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Unofficial translation 29. 1. 2001

For the purposes of implementing the Act Ratifying the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, 36/95-MP and 10/95) and the Act Ratifying the Europe Agreement Establishing an Association Between the European Communities and their Member States, Acting Within the Framework of the European Union, of the One Part, and the Republic of Slovenia, of the Other Part, with the final act and the Protocol Amending the Europe Agreement Establishing an Association Between the European Communities and their Member States, Acting Within the Framework of the European Union, of the One Part, and the Republic of Slovenia, of the Other Part (Official Gazette of the RS, 44/97-MP and 13/97), and on the basis of Article 5 of the Standardization Act (Official Gazette of the RS, 59/99), the Government of the Republic of Slovenia hereby issues the following

DECREE
on the Notification Procedure in the Area of Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures*

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

This Decree sets out the methods of work and cooperation of competent government bodies and the national standards body in Slovenia with regard to notification procedures in the area of standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures in the implementation of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (hereinafter: the WTO/TBT Agreement), signed within the framework of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation, or with regard to notification procedures under the rules of the European Union.

This Decree also sets out the methods of work and cooperation of subjects from the preceding paragraph in the preparation of sanitary and phytosanitary measures in the implementation of notification under the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (hereinafter: the WTO/SPS Agreement), concluded within the framework of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation.

Article 2

The provisions of Chapter III of this Decree shall also be applied by analogy to notification procedures under other international agreements on the establishment of free trade areas which are binding on Slovenia.

Article 3

In this Decree the term "product" shall mean any industrially manufactured and any agricultural product, including fish products.

Article 4

In technical regulations, reference to those Slovenian national standards for which the Slovenian national standards body has not carried out notification procedures in accordance with this Decree shall not be permitted.

Article 5

Executed and received notifications shall be published by the contact points from Article 6 of this Decree in the national standards body's bulletin.

II. JOINT PROVISIONS ON THE EXECUTION OF NOTIFICATION

Article 6

The government body or national standards body initiating the preparation of a standard, technical regulation, conformity assessment procedure, or sanitary or phytosanitary measure (hereinafter: the competent body) shall inform the relevant contact point thereof.

The contact point for the execution of notification under the WTO/TBT Agreement and for the execution of notification in accordance with this Decree and in line with the rules of the European Union shall operate within the national standards body.

The contact point for the execution of notification under the WTO/SPS Agreement shall operate within the ministry responsible for agriculture.

Article 7

In the notice from the preceding Article the competent body shall state the following in particular:
- the legislative basis for the preparation of a standard, technical regulation, conformity assessment procedure, or sanitary or phytosanitary measure (hereinafter, in the text of Chapters II and III of this Decree: measure);
- data on the person determined for liaison with the contact point;
- data on products and services covered by the measure in preparation;
- goals and reasons for the preparation of the measure;
- data on international or European standards, technical regulations, guidelines or recommendations that will constitute the basis for the measure or that apply to the same products and services;
- reasons for any departure from the documents given in the preceding indent;
- an assessment of whether the measure in preparation has to undergo a notification procedure in accordance with WTO regulations or the rules of the European Union.

Notice shall be submitted on a form drawn up by the responsible contact point. Where provided for by this Decree a draft of the measure in preparation shall be enclosed with the notification.

Article 8

If the notice from the preceding Article concerns the preparation of a technical regulation or a conformity assessment procedure, and after receiving notice, the contact point shall inform the ministry responsible for the market (hereinafter: the Ministry) of the content thereof, which shall in turn inform the contact point within eight days whether it requires other members of the WTO or the respective subjects to be notified of the implementation of the measure in preparation within the framework of notifications under the rules of the European Union.

If the Ministry requests execution of notification, the contact point shall perform this without delay, at the same time informing the competent body of the standstill period during which, in line with the provisions of this Decree, it may not adopt the measure in question.

If the contact point has not received notice from the first paragraph of this Article by the prescribed deadline, it shall consider that notice is not necessary and shall write this finding down on the received notice.

Decisions on the execution of notification on standards shall be made by the national standards body by applying the first to third paragraphs of this Article by analogy. Decisions on the execution of notification on sanitary and phytosanitary measures shall be made by the ministry responsible for agriculture.

