WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/N/COL/17
30 April 2002
(02-2452)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  Spanish
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  COLOMBIA
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Economic Development
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers and E-mail and Web site
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [     ], 2.10.1 [ X ], 5.6.2 [    ], 5.7.1 [    ], other:
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   73.21.11.10.00,
73.21.11.90.00, 84.19.11.00.00, 84.19.19.10.00 and 84.19.19.90.00
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Resolution No. 0321
of 19 April 2002 Issuing Emergency Technical Regulation RTC-001MDE on Gas Fuel-
Fired Domestic Appliances Manufactured or Imported for Use in Colombia  (27 pages).
6. Description of content:  Purpose: to prevent health and safety risks and practices likely to
mislead users, Scope of application: this regulation covers the following domestic gas
appliances manufactured or imported for use in Colombia: cookers, ovens, continuous flowwater heaters and storage water heaters, Definitions and abbreviations, Classification of
domestic gas appliances, Essential requirements, Specific requirements, Conformity
assessment procedure, Demonstration of complia nce: prior to marketing, the manufacturers,
importers or marketers of the products subject to this technical regulation shall demonstrate
their compliance by way of a certificate of conformity issued by a conformity assessment
body accredited or recognised by the Superintendency of Industry and Trade, pursuant to
Article 8 of Decree No. 2269 of 16 November 1993 and other existing legal provisions,Tariff subheadings, Standards referenced or consulted, Monitoring and inspection body,
Penalty system, Period of validity: this technical regulation shall remain in force for twelve
(12) months as from its date of publication in the Official Journal.
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:   
The Ministry has issued this Emergency Technical Regulation in the light of the
high degree of explosiveness and extreme inflammability of the gaseous fuels used to fire
domestic gas appliances and the high risk of death by asphyxiation from inhalation ofcarbon monoxide (CO) gas as a result of incomplete combustion, since it considers it a
matter of urgency to protect human, animal and plant life and health and the environment
and prevent practices likely to mislead consumers.G/TBT/N/COL/17
Page 2
8. Relevant documents:
• European standard EN 89:2000 (European Committee for Standardization).
Gas-fired storage water heaters for the production of domestic hot water.
• EN 125:1991. Flame supervision devices for gas-burning appliances.
Thermoelectric types.
• NTC (Colombian technical standard) 332:1994-07-27. Metal piping.
Threads for general purpose piping. Dimensions in inches.
• NTC 888:1997-04-16. Electrical househ old appliances. Storage water
heaters. Installation and required safety devices.
• NTC  1908:1998-11-25. Manually-operated gas valves for appliances,
connector valves for appliances and hose end valves.
• NTC  2104:1996-10-23. Metal piping. Pipe threads where pressure-tight
joints are made on the threads.
• NTC  2143:1996-08-21. Metal piping. Pipe threads where pressure-tight
joints are not made on the threads. Part 1. Dimensions, tolerances and
designation.
• NTC  2183:2000-10-25. Safety of household and similar electrical
appliances. Part 1: General requirements.
• NTC 2386:1998 (first revision). Safety of household and similar electrical
appliances. Specific requirements for cooking ranges, hobs, ovens and
similar appliances.
• NTC 2832-1:2001-08-29 (third revision). Cooking appliances. Part 1.
Safety requirements.
• NTC 3293: 1995-07-26. Mechanical appliances. Internal pressure
regulators for gas-fired equipment.
• NTC 3384:1992-09-16. Mechanical appliances. Thermostats for gas-fired
domestic appliances and industrial equipment for similar use.
• NTC 3527:1997-05-28. Definitions and common rules applicable to the
testing of gas-fired appliances for domestic and commercial use.
• NTC 3531:1998-06-24. Instantaneous gas water heaters for domestic use.
Continuous-flow heaters.
• NTC 3631:1994-07-27. Gas appliances. Ventilation of enclosed areas fitted
with gas-fired appliances for domestic, commercial and industrial use.
• NTC 3833:1995-10-18. Gas pipelines. Specifications for the design and
installation of evacuation systems for combustion products from gas
appliances for domestic, commercial and industrial use.
• Royal Decree No. 1428/92 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and
Tourism implementing EC Council Directive 90-396-EEC on appliances
burning gaseous fuels.
• Royal Decree No. 276/95 amendi ng Royal Decree No. 1428/92.
• Order of 15 February 1991 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy
amending Supplementary Technical Instructions ITC MIE AG6 and ITC
MIE AG11 concerning the Regulations on gas-fired appliances.
• Order of 15 December 1988 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy
approving Supplementary Technical Instructions concerning theRegulations on gas-fired appliances.
• Order of 7 June 1988 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy
approving Supplementary Technical Instructions concerning the
Regulations on gas-fired appliances.
• Royal Decree No. 494/88 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy
approving the Regulations on gas-fired appliances.G/TBT/N/COL/17
Page 3
9. Proposed date of adoption:
Proposed date of entry into force: } Not applicable
10. Final date for comments:   Not applicable
11. Texts available in Spanish  from:
National enquiry point [ X ]:  
Ministry of Economic Development
Department of Trade and Promotion of Competition
Carrera 13, No. 28 - 01, 7th floor
Bogotá, D.C., ColombiaTel.:  (571) 350-5500, ext. 713
Fax:  (571) 350-9564
E-mail: normalizacion01@mindesa.gov.co
             COLOMBIA@mindesa.gov.co
or address, telephone and fax numbers and E-mail and Web site addresses, if
available, of other body:
Department of Industry
Carrera 13, No. 28 - 01, 8th floor
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia
Tel.: (571) 350-3950, ext. 870
Fax: (571) 350-5286
E-mail: sectorial@mindesa.gov.co