TWO measures on genetically modified organisms
were among a dozen new concerns, including plain packaging
for tobacco products, raised when WTO members met as the Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT) Committee last week.
The committee also reviewed for the last time
how well China has implemented the TBT Agreement since it joined the WTO in
2001. China’s membership agreement included a “Transitional Review Mechanism”
requiring eight annual reviews on a range of subjects including TBT with a
final one after 10 years.
And it agreed to test a proposed way to speed up its discussion on specific
trade concerns. Although these are core to the committee’s responsibility of
monitoring how well members are implementing the TBT Agreement, some exchanges
on unresolved issues — two were raised for the 27th time in this meeting -
have become repetitive, leaving less time to discuss more general subjects.
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