Article 9

All provisions of this Decree concerning the preparation and notification of measures shall also apply to any substantial amendments to rules, the date of their enforcement or the range of products to which they apply.

III. NOTIFICATION UNDER THE WTO/TBT AND WTO/SPS AGREEMENTS

1. Joint provision

Article 10

The terms used in this Chapter shall have the following meanings:
- The terms "standard", "technical regulation" and "conformity assessment procedure" shall have the same meaning as in Annex 1 to the WTO/TBT Agreement.
- The term "sanitary or phytosanitary measure" shall have the same meaning as in Annex A to the WTO/SPS Agreement.

2. WTO/TBT Agreement

a) Notification of Slovenian measures

Article 11

In the event of a request from the first or fourth paragraphs of Article 8 of this Decree, the contact point shall notify the WTO Secretariat, through the United Nations Permanent Mission of the Republic of Slovenia in Geneva (hereinafter: the Mission), of the measure in preparation. It shall at the same time inform the competent body that it may not adopt the measure in question before 60 days have elapsed from the day of receipt of the notification by the WTO Secretariat.

Article 12

Members of the WTO communicate their requests and written comments in respect of points 2.9.3 and 2.9.4 of Article 2, and points 5.6.3 and 5.6.4 of Article 5 of the WTO/TBT Agreement to the contact point, which will forward them to the Ministry and the competent body. The contact point shall request the latter to submit to it a translation of the measure or a summary of it in the English language, or a draft reply concerning the received comments which must include a clear statement on whether these comments will be taken into account in the further preparation of the measure fully or only in part, and also the reasons for any rejection thereof. The translation and reply must be completed as soon as possible.

The contact point shall forward the received translation and reply, subject to the approval of the Ministry, to the WTO member that has sent its request or submitted its comments in writing. At the time of the approval the Ministry may opt in agreement with the competent body for an extension of the 60-day standstill period from the preceding article. If, due to rejection of its written comments, the other WTO member proposes negotiations, these negotiations shall be conducted by the Ministry, in cooperation with the competent body.

Article 13

The provisions on procedure contained in Articles 6 to 9 and Articles 11 and 12 of this Decree shall also be applied by analogy to any subsequent notification of the received measure which is allowed as an exception pursuant to point 2.10 of Article 2 and point 5.7 of Article 5 of the WTO/TBT Agreement.

b) Notification of foreign measures

Article 14

Notifications by other members of the WTO of the preparation of their measures within the meaning of this Decree are forwarded by the WTO Secretariat to the Mission, which shall immediately submit them to the contact point. Immediately after receiving notification the contact point shall communicate a copy thereof to the Slovenian body competent for the preparation of the measures in question. It shall also send a copy of the notification to those commercial entities which have made a preliminary request for the delivery of notifications concerning certain products. In the supporting letter the contact point shall draw attention to the possibility of requesting a complete text of the notified measure from the contact point or of receiving additional explanations.

Article 15

If the competent body from the preceding Article assesses that the adoption of the notified measure may cause an unnecessary barrier to international trade, it shall inform the contact point thereof, give an explanation of its assessment, and propose changes to the measure. This assessment may also be delivered by economic entities and other interested parties.

All subjects from the preceding paragraph may propose an extension of the standstill period within which the other WTO member may not adopt the notified measure and the initiation of international negotiations on its contents when comments in writing communicated prior to this have not been taken into account.

The contact point shall communicate the submitted assessments and proposals without delay to the Ministry, which shall, in collaboration with the competent body, and when necessary with other subjects from the first paragraph of this Article, determine the form and content of any written comments, communication of the proposed extension of the standstill period from the preceding paragraph, and the initiation of international negotiations. After it has adopted its decisions the Ministry shall submit the completed material via the contact point to the WTO member which submitted notification of the measure.

3. WTO/SPS Agreement

Article 16

Notifications of the preparation of sanitary or phytosanitary measures in the form of laws, decrees or rules with general validity shall, in accordance with Article 7 and Annex B to the WTO/SPS Agreement, be implemented by analogy in the same manner as notifications of measures under the WTO/TBT Agreement, in accordance with point 2 of this Chapter.

