   
  
G/TBT/GEN/366  
 
12 December  2023 
(23-8512) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade    
 
 
THEMATIC SESSION ON CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT AND E -COMMERCE  
7 NOVEMBER  2023, 15:00-18:00 
Moderator's Report1 
At the Ninth Triennial Review, Members agreed to continue to hold thematic sessions in conjunction 
with the TBT Committee's regular meetings from 2022 to 2024 to further deepen the exchange of 
experiences on specific topics. On this basis, the Committee ag reed to hold a thematic session on 
conformity assessment and e -commerce .2 Information about the speakers, presentations, and 
related materials is available on the WTO website.3  
 
1  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE MODERATOR  
1.1.  The World Bank research indicates tha t consumers especially in high -income countries, 
increasingly prefer shopping online to visiting brick -and mortar retailers.4 According to a World Trade 
Report from 2018, the value of e -commerce transactions was estimated to be USD 27.7 trillion in 
2016.5 Perhaps they were optimistic as subsequent valuations are less but what this tells us is that 
it is hard to know the real number as there are a few ways to calculate the widespread reach of 
e-commerce. These statistics must be seen in the context of the wider digital economy data which 
shows that the digital economy contributes to more than 15% of GDP globally , and in the past 
decade it has been growing at two and a half times faster than the physical world GDP.6 
1.2.  Alongside the economic growth opportunities, e -commerce also has benefits for businesses and 
people. For businesses, it helps them reach a wider consumer base and trade more efficiently and 
cost-effectively by streamlining processes such as shipping and logistics. This can be helpful 
especially for SMEs. Consumers are now also spoilt with an expanded choice of goods being a few 
clicks away from sourcing a product from the other side of the world. And this reflects in reduced 
prices given the increased competitiveness of product markets.  But with great access, comes risk. 
The Covid -19 pandemic increased the demand for e -commerce at a high speed which exposed illicit 
traders seeking to profit and operate in the shadows.  
1.3.  So, it is important that we all have confidence in e -commerce and are protected if things go 
wrong. For instance, the increase of e -commerce goes hand in hand with demand for cybersecurity 
protection. Ensuring compliance with technical regulations can be t rickier in e -commerce which 
means traditional post -market surveillance may not always be the most effective. Ensuring 
accountability becomes particularly tricky when regulations and standards must account for large 
platforms like Amazon as well as smaller marketplaces like Etsy.  
1.4.  In the TBT  Committee, as of Oct ober 2023, Members have notified around 30 e -commerce 
related measures. The majority of these (over 60%) were notified since 2020 indicating an upwards 
 
1 Ms Dora Trofor (United Kingdom ). This Report is provided on the Moderator's own responsibility.  
2 G/TBT/46 . 
3 WTO | Thematic Session on Conformity assessment and e -commerce .  
4 The Measurement and Analysis of E -commerce: Frameworks f or Improving Data Availability, 
Michael  J. Ferrantino and Emine Elcin Koten, The World Bank, December 2019.  
5 World Trade Report, 2018. The Future of World Trade How Digital Technologies are Transforming global 
commerce.  
6 Digital trust: How to unleash  the trillion -dollar opportunity for our global economy , World Economic 
Forum.  
 G/TBT/GEN/366  
 
