Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Dispute settlement between developing countries: Argentina and Chilean price bands
- 2 Argentina and GATS: a study of the domestic determinants of GATS commitments
- 3 Rock ‘n’ roll in Bangladesh:protecting intellectual property rights in music
- 4 Barbados: telecommunications liberalization
- 5 Services commitments: case studies from Belize and Costa Rica
- 6 Inter-agency policy co-ordination in Botswana
- 7 Brazil and the G20 group of developing countries
- 8 Cambodia's accession to the WTO: ‘fast track’ accession by a least developed country
- 9 Canada and the WTO: multilevel governance, public policy-making and the WTO Auto Pact Case
- 10 The SPS Agreement and crisis management: the Chile–EU avian influenza experience
- 11 Shanghai's WTO Affairs Consultation Center: working together to take advantage of WTO membership
- 12 Costa Rica's challenge to US restrictions on the import of underwear
- 13 Fiji: preparing for the end of preferences?
- 14 The road to Cancún: the French decision-making process and WTO negotiations
- 15 Decision-making processes in India: the case of the agriculture negotiations
- 16 Protecting the geographical indication for Darjeeling tea
- 17 The Indian shrimp industry organizes to fight the threat of anti-dumping action
- 18 Indonesia's shrimp exports: meeting the challenge of quality standards
- 19 Patents, parallel importation and compulsory licensing of HIV/AIDS drugs: the experience of Kenya
- 20 Kenya's participation in the WTO: lessons learned
- 21 Learning by doing: the impact of a trade remedy case in Korea
- 22 Laos: the textile and garment industry in the post-ATC era
- 23 Malawi in the multilateral trading system
- 24 Malaysia: labelling regulations on natural rubber condoms and the WTO TBT Agreement
- 25 Malaysia: strategies for the liberalization of the services sector
- 26 Mauritius: co-operation in an economy evolving for the future
- 27 How regional economic communities can facilitate participation in the WTO: the experience of Mauritius and Zambia
- 28 Mexico's agricultural trade policies: international commitments and domestic pressure
- 29 Mongolia's WTO accession: expectations and realities of WTO membership
- 30 Nepal: the role of an NGO in support of accession
- 31 Nepal: exports of ayurvedic herbal remedies and SPS issues
- 32 Import prohibition as a trade policy instrument: the Nigerian experience
- 33 The Pacific island nations: towards shared representation
- 34 Victory in principle: Pakistan's dispute settlement case on combed cotton yarn exports to the United States
- 35 Pakistan: the consequences of a change in the EC rice regime
- 36 Philippines: stakeholder participation in agricultural policy formation
- 37 Philippines: adopting the transaction basis for customs valuation
- 38 The reform of South Africa's anti-dumping regime
- 39 The impact of GATS on telecommunications competition in Sri Lanka
- 40 Thailand: conciliating a dispute on tuna exports to the EC
- 41 Uganda's participation in WTO negotiations: institutional challenges
- 42 Uruguay in the services negotiations: strategy and challenges
- 43 Vanuatu's suspended accession bid: second thoughts?
- 44 Public and private participation in agricultural negotiations: the experience of Venezuela
- 45 Preparation by Vietnam's banking sector for WTO accession
- Index
24 - Malaysia: labelling regulations on natural rubber condoms and the WTO TBT Agreement
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Dispute settlement between developing countries: Argentina and Chilean price bands
- 2 Argentina and GATS: a study of the domestic determinants of GATS commitments
- 3 Rock ‘n’ roll in Bangladesh:protecting intellectual property rights in music
- 4 Barbados: telecommunications liberalization
- 5 Services commitments: case studies from Belize and Costa Rica
- 6 Inter-agency policy co-ordination in Botswana
- 7 Brazil and the G20 group of developing countries
- 8 Cambodia's accession to the WTO: ‘fast track’ accession by a least developed country
- 9 Canada and the WTO: multilevel governance, public policy-making and the WTO Auto Pact Case
- 10 The SPS Agreement and crisis management: the Chile–EU avian influenza experience
- 11 Shanghai's WTO Affairs Consultation Center: working together to take advantage of WTO membership
- 12 Costa Rica's challenge to US restrictions on the import of underwear
- 13 Fiji: preparing for the end of preferences?