IV. NOTIFICATION UNDER THE RULES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

a) Joint provisions

Article 17

The terms used in this Chapter shall have the following meanings:

1. "Technical specification" shall mean a specification contained in a document which lays down the characteristics required of a product, such as levels of quality, performance, safety or dimensions, including the requirements applicable to the product as regards the name under which the product is sold, terminology, symbols, testing and testing methods, packaging, marking or labelling, and conformity assessment procedures. The term "technical specification" shall also cover production methods and processes used in respect of agricultural products, products intended for human or animal consumption, and medicinal products as defined in regulations governing medicinal products, as well as production methods and processes relating to other products when these have an impact on their characteristics.

2. "Service" shall mean any Information Society service, i.e. any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services.

For the purposes of this definition:
- "At a distance" shall mean that the service is provided without the parties being present at the same time.
- "By electronic means" shall mean that the service is sent initially and received at its destination by means of electronic equipment (including digital compression) and data storage, and initially transmitted, conveyed or received by wire, radio or by optical or other electromagnetic means.
- "At the individual request of a recipient of services" shall mean that the service is provided through the transmission of data upon individual request.

An indicative list of services not covered by this definition is given in Annex 3 to this Decree.

3. "Other requirement" shall mean a requirement other than technical specification which is imposed on a product for the purpose of protecting, in particular, consumers or the environment and which affects its life cycle after it has been placed on the market, such as conditions for use, recycling, reuse or disposal, where such conditions may significantly influence the composition or nature of the product or its placement on the market.

4. "Standard" shall mean a technical specification which is approved by a recognised standardization body for repeated or continuous application and with which compliance is not compulsory. Standards may fall into the following categories:
- international standard: standard adopted by an international standards body and made available to the public;
- European standard: standard adopted by a European standardization body and made available to the public;
- national standard: standard adopted by a national standardization body and made available to the public.

5. "Rules on services" shall mean requirements of a general nature imposed on the taking-up and pursuit of services within the meaning of point 2 of this Article, in particular provisions on service providers, services and recipients of services, with the exception of those rules that do not refer explicitly to services defined under this point.

For the purposes of this definition:
- A rule shall be considered to be specifically aimed at Information Society services where, with regard to its statement of reasons and its operative part, the specific aim and object of all or some of its individual provisions is to regulate such services in an explicit and targeted manner.
- A rule shall be considered to be specifically aimed at Information Society services where it affects such services only in an implicit or incidental manner.

6. "Standards programme" shall mean a work programme of a recognised standards body listing the subjects on which standardization work is being carried out.

7. "Draft standard" shall mean a document containing the text of technical specifications concerning a given subject which is being considered for adoption in accordance with the national standardization procedure, as that documents stands after preparatory work and as circulated for public comment or scrutiny.

8. "European standardization body" shall mean a body referred to in Annex 1 to this Decree.

9. "National standardization body" shall mean a body referred to Annex 2 to this Decree.

10. "Technical regulation" shall mean technical specifications and other requirements or rules on services, including the relevant administrative provisions whose observance is compulsory, de jure or de facto, in the case of placement on the market, provision of services, establishment of the service provider or use in a member state of the European Union (hereinafter: member state) or a major part thereof, as well as laws, other regulations or administrative provisions of member states, except for those provided for in Article 23 of this Decree prohibiting the manufacture, import, placement on the market or use of a product, the use of services or the establishment of a service provider.

De facto technical regulations shall include:
- laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a member state that refer either to technical specifications or other requirements, or to professional codes or codes of practice which in turn refer to technical specifications, other requirements or rules on services, compliance with which confers a presumption of conformity with the obligations imposed by the aforementioned laws, other regulations or administrative provisions;
- voluntary agreements to which the state is a contracting party and which provide, in the public interest, for compliance with technical specifications, other requirements or rules on services, excluding public procurement tender specifications;
- technical specifications, other requirements or rules on services that are linked to fiscal or financial measures affecting the consumption of products or services by encouraging compliance with such technical specifications or other requirements or rules on services.

Technical specifications or other requirements or rules on services which are linked to national social security systems shall not be included.

11. "Draft technical regulation" shall mean the text of a technical specification or of other requirements or rules on services, including administrative procedures, formulated with the aim of enacting it as technical regulation, the text being in a preparatory stage whereby substantial amendments can still be made.

