WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.796
30December 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-5632)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofAgriculture, Nature Management andFisheries
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Dairy products
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Agricultural Quality
Decree onDairy Products
6. Description ofcontent: Article 13rules thatsome fourtypes ofcheese mayonlybe
prepared bythose affiliated toacontrol body appointed inthisDecree. Article 14
stipulates thatforother cheeses nonames maybeusedwhich aresimilar tothetype
names indicated inArticle 12.Theabove rules apply pursuant toArticle 15onlyto
producers ofthefourcheese types described onDutch territory.
7. Objective andrationale, including thenature ofurgent problems where applicable: One
oftheaims oftheAgricultural Quality Actistooffer thepossibility oflaying down
rules regarding thequality ofproducts inorder topromote thesaleofthese products.
Given theNetherlands 'vested interest intheexport ofsome three types ofcheese, the
draft Decree contains asystem whereby allthese cheeses manufactured inthe
Netherlands meet certain quality requirements. Inthisway, ahighlevel ofconsistency
andquality isguaranteed. IntheNetherlands, farmcheese hasadistinct meaning tothe
consumer, namely acheese made ofunprocessed milkonadairy farm. Thisorigin and
method ofpreparation, however, arenotvisible totheconsumer. This iswhy an
affiliation obligation exists forfarmcheese too.
Inorder toavoid unjustified trade restrictions, Article 15provides forproducts
from other member States orthirdcountries. Based onthisArticle, itisguaranteed that
products from other member States orthirdcountries towhich thisDecree pertains, will
notexperience anyhindrances during theirimport intotheNetherlands.
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8. Relevant documents: Agricultural Quality Act
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:1July1998
10. Final dateforcomments: 20February 1998
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress, e-mail andtelefax number
ofother body: