NETHERLANDS The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6. G/TBT/Notif.97.376. 1. Member to Agreement notifying: NETHERLANDS. If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2). 2. Agency responsible: Ministry of Justice. Agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification can be indicated if different from above: National Enquiry Point 3. Notified under Article 2.9.2. 4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): DNA Analysing Appliances. 5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: The 1997 DNA Tests Regulation. 6. Description of content: The DNA Tests Draft Regulation lays down the specifications in respect of the appliances used for the taking and collecting of blood samples within the scope of DNA testing in the case of serious criminal offences. 7. Objective and rationale: The Draft Regulation contains uniform conditions in respect of DNA testing for the furnishing of evidence in criminal cases. ANNEX -- THE 1997 DNA TESTS REGULATION: Pursuant to the DNA Tests Decree, on which the present Regulation is based, the Minister of Justice is required to impose further rules for the performance of DNA tests and the material to be used in such tests. The Decree provides inter alia that a blood sample of at least one and no more than ten milliliters must be taken. The Minister is required to lay down specifications in respect of the appliances to be used for the taking and collecting of blood samples. The Minister is further required to issue further instructions regarding the identification, dispatch and storage of blood samples, samples of oral mucosa and of hair roots, and further instructions with regard to the collection, storage, packaging and dispatch of trace materials. The said implementing requirements are embodied in the (annexes to) the present 1997 DNA Test Regulation. They involve the determination of models and technical requirements, in respect of which notification is necessary. The purpose of the present provisions is to provide quality assurances in respect of the performance of DNA tests. It is of great importance that DNA tests are performed with care, using accurate and reliable appliances. The strict assurances which must be taken into account in the preparation, performance and conclusion of a DNA test relate to the following. DNA testing is possible only where there is a suspicion of serious indecency or violent offences, such as grievous bodily harm and manslaughter. The test results can provide conclusive evidence that cannot be obtained by other means. DNA material, because of its unique individual character, can be used as a highly reliable source of evidence in criminal cases. Having regard to the nature of the matter under consideration it is, for reasons of safety, of urgent necessity that the present Regulation be re-enacted and become operative immediately. Immediate enactment and coming into effect is only possible where urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security arise or threaten to arise, mentioned in paragraph 10 of Article 2 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. The circumstances at present obtaining justify a plea of immediate enactment. For citizens uncertainty exists regarding the applicability of the present DNA Tests Regulation, after the decision of the EC Court of Justice in case C-194/94 (ECR-1996, p.I-2201), in which the Court considered the legal consequences of the not-notifying of technical requirements. An acute problem has risen in respect of the gathering and furnishing of evidence in pending and future criminal cases in which the suspicion of serious crimes is brought up. The existence of legal uncertainty concerning the applicability of (part of) the national rules in respect of DNA testing, leads to serious and unforeseeable situations relating to public health and safety. Having regard to the serious of the offences in which DNA tests are used for the furnishing of evidence, a cautious approach is required; any uncertainty concerning the reliability of the evidence so obtained must be ruled out. This is a field in which no risks can be taken; immediate enactment of the 1997 DNA Tests Regulation is therefore of urgent necessity. 8. Relevant documents: Not listed. 9. Proposed date of adoption: 4 July 1997; Proposed date of entry into force: 9 July 1997. 10. Final date for comments: Not listed. 11. Text available from: National enquiry point. (0213)

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