Article 18

This Chapter shall not refer to the following services:
- radio broadcast services;
- television broadcast services defined as the broadcast of television programmes intended for the public and transmitted by wire or by air, including broadcast via satellite in an encrypted or non-encrypted form. These services include the mediation of programmes between companies for the purpose of public transmission; they do not include, however, the mediation of services providing information or other messages upon individual request, such as telecopying, electronic databases and other similar services.

This Chapter shall not refer to the following rules on services:
- rules on matters covered by European Union legislation regulating the area of public telecommunications services, as they are defined in harmonised telecommunications regulations;
- rules on matters covered by European Union legislation regulating the area of financial services, an indicative list of which is given in Annex 4 to this Decree;
- rules adopted by or for regulated markets, or by or for other markets, within the meaning of harmonised regulations on investment services in the area of securities, or by or for bodies performing accounting activities for these markets, the final text of the technical regulation being communicated to the European Commission without delay.

b) Notification of Slovenian national standards

Article 19

In accordance with Articles 6 to 8 of this Decree, the national standards body shall, via the contact point, notify the European Commission (hereinafter: Commission) and the standardization bodies from Annexes 1 and 2 to this Decree (hereinafter: standardization bodies) that it has included in its standards programme the preparation or amendment of a national standard, except when this concerns an identical or equivalent transposition of international or European standard.

In addition to data from Article 7 of this Decree, the notification referred to in the preceding paragraph shall indicate in particular whether the standard concerned:
- will transpose an international standard without being the equivalent;
- will be a new original national standard;
- will amend an original national standard.

Article 20

At a request from the Commission or standardization bodies, the Slovenian national standards body shall communicate to them, via the contact point, the draft standard from the preceding Article and inform them throughout the adoption procedure of any measures adopted on the basis of their comments.

Article 21

At their request the Slovenian national standards body shall allow the standardization bodies from Annex 2 to this Decree to be involved actively, by sending an observer, in its work within the standards programme. It shall also enable discussion of its standardization work at the European level in accordance with the rules of European standardization bodies.

Article 22

The Slovenian national standards body shall not adopt or issue any Slovenian national standard that has not undergone notification procedures in accordance with Article 19 of this Decree. During the preparation of a European standard and after its approval by the European standardization bodies from Annex 1 to this Decree, it may not perform any activities that may potentially disrupt the intended harmonisation.

The Slovenian national standards body may not adopt and issue any new or amended Slovenian national standard which is not completely in line with an existing European standard.

In the case of specific products, the first and second paragraphs of this Article shall not refer to the work of the Slovenian national standards body performed for the purposes of the preparation of technical regulations within the meaning of Article 6 of the Standardization Act (Official Gazette of the RS, 59/99). These technical regulations shall undergo notification procedures in accordance with the provisions of Articles 23 to 34 of this Decree.

c) Notification of Slovenian technical regulations

Article 23

The provisions from point c) of this Chapter shall not apply to those measures, in the form of regulations, administrative provisions or voluntary agreements, with which the competent bodies:
- implement binding acts of the European Union which result in the adoption of common technical specifications or rules on services;
- fulfil obligations arising from international agreements which result in the adoption of common technical specifications or rules on services in the European Union;
- make use of safeguard clauses provided for in binding acts of the European Union;
- carry out authorisations in the adoption of extraordinary measures in line with the harmonised regulations on general product safety;
- restrict themselves to implementing a judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Communities;
- restrict themselves to amending a technical regulation in line with a request from the Commission due to barriers to trade or, in the case of rules on services, to barriers to the free movement of services or the freedom to establish a service provider.

The provisions contained in Articles 28 to 33 of this Decree shall not apply to:
- those measures from the preceding paragraph that prohibit manufacture, insofar as they do not impede the free movement of products;
- technical specifications or other requirements or rules on services referred to in indent 3, point 10 of Article 17 of this Decree.

The provisions of Articles 32 to 33 of this Decree shall not apply to the voluntary agreements referred to in indent 2, point 10 of Article 17 of this Decree.

