WTO National Enquiry Point

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) plays a significant role in the functioning of standards development organizations.

Each member has National Enquiry Points (NEP) under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and play several crucial roles in facilitating international trade and ensuring transparency in technical regulations.

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National Enquiry Point (NEP)

The NEP under the WTO TBT plays a crucial role in facilitating international trade and ensuring transparency in technical regulations. It informs the WTO secretariat of impending implementation of new or revised standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures. The Kenya bureau of Standards is the National Enquiry point for Kenya

Facilitating International Trade

The NEP ensures that technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures are non-discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. This helps in creating a predictable trading environment

Encouraging International Standards

The TBT Agreement strongly encourages WTO members to base their measures on international standards as a means to facilitate trade. This helps in reducing the complexity and cost of compliance for businesses operating in multiple countries.

Transparency

The NEP informs the WTO secretariat of impending implementation of new or revised standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures. This ensures that other WTO members are aware of these changes and can provide comments or raise concerns.

Harmonization of Standards

The NEP is involved in the harmonization of standards through various regional and international bodies. This is in line with the WTO TBT Agreement to enhance the competitiveness of products and services internationally. KEBS (Kenya Bureau of Standards) is involved in the harmonization of standards through various regional and international bodies such as AFSEC, ARSO, and EAC. This is in line with the WTO TBT Agreement to enhance the competitiveness of Kenyan products and services internationally

National Consultative Committee

The formation of the National Consultative Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) is essential for fulfilling obligations under the WTO TBT Agreement. This committee reviews the operations of the NEP, notifications made, and developments in the TBT Committee

Code of Good Practice

Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement, known as the TBT Code of Good Practice, requires members to ensure that their standardizing bodies accept and comply with this code. It includes standards-related notification requirements and the publication of work programs.

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In line with the government’s directive to digitize all payments for improved revenue collection and service delivery, all KEBS payments must now be made exclusively through the eCitizen platform.