Overview

The National Institute of Standards and Industrial Technology of Papua New Guinea (NISIT) is the government statutory national standards body established under the NISIT Act 1993.  Its functions cover technical standards, metrology, conformity assessment schemes, productivity, and technical barriers to trade in Papua New Guinea.

The national standards body prepares an annual standard work plan.  Members of standards development committees represent all and/or interested stakeholders including academia, major industries, professional bodies, industry, and trade associations.  Parties without a manufacturing presence can participate in standards development work through steps like commenting on the draft standards.

Standards

Standards used in the country include Papua New Guinea Standards (PNGS), ISO, IEC, Australian Standards (AS), New Zealand Standards (NZS), and UK Standards (BS).  Standards developed by U.S.-domiciled standards developing organizations (e.g., ASTM, ASME, SAE, API, etc.) are accepted.  PNG does not favor the standards of specific trading partners.

Testing, Inspection and Certification

PNG NISIT lacks product testing capabilities.  Each regulatory body in the country is responsible for product testing and certification in their area of specialty/interest.  For example, National Fisheries Authority have their own testing requirements based on Codex, ISO, and EU Directives which fish products must satisfy before export.

Publication of Technical Regulations

NISIT does not deal with technical regulations. NISIT can only provide advice where required standards are applied within regulations.  There were no reports of new regulations that will impact U.S. products during the reporting period.

For details on standards for trade contact NISIT:

National Institute of Standards & Industrial Technology

P.O Box 3042, Level 1, Boroko Post Office Building

Nita Street, Boroko, Port Moresby 121

National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

Ph: +(675) 323 1852

Fax: +(675) 325 8793

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by WTO Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and does not require registration unless the user wishes to receive customized e-mail alerts.  Use it to browse notifications on past as well as new draft and updated product regulations, food safety and animal and plant health standards and regulations, find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees, locate information on SPS/TBT Enquiry Points and notification authorities, and to follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest. 

 Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for US stakeholders, has reached its end of life.  Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point.   National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat.  All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfmfor further information.