Article 24

If the competent body issues a technical regulation which is subject to notification to the Commission in accordance with this Decree, this technical regulation shall state that in the procedure of its issuing all requirements of the Directive laying down the procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards, regulations and rules on Information Society services have been met, or else it shall be accompanied by such a statement on the occasion of its official publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

If the draft technical regulation is subject to notification to the Commission in the preparatory stage on the basis of some other Slovenian regulation or European Union act, the competent body may perform notification on the basis of such a regulation or act provided that it states explicitly that this notification also represents notification within the meaning of the directive from the preceding paragraph. It shall inform the contact point from the second paragraph of Article 6 of this Decree of notification performed.

Article 25

The competent body preparing a technical regulation shall, in accordance with Articles 6 to 8 of this Decree, communicate the proposal to the Commission via the contact point. The proposal must contain a statement of the reasons for issuing the technical regulation.

If the draft technical regulation is merely a transposition of the full text of an international or European standard, action within the meaning of the preceding paragraph shall not be required. Information on the standard in question shall be sufficient in this instance.

Unless it has already been sent with a prior communication, the competent body shall simultaneously communicate the text of all basic laws and executive regulations that form the legal framework within which the draft technical regulation will be implemented, when this is needed for the assessment of the effects of the draft technical regulation from the first paragraph of this Article.

Data communicated on the basis of this Article shall not be of a confidential nature unless this is specifically requested and justified by the competent body.

Article 26

Where a draft technical regulation seeks to limit placement on the market or the use of a chemical substance, preparation or product on the grounds of public health or consumer or environmental protection, the competent body shall also forward to the Commission a summary of or references to all relevant data referring thereto or to known or available substitutes, where such information may be available.

In addition to the information from the preceding paragraph, the competent body shall also provide an explanation of the anticipated impact of the draft technical regulation on public health and consumer and environmental protection, together with a risk analysis carried out in accordance with the general principles and regulations on assessing the risk of existing or new chemical substances.

Article 27

If the Commission or any of the member states have sent comments concerning the draft technical regulation, the competent body shall take them into account in the subsequent preparation of the technical regulation as far as possible. The competent body must, via the contact point, communicate the definitive text of the technical regulation to the Commission without delay.

Article 28

The competent body shall not issue a draft technical regulation before three months have elapsed from the day of receipt by the Commission of the notification referred to in Article 25 of this Decree.

Article 29

If the Commission or any of the member states have sent, within three months of the day of receipt by the Commission of the notification referred to in Article 25 of this Decree, their opinion and an explanation thereof to the effect that the contemplated measure may create barriers to the free movement of goods in the internal market, the competent body shall not issue the following before four (indent 1 of this Article) or six months (indent 2 of this Article) have elapsed from this day:
- a technical regulation in the form of a voluntary agreement from indent 2, point 10 of Article 17 of this Decree;
- any other technical regulation (with the exception of one that contains only rules on services), taking into account the provisions of Article 32 of this Decree.

Article 30

Irrespective of the provisions of indent 2 of the first paragraph of Article 32 and the second paragraph of Article 32 of this Decree, the competent body shall not issue any technical regulation containing rules on services before four months have elapsed from the day of receipt by the Commission of the notification referred to in Article 25 of this Decree if the Commission or any of the member states have sent, within three months of that day, their opinion and explanation thereof to the effect that the contemplated measure may cause barriers to the free movement of services in the internal market or to the freedom to establish a service provider.

Article 31

The competent body shall, in agreement with the Ministry and via the contact point, report to the Commission on the measures it plans to adopt on the received opinions and the explanations thereof referred to Articles 29 and 30 of this Decree. For technical regulations containing rules on services, the competent body shall, as a rule, state the reasons for not taking the received opinions into account.

Article 32

The competent body may not issue a technical regulation before 12 months have elapsed from the day of receipt by the Commission of the notification referred to in Article 25 of this Decree if, within three months of that day, the Commission has issued:
- its intention to propose or adopt a directive, regulation or decision in the same area in accordance with Article 189 of the EC Treaty (except in the instance of acts containing only rules on services);
- its findings that the draft technical regulation concerns a subject discussed by a draft directive, regulation or decision submitted to the Council of the European Union (hereinafter: Council) in accordance with Article 189 of the EC Treaty.

If the Council has adopted a common position in the standstill period from the preceding paragraph, this period shall be extended to 18 months pursuant to the provisions of Article 30 of this Decree.