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  trend. The notifications dealt with a wide range  of aspects such as: market surveillance of products 
sold online, labelling of those products and obligations for online marketplaces.  
2  GUIDING QUESTIONS  
• How does e -commerce challenge traditional approaches to conformity assessment?  
• What are the best pract ices for addressing challenges related to conformity assessment of 
online -purchased goods, in particular when used for assessing whether such goods comply 
with safety requirements?  
• How can regulators enhance, in particular, post -market surveillance of onli ne-purchased 
goods?  
• What opportunities exist for regulatory cooperation (among Members, with the private sector 
and society in general as well as with other international organizations) to enhance safety 
of online -purchased goods?  
• What role can internation al standards play in this area?  
3  INTERVENTIONS  
3.1.  Mr Robert Pollock  (United States)7 presented strategies to mitigate conformity assessment 
and safety risks in e -commerce. Mr Pollock emphasized that information on product safety and 
compliance are essential f or consumers in today's context of online shopping. To address the risks 
to consumer safety, he outlined three strategies. Firstly, availability of information – it is important 
that consumers have access to information that is easy to read to help them ma ke informed decisions 
and verify if products meet conformity assessment requirements. As an example, he shared the UL 
Solutions' online certification Directory which assists New Yorkers to verify e -bikes, e -scooters or 
e-mobility devices products.  
3.2.  The sec ond strategy focused on partnerships between private and public sector entities. This 
includes collaborations between government regulators, customs and law enforcement agencies to 
confirm certification and reduce issues with dangerous, counterfeit product s. The third strategy 
emphasized the use of best practices and the essential role of international standards in setting best 
practices guidelines. Mr Pollock cited two ISO standards – ISO 10377:2013 Consumer product safety  
and ISO 10393:2013 Consumer product recall: Guidelines for suppliers . He suggested that 
e-commerce and conformity assessment areas need similar ISO standards to use as best practices 
guidelines and a resource for stakeholders in these sectors.  
3.3.  Ms Yang Wu  (China)8 shared the  challenges and possible approaches for conformity 
assessment in e -commerce from the perspective of an independent third-party certification and 
inspection organization. She began by explaining some  of the features of e -commerce and the 
corresponding chall enges for product assurance. These features include a globally sourced supply 
chain, virtual transactions, small packages and time -sensitive delivery. The associated challenges 
with these features are (i) diverse regulations and supply chain complexity ; (ii) difficulty to 
determine authenticity and returned and refurbished good ; (iii) limited capabilities to monitor small 
packages versus large cargo ; and (iv) compromised market access implementation. These 
challenges impact  the consumer 's ability to verify safe product s. To address these challenges, she 
highlighted  enhanced practices  at key stages  along the e -commerce supply chain  such as risk 
assessment with algorithm and machine learning, awareness education to sellers  and customs : 
pre-market and in customs supervision and post -market surveillance agencies.  
3.4.  Ms Wu also introduced the idea of a data -driven approach for conformity assessment in 
e-commerce - exchange of product quality data in advance along the e -commerce supply chain. 
Once the transparen t product quality information is provided, it could be accepted by various 
participants in e-commerce supply chain for purpose of quality assurance. Post -market data could 
also be captured and added later for continuous quality assurance. In agreement with  Mr Pollock, 
she also stressed the importance of standards. She shared two standards which are currently under 
development: ISO/PWI 20180 - Guidelines on risk -based product quality data interchange in 
 
7 Vice President, Brand Integrity UL Solutions . 
8 Department manager, China Certification and Inspection Group Testing Co. Ltd.   G/TBT/GEN/366  
 