- 14 The road to Cancún: the French decision-making process and WTO negotiations
- 15 Decision-making processes in India: the case of the agriculture negotiations
- 16 Protecting the geographical indication for Darjeeling tea
- 17 The Indian shrimp industry organizes to fight the threat of anti-dumping action
- 18 Indonesia's shrimp exports: meeting the challenge of quality standards
- 19 Patents, parallel importation and compulsory licensing of HIV/AIDS drugs: the experience of Kenya
- 20 Kenya's participation in the WTO: lessons learned
- 21 Learning by doing: the impact of a trade remedy case in Korea
- 22 Laos: the textile and garment industry in the post-ATC era
- 23 Malawi in the multilateral trading system
- 24 Malaysia: labelling regulations on natural rubber condoms and the WTO TBT Agreement
- 25 Malaysia: strategies for the liberalization of the services sector
- 26 Mauritius: co-operation in an economy evolving for the future
- 27 How regional economic communities can facilitate participation in the WTO: the experience of Mauritius and Zambia
- 28 Mexico's agricultural trade policies: international commitments and domestic pressure
- 29 Mongolia's WTO accession: expectations and realities of WTO membership
- 30 Nepal: the role of an NGO in support of accession
- 31 Nepal: exports of ayurvedic herbal remedies and SPS issues
- 32 Import prohibition as a trade policy instrument: the Nigerian experience
- 33 The Pacific island nations: towards shared representation
- 34 Victory in principle: Pakistan's dispute settlement case on combed cotton yarn exports to the United States
- 35 Pakistan: the consequences of a change in the EC rice regime
- 36 Philippines: stakeholder participation in agricultural policy formation
- 37 Philippines: adopting the transaction basis for customs valuation
- 38 The reform of South Africa's anti-dumping regime
- 39 The impact of GATS on telecommunications competition in Sri Lanka
- 40 Thailand: conciliating a dispute on tuna exports to the EC
- 41 Uganda's participation in WTO negotiations: institutional challenges
- 42 Uruguay in the services negotiations: strategy and challenges
- 43 Vanuatu's suspended accession bid: second thoughts?
- 44 Public and private participation in agricultural negotiations: the experience of Venezuela
- 45 Preparation by Vietnam's banking sector for WTO accession
- Index
Summary
The problem in context
When the Malaysian Standards Industrial Research Institute Malaysia (SIRIM), an organization designated as a national enquiry point for technical barriers to trade (TBT) in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), informed local manufacturers that the Ministry of Social Welfare of Colombia had proposed a new requirement for the labelling of natural latex condoms, a local company voiced its objection against such a requirement. The Draft Decree from the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (CTBT), received by the WTO on 15 May 2003, stated that ‘each condom in the individual container shall bear at least the following information: manufacturer, trade name, sanitary register number, expiry date, batch number, the number of condoms contained, instructions for use of the condom, the statement that the condom is made of natural rubber latex that can cause irritation, instructions for the storage: “Store the condom in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight”’. The proposed regulation was to take effect from 15 August 2003.
Alarmed, Tharampal Singh, senior director (operations) of Medical-Latex (DUA) SDN BHD (ML), a Malaysian condom manufacturer, called Salmah Mohd Nordin, a SIRIM officer, to express his dissatisfaction with the new requirements. ML has been producing condoms for export since 1987, exporting 80 million condoms a year to Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador; ML is in fact the biggest supplier in Latin America. Losing ground in these markets would adversely affect ML's profitability.
As far as Tharampal is concerned, the new requirements did not make sense.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Managing the Challenges of WTO Participation45 Case Studies, pp. 337 - 348Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005