Article 33

Obligations deriving from the preceding Article shall cease:
- when the Commission has informed Slovenia that it no longer intends to propose or adopt a binding act from indent 1 of Article 32 of this Decree;
- when the Commission has informed Slovenia of the withdrawal of its draft or proposal;
- when the Commission or the Council have adopted a binding Community act.

Article 34

The provisions of Articles 28 to 32 of this Decree shall not apply in cases where:
- for urgent reasons occasioned by serious and unforeseeable circumstances relating to the protection of public health or safety, the protection of animals or the preservation of plants, in technical regulations containing rules on services, and in public policy, notably the protection of minors, Slovenia is obliged to prepare technical regulations in a very short space of time in order to issue and implement them immediately without any consultations being possible;
- for urgent reasons occasioned by serious circumstances relating to the protection of the security and integrity of the financial system, notably the protection of depositors, investors and insured persons, Slovenia is obliged to enact and implement regulations on financial services immediately.

In the notification from Article 25 of this Decree the competent body shall give reasons for the urgency of the measures taken.

d) Notification of foreign measures

Article 35

The contact point shall treat received notifications of measures being prepared by other member states or their standardization bodies in accordance with an application by analogy of Articles 14 and 15 of this Decree, with the exception of the provisions on the extension of the time limit in international negotiations. For the submission of any comments on the measures in preparation, the standstill period of three months from Article 29 of this Decree shall be taken into consideration.

If another member state has marked the contents of the notified measure as confidential, state bodies dealing with the measure may involve natural and legal persons from the private sector in the expert work thereof only when the necessary measures for ensuring the protection of confidentiality have been taken.

Any comments concerning technical specifications or other requirements or rules from indent 3, point 10 of Article 17 of this Decree, or opinions with an explanation, may concern only those aspects that might cause barriers to trade, while any comments on rules on services or opinions with an explanation may concern only the free movement of services or the freedom to establish service providers, but not the fiscal or financial aspects of this measure.

Any comments concerning technical regulations containing rules on services or opinions with an explanation shall not apply to any cultural policy measure, particularly in the audio-visual area, which member states of the European Union adopt in accordance with their law, taking into account their linguistic diversity, their specific national and regional characteristics, and their cultural variety.

V. TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 36

The provisions of Chapter IV of this Decree shall begin to apply on the day of Slovenia's accession to the European Union, or on the day any other international treaty between Slovenia and the European Union on notification procedures in the area of technical standards and technical regulations enters into force.

Article 37

On the day this Decree enters into force the Decree on Notification Procedures Under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade and the Agreement on the Implementation of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (Official Gazette of the RS, 65/98) shall cease to apply.

Article 38

This Decree shall enter into force six months after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

No. 2000-2211-0076
Ljubljana, 30 June

Government of the Republic of Slovenia

Dr Andrej Bajuk
Prime Minister

Annex 1

EUROPEAN STANDARDIZATION BODIES
FROM POINT 8 OF ARTICLE 17 OF THIS DECREE

1. CEN

European Committee for Standardization

2. Cenelec

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization

3. ETSI

European Telecommunications Standards Institute

Annex 2

NATIONAL STANDARDIZATION BODIES
FROM POINT 9 OF ARTICLE 17 OF THIS DECREE

1. BELGIUM

IBN/BIN
Institut belge de normalisation
Belgisch Instituut voor Normalisatie
CEB/BEC
Comité électrotechnique belge
Belgisch Elektrotechnisch Comité


2. DENMARK

DS
Dansk Standard
NTA
Telestyrelsen, National Telecom Agency


3. GERMANY

DIN
Deutsches Institut fűr Normung e.V.
DKE
Deutsche Elektrotechnische Kommission im DIN und VDE


4. GREECE

ELOT
Hellenic Organization for Standardization


5. SPAIN

AENOR
Asociación Espańola de Normalización y Certificación


6. FRANCE

AFNOR
Association française de normalisation
UTE
Union technique de l'électricité - Bureau de normalisation aupres de l'AFNOR


7. IRELAND

NSAI
National Standards Authority of Ireland
ETCI
Electrotechnical Council of Ireland


8. ITALY

UNI (*)
Ente nazionale italiano di unificazione
CEI (*)
Comitato elettrotecnico italiano


9. LUXEMBOURG

ITM
Inspection du travail et des mines
SEE
Service de l'énergie de l'État


10. NETHERLANDS

NNI
Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut
NEC
Nederlands Elektrotechnisch Comité


11. AUSTRIA

ON
Österreichisches Normungsinstitut
ÖVE
Österreichischer Verband für Elektrotechnik


12. PORTUGAL

IPQ
Instituto Portuguęs da Qualidade

13. UNITED KINGDOM

BSI
British Standards Institution
BEC
British Electrotechnical Committee


14. FINLAND

SFS
Suomen Standarddisoimisliitto SFS ry
Finlands Standardiseringsförbund SFS rf
THK/TFC
Telehallintokeskus
Teleförvaltningscentralen
SESKO
Suomen Sähköteknillinen Standardisoimisyhdistys SESKO ry
Finlands Elektrotekniska Standardiseringsförening SESKO rf


15. SWEDEN

SIS
Standardiseringen i Sverige
SEK
Svenska elektriska kommissionen
ITS
Informationstekniska standardiseringen

Annex 3

INDICATIVE LIST OF SERVICES
NOT COVERED BY POINT 2 OF ARTICLE 17 OF THIS DECREE

1. Services not provided "at a distance"

Services provided in the physical presence of the provider and recipient, even if they involve the use of electronic devices:
(a) medical examinations or treatment at a doctor's surgery using electronic equipment where the patient is physically present;
(b) consultation of an electronic catalogue in a shop where the customer is on site;
(c) plane ticket reservations at a travel agency by means of a network of computers and with the physical presence of the customer;
(d) electronic games made available in a video arcade where the customer is physically present.

2. Services not provided " by electronic means"

- Services having material content even though they are provided via electronic devices:
(a) automatic cash or ticket dispensing machines (banknotes, rail tickets);
(b) access to road networks, car parks, etc. where a charge is made for use, even if there are electronic devices at the entrance/exit controlling access and/or ensuring correct payment is made.

- Offline services: distribution of CD Roms or software on diskettes

- Services not provided via electronic processing/inventory systems:

(a) voice telephony services;
(b) telefax/telex services;
(c) services provided via voice telephony or fax;
(d) telephone/telefax consultation of a doctor;
(e) telephone/telefax consultation of a lawyer;
(f) direct marketing via telephone/telefax.

3. Services not supplied "at the individual request of a recipient of services"

Services provided by transmitting data without individual request for simultaneous reception by an unlimited number of individual receivers (point to multi-point transmission):
(a) television broadcast services (including near-video on-demand services) covered by point 2 of the first paragraph of Article 18 of this Decree;
(b) radio broadcast services;
(c) teletext (via television signal).

Annex 4

INDICATIVE LIST OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
COVERED BY INDENT 2 OF THE SECOND PARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE 18
OF THIS DECREE

- Investment services

- Insurance and reinsurance operations

- Banking services

- Operations relating to pension funds

- Services relating to dealings in futures and options

Such services include, in particular:
(a) securities investment services from harmonised regulations on investment services in the area of securities; services of collective investment undertakings;
(b) services covered by activities from harmonised regulations on the work of credit institutions, subject to mutual recognition;

(c) insurance and reinsurance activities in accordance with:
- harmonised regulations on the take-up and provision of activities of direct insurance, including direct life assurance;
- harmonised regulations on direct life assurance;
- harmonised regulations on the removal of restrictions on the freedom to establish and the freedom to provide services concerning reinsurance and the renewal of reinsurance.

EXPLANATION

In 1998 the Decree on Notification Procedures Under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade and the Agreement on the Implementation of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (Official Gazette of the RS, 65/98) was issued by the Slovenian government. The Decree was issued because, by signing and ratifying the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation, Slovenia thereby obliged itself to fulfil all obligations deriving from the related multilateral agreements that form an integral part of the Marrakesh Agreement. The two multilateral agreements were adopted for the purpose of preventing WTO members from causing unnecessary barriers to trade through their adoption and implementation of technical regulations, standards, conformity assessment procedures, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. For this reason the two agreements include, as an integral part, provisions on the prior (and only exceptionally also subsequent) mutual notification of member states of all measures adopted by them which, due to their nature, might result in a major impact on the trade of other member states.

