Being heard

If you were informed of a project which could cause problems or create barriers to your exports, do not hesitate to make your opinion known to the European Commission. The Commission will take these comments into account when it analyses new draft legislation from the WTO Members.

Who to contact?

Enterprises can send their comments on regulatory proposals of non-EU countries either directly to the EU TBT Enquiry point or via the Enquiry points of Member States of the EU. All addresses and emails can be found under "Contact".

EU delegation offices outside the EU also help monitor regulatory activity in their base countries. These delegations can conduct parallel negotiations with the WTO Member who has proposed the new regulation. They can also be easily contacted by the EU enterprises exporting to the WTO Member.

What information should I send and when?

You can either contact us via email, or fill in our online form to summarise your concerns. The email should include the name of your company, the reference of the problematic notification, as well as why you consider it could create barriers to your exports (e.g. because the measure discriminates amongst foreign and national products or because it is overly burdensome to achieve the objective pursued).

We advise you to contact us as soon as possible, so as to allow sufficient time for us to analyse your comments and, if necessary, pose additional questions. Ideally, the EU TBT Enquiry Point should receive comments no later than three weeks before the final deadline set by the notifying WTO member in the notification form.  

What's next?

The European Commission, based on the reactions of businesses, EU Member States and its own analysis, prepares the definitive text of the comments which is then sent to the enquiry point of the notifying WTO Member. These reactions are mainly aimed at preventing the adoption of measures creating unnecessary obstacles to trade or at obtaining a delay in their entry into force — to allow EU exporters to adapt and use up their stocks.

All comments sent and received by the EU are available on this website's database, which allows you to follow the progress of your enquiry.