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  E-commerce and ISO/DIS 32120 - Transaction assurance in  E-commerce — Guidelines on sharing 
of goods quality assurance related traceability information in E -commerce supply chains.  
3.5.  Ms Emily McIntyre  (Canada)9 described standardization considerations in e -commerce from 
the Canadian perspective. She provided a background of the growth of e -commerce in the Canadian 
context and the impact of the global trends such as the pandemic in accelerating this growth. In 
comparison with in -store purchases, e -commerce purchases may not meet and can by -pass the 
regulatory fra meworks to protect the safety of end -users. This means that in the context of the 
WTO TBT Agreement, the product may have bypassed the established framework to protect the 
health and safety of end users - the technical regulations, standards, and conformit y assessment 
procedures. WTO Members ' existing frameworks, including post -market surveillance systems, are 
therefore facing new challenges for monitoring products entering their markets through 
e-commerce. Furthermore, e -commerce, coupled with the increasi ngly digital environments, has 
created new hazards such as cybersecurity concerns.  
3.6.  She stressed the importance of equipping the right people with the right information about 
conformity assessment as a mechanism to counter unapproved and counterfeit produc ts entering a 
market through e -commerce. This is important in both business2consumer and business2business 
transactions. She shared two key resources – International Accreditation Forum 's CertSearch and 
Electro -Federation Canada's (EFC) Online Safety Guide  for Electrical Products. CertSearch is a 
worldwide database that allows anyone to verify and monitor over 1.1 million global accredited 
certifications. EFC's Online Safety Guide for Electrical Products is an accessible resource that includes 
information o n certification marks for electrical products for consumers. Finally, Ms McIntyre 
recommended that WTO Members continue to work together to enhance safety of products 
purchased online to protect consumer health and safety. Key areas of collaboration shared  were 
domestic coordination, education and raising awareness, information -sharing mechanisms, new 
approaches and solutions using the WTO TBT Agreement as their base, and the use of international 
standards, guides and recommendations.  
3.7.  Ms Hui -Fang Huang  (Chinese Taipei)10 shared Chinese Taipei's market surveillance 
approaches for enhancing regulatory compliance in e -commerce. She detailed the challenges faced 
by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BMSI). The top three  challenges are: (i) l ack 
of compliance information on webpages ; (ii) lack of product compliance obligations by sellers ; and 
(iiI) large number of suspected non -compliant products online. To counter these challenges, she 
highlighted three  actions currently  being implemented . Firstly, BMSI is bridging the information gap 
by requesting online sellers to disclose compliance information in accordance with Consumer 
Protection Act (2017). They are also enhancing cooperation with economic operators in the 
e-commerce space.  
3.8.  In addition  to requesting compliance information from sellers and requiring sellers share 
information for products of public concern, they also remove listings lacking compliance information. 
BMSI also evaluate s the performance of the economic operators according to their adherence to the 
appropriate  regulation. Thirdly, since 2021, BMSI has conducted online market checks using web 
crawling techniques which employ product keywords across nine platforms. If listings f ail to disclose 
information in a stipulated time fra me (typically  three  days), they are removed from the platform(s). 
In 2022,  BMSI removed 20,522 listings  which failed to comply . Finally, Ms Huang  emphasized  their 
continued efforts to maintain  regular communication with sellers, collaboration with online platforms 
and continued training of web crawlers . 
3.9.  Mr Lennart Grundberg  (European Union)11 presented the EU Regulation on Market 
Surveillance and Compliance of Products Reg. 2019/1020 and explained how it addresses online 
sales in the European Union. The regulation establishes that products for sale online are deemed to 
be placed on the market if the offer is targeted at end users in the European Union. The regulation 
also provides market surveillance authorities with powers and tools to assess compliance of products 
sold online with respective regulations and take actions if products do not com ply with such 
regulations. In addition, for specific product sectors, the EU regulation introduced an obligation to 
have an EU -based economic operator who can act as interlocutor to authorities. Mr Grundberg added 
 
9 Senior Policy analyst , Standards Council of Canada (SCC ) 
10 Chief, Market Surveillance Section, Integrated Planning Division, Bureau of Standards, Metrology and 
Inspection, Chinese Taipei  
11 DG GROW, European Commission.  G/TBT/GEN/366  
 
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  that the European Union will soon start th e process of evaluating how that particular obligation has 
been implemented.  
3.10.   Mr Andras Zsigmond  (European Union)12 described EU regulatory and non -regulatory 
responses for products sold online. He noted the growing share of online sales in the European 
Union: (i) between 2010 -2020, the share of goods for private use bought online grew from 53% to 
73%; (ii) one out of five companies in the European Union sells online;  and (iii) in 2019, 27% of 
purchases were cross -border. Such trend amplified by the Covid -19 pandemic. In light of these 
developments, the European Union revised its General Product Safety Regulation. The revision aims 
to ensure equal conditions for online and offline shopping by: (i) aligning requirements for online 
and offline sales; (ii) intr oducing new obligations for online marketplaces; and (iii) addressing 
challenges of direct third -country imports. In addition, it aims to provide sufficient enforcement 
powers for online sales by: (i) aligning market surveillance and traceability rules; an d 
(ii) strengthening deterrent effect of penalties, including for online marketplaces.  
3.11.   Mr Zsigmond also described the Product Safety Pledge that was initially signed in 2018 by 
four marketplaces to foster voluntary cooperation and go beyond legal requirem ents for the safety 
of products sold online. The initiative was revamped in 2023 as "Product Safety Pledge+" and now 
it identifies 20 areas of cooperation where signatories are ready to go beyond regulatory 
requirements (e.g. faster removal of listings of unsafe products, monitoring, education).  
3.12.   Mr Rifan Ardianto  (Indonesia)13 described  the development of e -commerce in Indonesia and 
the current  trends in digitalization. Indonesia's e -commerce  sector  is currently experiencing and is 
projected to see exponential growth. In 2022, a lmost 3.5 million e -commerce transactions were 
conducted and for the same year it was estimated that Indonesia's digital economy has a value of 
USD 77 billion.  However , this g rowth has encountered issues such as non-compliant products , 
personal data security,  cybercrime risks and legalization of foreign businesses. Indonesia  has 
introduced a digital regulatory framework with  the objective to ensure consumer protection, level 
playing field for local and foreign businesses and fair trade.  
3.13.   Mr Ardian to also detailed the challenges and limitations of the Indonesia's traditional  
conformity assessment techniques in e-commerce.  These challenges were similar to those shared 
by previous speakers and include online compliance implementation and lack of accurate and verified 
certification which puts consumers at risk. To tackle  these challenges, Indonesia  has introduced a 
risk assessment approach to use timely and accurate information from reliable sources to enable 
early risk assessment and clearance for legitimate transactions. In addition, Indonesia makes  efforts  
to increase standardization and harmonization across public and private sectors.  Indonesia is also 
employing the use of best pr actices for both the government and the consumers. The work of the 
Indonesia n government will focus on transparency and accountability, risk -based conformity 
assessment, cooperation and information sharing. Consumers are being empowered to take more 
respon sibility via education on the necessary research practices when purchasing online . 
3.14.   Ms Alice Roberts  (United Kingdom)14 presented the emerging proposals to modernise UK 
product safety legislation through a Product Safety Review  (PSR) . The United Kingdom has identified 
an opportunity to review the current product safety framework with a view to enhance consumer 
safety, reduce business burden, and meet the regulatory challenges introduced by modern products. 
The PSR proposals aim to better pr otect and inform consumers, and support a level playing field for 
businesses, whilst being proportionate and deliverable given the complex range of business models 
involved in e -commerce. This includes (i) clarification of cooperation duties for new busine ss models, 
particularly "online marketplaces "; (ii) setting out due care requirements for online platforms in 
relation to unsafe product listings ; and (iii) increasing consumer -facing information on online product 
listings to support informed purchasing de cisions.  
3.15.   Mr Feng Lin  (China)15 discussed China's approaches to conformity assessment in 
e-commerce. He noted that China fully acknowledges the important role of conformity assessment 
in promoting the progress of e -commerce. In 2015, in order to address con sumer concerns about 
 
12 Legal and Policy Officer, DG JUST, European Commission.   
13 Director of E -Commerce and Trade in Services, Ministry of Trade, Indonesia  
14 Lead Policy Advisor, Department for Business and Trade, United Kingdom  
15Deputy Director, China Certification & Accreditation Institute, State Administratio n for Market 
Regulation.  G/TBT/GEN/366  
 
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  quality and safety of products sold online, China's Certification and Accreditation Administration 
(CNCA) launched "Certification and Accreditation Cloud Bridge", a platform for sharing certification 
information between national CCC ce rtification database and e -commerce platforms. This enables 
consumers to check CCC certification marks and detailed certification information about goods on 
e-commerce platforms helping them avoid unlicensed and counterfeit products.  
3.16.   In addition, Mr Lin n oted that since 2019, the CNCA has been exploring the new trust model 
"conformity assessment + blockchain" that fully integrates institutional trust of conformity 
assessment with machine trust advantage of blockchain. Such new trust model enables to: (i) s hift 
information collection method from manual to automated; (ii) store conformity assessment results 
and record under blockchain; and ( iii) conduct full sample assessment. Such features increase 
productivity, transparency and accuracy of conformity assess ment activities.  
3.17.   Mr Lin added that by implementing the abovementioned mechanism, consortium blockchain 
can be established bringing together cross -border e -commerce platforms, product manufacturers, 
conformity assessment bodies and regulatory authorities. T his integration would allow for a real time 
access to verifiable and traceable conformity assessment information on e -commerce platforms 
ensuring product safety.  
3.18.   Mr Douglas Balentine  (United States)16 discussed public health labelling information in the 
context of e -commerce . He noted that online sales of food and beverages were accelerated in the 
context of the Covid -19 pandemic. For example, in 2021, e -commerce revenues related to food and 
beverage sales in the United States were estimated at about 100 b illion US dollars and by 2027 
e-commerce sales may increase to 360 billion US dollars.  
3.19.   Mr Balentine also discussed the work of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) on 
developing guidance regarding information that should be available on product information page 
(e.g. mandatory labelling information, food allergen information). In addition, he provided an 
overview of the US current and planned activities in this area  that include: (i)  evaluation of the 
current regulatory structure to deter mine whether any changes are needed to ensure adequate 
oversight of foods sold through e -commerce in light of new business models in food; (ii) building 
relations with third party delivery companies; (iii) developing guidance for labelling of food sold in 
e-commerce; and (iv)  working with the CCFL on the above -mentioned guidance.  
3.20.   Mr Richard Collin  (United Kingdom)17 discussed the role of the a ccredited conformity 
assessment in the e -commerce environment.  He noted that accreditation is already used in the 
e-commerce area, and it supports trust, confidence and improves consumer outcomes in online 
marketplaces. Mr Collin also shared the UK experience with digitising trade (e.g. Electronic Trade 
Documents Act 2023) and conformity assessment (e.g. UKAS CertCheck , a database for 
UKAS -accredited management system certifications). In addition, he stressed how the global  mutual 
recognition  agreements on accreditation increase trust and enable the reduction of unnecessary 
trade barriers , supporting product safety and good practices in marketplaces.  
4  COMMENT BY THE MODERATOR  
4.1.  I noted a number of key takeaways from the thematic session:  
• While noting the opportunities afforded by e -commerce, all speakers agreed ensuring compliance 
of products sold online can be especially difficult due to the borderless nature of the Internet, 
associated speed and breaking patters of traditional supply chains which bypass conformity 
assessment. As a result, consumers are exposed to non -compliant counterfeit products that can 
pose serious sa fety, health and privacy risks. Against this background, we discussed a variety 
of practices that can ensure safety of online -purchased products.  
 