In order to ensure the systematic and organised implementation of the above obligations, Slovenia has founded, on the basis of the issued Decree, WTO/TBT and WTO/SPS "enquiry points" through which it has began to carry out tasks related to domestic and foreign notification of the preparation of measures which might have a major impact on international trade. The WTO/TBT enquiry point was organised within the Slovenian Standards and Metrology Institute, and the WTO/SPS enquiry point within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food. It should be stressed that the 1998 Decree represented in a sense the transposition of Directive 83/189/EEC which, at the time of the issuing of the Decree, laid down notification procedures in the area of standards and technical regulations within the European Union. By temporarily limiting this procedure to a merely comparable one, the implementation of which was to bring it the necessary experience for its later integration into the "European information system", Slovenia followed the instructions contained in the "White Paper on the Preparation of Associated Countries of Central and Eastern Europe for Integration into the Internal Market of the European Union" in the area of establishing notification systems concerning standards and technical regulations in preparation.

Now, two years after these events, as we are approaching the agreed final deadline for full harmonisation of Slovenian legislation with the acquis, and given that the European Union has on several occasions expressed its intention to integrate candidates for EU membership into its preliminary system for the provision of information on draft standards and technical regulations even prior to the candidates' accession to the EU, all the basic requirements from the (new) Directive 98/34/EC (which lays down procedures for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and the rules on Information Society services, as amended by Directive 98/48/EC) must be transposed to Slovenia's legal system.

The Directive aims to prevent the occurrence of new barriers to trade in order to ensure that the parties concerned tackle and solve any problems that might arise from national technical regulations and standards. Enforcement of the requirements of the Directive concerning the provision of information is therefore one of the key first-degree measures defined in the White Paper mentioned above. These measures were selected on the basis of one or several of the following criteria:

- that they ensured an integrated framework for more detailed legislation;
- that they referred to fundamental principles or ensured the basic procedures regulating the field in question;
- that they were, in one way or another, a precondition for the effective functioning of the internal market in a certain area.

Implementation of procedures on the provision of information between EU member states requires coordination between different ministries of the member states in order to allow the systemic implementation of assumed obligations. In fact the European Commission requests the establishment of a central unit whose composition and organisation is decided by the member states themselves and which would serve as the only contact point with the European Commission, ensuring the precise and correct operation of procedures. When laying down provisions on the exchange of information between member states, equal standards should be applied for defining the legal terms used and for differentiating between technical standards and technical regulations (and on any rules on Information Society services these may contain), if the exchange of information is to be successful. The state administration of each member state must also establish an appropriate structure for the centralisation of information provision, the coordination of positions at the state level, and the communication of this information to the ministries responsible for the preparation of technical regulations and to the national standardization bodies responsible for the preparation of national standards.

Choosing between two options, the first being adoption of the requirements of the Directive in the form of a special regulation that would be separate from regulations on notification procedures within the WTO and the second being an upgrading of the latter regulation (the WTO regulation), the legislator opted for the second. He has assessed that the merging of regulations on notification procedures within the WTO and the European Union would increase the transparency of the obligations of competent bodies, thus facilitating their work. The advantage of a uniform regulation outweighs the fact that the scope and nature of the measures subject to notification in the European Union are not identical to the scope and nature of these measures in the WTO. The European Union also requires notification of "de facto technical regulations" (technical regulations whose observance is compulsory although they are not compulsory regulations in formal legal terms) and of "rules on Information Society services". This discrepancy does not however preclude the drawing-up of a uniform regulation, since the two different regulatory systems (together with certain differences in the definitions of basic terms) are discussed in detail in separate chapters.

The new extended Decree will begin to apply six months after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. During this period the competent bodies, together with the Ministry of Economic Relations and Development and the contact point, will have to carry out a precise examination in order to determine any additional tasks deriving from the adoption of the acquis, which also requires preliminary notification in the case of "de facto technical regulations" (technical regulations which refer to technical specifications "conferring the presumption of conformity"; certain voluntary agreements to which one of the contracting parties is the country in question; and some fiscal or financial measures) and of the "rules on Information Society services" (requirements of a general nature contained in technical regulations on services performed at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services). For efficient implementation of obligations, a suitable information infrastructure and a sufficient number of staff will have to be provided at the contact point.

Updated: 09. feb. 2003