on New International Technical Regulations

10 What is Notify U.S.?  alerts  Customized Internet websites  Provides information on ~40,000 technical barriers to trade (TBT) requests annually  Target users = U.S. exporters and other U.S. trade stakeholders  users  companies

11 How Notify U.S. Works Inquiry point staff collect notifications from WTO Member countries at the WTO web site Inquiry point staff distribute the WTO Members’ notifications to U.S. industry and Federal government agencies by summary and with complete information via Notify U.S. Users visit their websites for custom information when alerted by in countries or industry sectors of interest.

12 WTO TBT Volumes

13 Notify U.S. Adds Value Provides users with: Fast, current, and up-to-date information Self-service Free service Unique service 24/7 information access More information electronically Expert assistance  It’s easy on the Internet:

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25 Register for Notify U.S.  How do I sign up? URL: Click on “Subscribe” Define user profile Information delivery is customized to user needs User customization can be revised at any time

26 NCSCI Team Anne Meininger, Team Leader Aubrey Covey Patricia Harris Brenda Umberger

27 Contact Notify U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 2100 Gaithersburg, MD USA Telephone: Fax: Web: Web: