Programme overview
Introduction:
Standards development and technical regulation training on standards committees and TBT notification is a 1-week course for standards body staff, regulators and technical committee experts, ending with a Standards and Technical Regulation Work Programme for a case standards body. Product rules stall or face trade objections when committee drafts lack consensus records, international standards are adopted with undeclared deviations and draft technical regulations reach the market without notification. Nominees already draft, review or vote on standards and regulations and learn through case studies on committee files and notification forms. CoreConcept Training Center delivers this standards development and technical regulation course.
Course Objectives:
- Distinguish voluntary standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures and place each draft in the correct development route
- Steer a technical committee work item through the proposal, preparatory, committee, enquiry, approval and publication stages with consensus and ballot records
- Decide between identical and modified national adoption of ISO and IEC standards and document every technical deviation and its justification
- Draft technical regulations using good regulatory practice, regulatory impact assessment and referencing of voluntary consensus standards
- Prepare TBT notifications, operate an enquiry point and respond to comments and specific trade concerns raised by other WTO Members
- Produce a Standards and Technical Regulation Work Programme linking new standards, regulations, conformity assessment routes and market surveillance checks
Target Audience:
- Standards development staff responsible for work programmes, committee secretariats and publication of national or sector standards
- Technical regulation drafting units accountable for mandatory product requirements and their regulatory impact evidence
- Industry and laboratory experts who represent their organisations on technical committees and vote on draft standards
- TBT enquiry point and notification staff who handle incoming and outgoing notifications and comments
- Market surveillance and product safety staff who rely on standards and regulations to judge products on the market
Course Outline:
Day 1: Standardisation Landscape and the Standards Versus Regulation Divide
- Voluntary Consensus Standards Versus Mandatory Technical Regulation Criteria
- De Jure and De Facto Standards Role Mapping
- National Standards Body Membership Roles in ISO and IEC
- Quality Infrastructure Links Between Standards, Metrology and Conformity Assessment
- Current-State Inventory of Standards Catalogue and Regulation Backlog
Day 2: ISO and IEC Development Stages, Committee Rules and the TBT Agreement
- ISO Proposal and Preparatory Stage Work Item Records
- Committee Stage Draft Circulation and Comment Resolution Tables
- Enquiry Stage DIS Ballot and Approval Stage FDIS Vote
- TBT Agreement Disciplines on Non-Discrimination and International Standards
- TBT Transparency Elements of Notification, Enquiry Points and Publication
Day 3: Running Committees, Adopting International Standards and Drafting Regulations
- Technical Committee Membership Balance and Stakeholder Category Matrix
- Consensus Building Techniques for Sustained Technical Objections
- Identical Versus Modified Adoption Decision and Deviation Table
- Regulatory Impact Assessment Worksheet for a Draft Technical Regulation
- Reference to Standards Clause Drafting in Technical Regulations
Day 4: Notification, Trade Concerns, Surveillance Links and Maintenance Risks
- ePing Platform Notification Search and Alert Registration Routine
- Draft Technical Regulation Notification Form and Comment Handling Log
- Specific Trade Concern Response Brief for the TBT Committee
- Market Surveillance Feedback Loop Into Standards and Regulation Revision
- Standards Maintenance Review Decisions to Confirm, Revise or Withdraw
Day 5: Case Study Work on a Standards and Technical Regulation Work Programme
- Case Standards Body Brief With Committee Files and Backlog
- Case Adoption Review of an International Electrical Product Standard
- Case Draft Regulation Impact Review and Notification Package
- Case Committee Ballot Dispute and Consensus Resolution Exercise
- Standards and Technical Regulation Work Programme Completion
Skills You Will Gain:
- Standards Work Item Management
- Committee Consensus Facilitation
- National Adoption Decision Making
- Regulatory Impact Assessment
- Technical Regulation Drafting
- TBT Notification Handling
- Trade Concern Response Drafting
- Standards Maintenance Planning
Why Attend This Course:
- Deliver a Standards and Technical Regulation Work Programme to the standards body board and the regulation drafting committee for approval
- Decide whether a product requirement belongs in a voluntary standard or a technical regulation, and whether to adopt an international standard identically or with modifications
- Avoid trade objections, withdrawn drafts and disputed ballots caused by missing notifications, undeclared deviations and thin consensus records
- Coach committee secretaries, experts and enquiry point colleagues on comment tables, deviation records and notification forms
Conclusion:
Back at work, the participant presents the Standards and Technical Regulation Work Programme to the standards body board, the regulation drafting committee and the enquiry point. The board uses it to prioritise new work items and adoptions, the drafting committee uses its impact worksheets to decide which requirements become mandatory, and the enquiry point schedules notifications before adoption. After the first notified draft regulation or completed committee ballot under the programme, the body should review comments received, deviations declared and surveillance findings, then reprioritise the items still open.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What should participants know before standards development and technical regulation training?
Participants should already draft, review or vote on standards or technical regulations, or handle notifications. No prior committee chairing is needed. Bringing an anonymised committee draft, comment table or draft regulation helps them apply the exercises to their own body.
How does standards development and technical regulation training differ from a certification body or inspection body course?
It covers writing and adopting the requirements themselves: committee stages, national adoption, regulation drafting and TBT notification. Certification and inspection body courses cover operating a conformity assessment body against its own standards, which appears here only as a route a regulation may call on.
Why does a draft technical regulation need TBT notification when a standard is adopted voluntarily?
A technical regulation makes compliance mandatory, so the TBT Agreement asks WTO Members to notify drafts and allow comment before adoption. Notification lets trading partners raise concerns early, reducing the risk that a mandatory rule becomes an unnecessary obstacle to trade.
What do participants take back from standards development and technical regulation training?
Participants take back a Standards and Technical Regulation Work Programme with a committee stage tracker, an adoption deviation table, a regulatory impact worksheet, a notification package and a surveillance feedback log they can adapt to their own standards body.