The EU Harmonised Legislative System for the Safety of Products is presented to Azerbaijani authorities
To support the ongoing reform of the Azerbaijani quality infrastructure system, an EU expert presented the EU system for the safety of products to officials of the State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control as well as of the Azerbaijan Standardisation Institute. The presentation covered the development of technical regulations and harmonised standards in the EU, as well as conformity assessment, accreditation and market surveillance aspects.
This event was programmed in the context of assistance provided by the EU-funded “Strengthening capacity of the Government of Azerbaijan in the WTO Accession negotiations and other trade related activities” project to support the implementation of the Azerbaijani Law “On Technical Regulation” in line with the WTO requirements.
10 participants from the Antimonopoly Service and AZSTAND participated in the online workshop.
The PPT may be accessed at the following link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XRzKE9zamNn9NrYmkkFDZAJMKZxXJGYc/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102270338528426763815&rtpof=true&sd=true
The event was recorded for internal reference and capacity building.
Marius Bordalba, the project team leader, stated: “The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) recognises the Members’ sovereign right to regulate in order to prevent deceptive practices, to protect human health or safety, animal or plant life or health, or the environment, among others. In 2020, Members submitted more than 3,000 notifications of adoption of measures based on that Agreement. Nevertheless, because product requirements often have an impact on international trade, in exercising that right Members shall comply with basic principles set forth in that Agreement. This includes, among others, the obligation to normally develop national technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures based on international standards, guides and recommendations and not to discriminate. In addition, transparency requirements shall be respected. ”
Additional assistance funded by the EU in the quality infrastructure area
The EU-funded project also supports:
- the operationalisation of the TBT enquiry point established through Resolution No. 323 of the Cabinet of Ministers, dated October 29, 2021,
- the preparation of a brochure on the Azerbaijani Law “On Technical Regulation”, and
- participation of Azerbaijani authorities in a study visit to a WTO recently acceded member to learn the process of reforming a national quality infrastructure system to align it to the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.
The Twinning project “Support to Azerbaijan Standardization Institute for implementation of the National Plan for harmonizing national standardization system with international requirements” supports the Government of Azerbaijan on standardisation-related matters.
