Canada's Notification Authority and Enquiry Point

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) and Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) include transparency provisions that require Members to establish a central contact point designated to provide early and appropriate notifications on certain federal and sub-federal government measures (laws, regulations, binding policies and guidelines, etc.) that may have an impact on trade. The measures (new or modified) to be notified include those that may have an effect on international trade, no matter if it is restricting or facilitating, and are classified as a technical regulation or conformity assessment procedures in the TBT Agreement or a sanitary or phytosanitary measure under the SPS Agreement. Canada’s Notification Authority and Enquiry Point provides a single window for the fulfillment of Canada’s transparency commitments under the TBT/SPS Agreements, as well as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and several of Canada’s other free trade agreements. To do so and to ensure timely and accurate information sharing, Canada’s Notification Authority and Enquiry Point collaborates closely and regularly with domestic regulatory authorities, federal departments, and other key stakeholders, to gather, assess, and share relevant information related to regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures.

Canada’s Notification Authority and Enquiry Point offers the following services and products to interested stakeholders:

• Serves as the central Canadian contact point for domestic regulators and WTO Members regarding transparency-related obligations under the TBT and SPS Agreements;
• Supporting Canadian regulators in identifying issues for notifications and preparing relevant documentation;
• Providing notification and related documentation to Canada's WTO and other partners of proposed new or amended technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, and SPS measures;
• Handling comments received on domestic and foreign measures to the appropriate regulatory agency for consideration, and acting as a liaison between Canadian regulators and their foreign counterparts to facilitate the exchange of comments and responses;
• Responding to technical enquiries on a variety of topics including: national, foreign and international standards; Canadian and foreign technical regulations; conformity assessment procedures; and SPS measures;
• Providing full texts of technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, and SPS measures notified.

You can contact Canada’s Notification Authority and Enquiry Point by e-mail at enquirypoint@international.gc.ca or by mail:

Canada’s Notification Authority and Enquiry Point
Global Affairs Canada
Technical Barriers and Regulations Division
111 Sussex Drive
Ottawa ON  K1A 0G2

Resources

• WTO alerts about potential technical trade barriers: You can get timely updates about new product requirements or food safety rules by signing up with the WTO's "ePing" service. The ePing notification alert system enables timely access to such information and facilitates dialogue among the public and private sector to help address potential trade problems at an early stage.