• We learned about the various regulatory frameworks  that Members operate to ensure the safety 
of online products. EU speakers elaborated on their market surveillance system, their revised 
General Product Safety Regulations and voluntary cooperation with online marketplaces. We 
learned  about  Indonesia's  Digital Regulatory Framework which aims to  ensure consumer 
 
16 Senior Science Advisor International Nutrition Policy, United States Food and Drug Administration 's 
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.  
17 External Affairs Director, United Kingdom Accreditation Service .  G/TBT/GEN/366  
 
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  protection while promoting fair trade for local and foreign businesses. Also, the UK talked about 
their work on modernising their product safety legislation  to better protect and inform consumers 
and support a level playing field for businesses.  
 
• Speakers  also covered tools and approaches that can bolster trust in e -commerce:  
 
o Labelling . We learned about Codex Committee on Food Labelling recent work related to 
e-commerce in pre -packaged foods and hear d more about the US activities in this area.  
 
o Accreditation . We discussed how accredited conformity assessment supports trust and 
conformity in e -commerce and reflected on how international cooperation on accreditation 
could further facilitate cross -borde r trade.  
 
o Blockchain . We equally heard about China's new trust model of "conformity assessment 
and blockchain" that helps to increase transparency of conformity assessment process and 
improve accuracy of its results.  
 
• Overall , speakers identified solutions  that can improve the safety of products sold online:  
 
o Because of the inherent multilateral nature of e -commerce challenges, speakers 
suggested international standards and cooperation are essential. Through these, we can 
develop approaches that facilitate trade and support effective domestic regulation and 
practices that ensure the safety of products sold online.  
 
o Considering the number of actors involved in ensuring safety of products sold online, it is 
equally important to have effective coordination and  partnerships between public and 
private stakeholders including online marketplaces which have an increasingly important 
role in ensuring product safety.  
 
o As the Canadian speaker  signalled, another important piece of the puzzle is the availability 
and acc essibility of information for consumers so that they make informed decisions when 
purchasing products online. Moreover, as the Chinese Taipei  speaker identified, this is 
equally true for sellers who are often unaware of product compliance.  
 
o Finally, all sp eakers signalled the importance of cooperation in the context of exchanging 
product quality data along the e -commerce supply chain. This can facilitate global 
recognition and multiple acceptance of quality information and post -market data.  
 
4.2.  I would like to thank again all speakers for their thought -provoking contributions and Members 
attending, in particular those who enriched the debate by posing interesting questions. I hope this 
thematic session has helped to spark future conversation and cooperat ion on addressing challenges 
arising from ensuring the conformity and safety of online -purchased products.  
__________  