                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
                CHAPTER 13--TRADE AGREEMENTS ACT OF 1979
 
         SUBCHAPTER II--TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE (STANDARDS)
 
                  Part B--Functions of Federal Agencies
 
Sec. 2544. Standards information center


(a) Establishment

    The Secretary of Commerce shall maintain within the Department of 
Commerce a standards information center.

(b) Functions

    The standards information center shall--
        (1) serve as the central national collection facility for 
    information relating to (A) standards, technical regulations, 
    conformity assessment procedures, and standards-related activities, 
    whether such standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment 
    procedures, or activities are public or private, domestic or 
    foreign, or international, regional, national, or local and (B) the 
    membership and participation of Federal, State, or local government 
    bodies or private bodies in the United States in international and 
    regional standardizing bodies and conformity assessment systems, as 
    well as in bilateral and multilateral arrangements concerning 
    standards-related activities;
        (2) make available to the public at such reasonable fee as the 
    Secretary shall prescribe, copies of information required to be 
    collected under paragraph (1) other than information to which 
    paragraph (3) applies;
        (3) use its best efforts to make available to the public, at 
    such reasonable fees as the Secretary shall prescribe, copies of 
    information required to be collected under paragraph (1) that is of 
    private origin, on a cooperative basis with the private individual 
    or entity, foreign or domestic, who holds the copyright on the 
    information;
        (4) in case of such information that is of foreign origin, 
    provide, at such reasonable fee as the Secretary shall prescribe, 
    such translation services as may be necessary;
        (5) serve as the inquiry point for requests for information 
    regarding standards-related activities, whether adopted or proposed, 
    within the United States, except that in carrying out this 
    paragraph, the Secretary of Commerce shall refer all inquiries 
    regarding agricultural products to the technical office established 
    under section 2542(a)(2) of this title within the Department of 
    Agriculture; and
        (6) provide such other services as may be appropriate, including 
    but not limited to, such services to the technical offices 
    established under section 2542 of this title as may be requested by 
    those offices in carrying out their functions.

(c) Sanitary and phytosanitary measures

                       (1) Public information

        The standards information center shall, in addition to the 
    functions specified under subsection (b) of this section, make 
    available to the public relevant documents, at such reasonable fees 
    as the Secretary of Commerce may prescribe, and information 
    regarding--
            (A) any sanitary or phytosanitary measure of general 
        application, including any inspection procedure or approval 
        procedure proposed, adopted, or maintained by a Federal agency 
        or agency of a State or local government;
            (B) the procedures of a Federal agency or an agency of a 
        State or local government for risk assessment and factors the 
        agency considers in conducting the assessment;
            (C) the determination of the levels of protection that a 
        Federal agency or an agency of a State or local government 
        considers appropriate; and
            (D) the membership and participation of the Federal 
        Government and State and local governments in international and 
        regional sanitary and phytosanitary organizations and systems, 
        and in bilateral and multilateral arrangements regarding 
        sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and the provisions of those 
        systems and arrangements.

                           (2) Definitions

        The definitions in section 2575b of this title apply for 
    purposes of this subsection.

(Pub. L. 96-39, title IV, Sec. 414, July 26, 1979, 93 Stat. 245; Pub. L. 
103-465, title III, Sec. 351(d), title IV, Sec. 431(a), Dec. 8, 1994, 
108 Stat. 4956, 4966; Pub. L. 104-295, Sec. 20(c)(15), Oct. 11, 1996, 
110 Stat. 3529.)


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 104-295 struck out comma after 
``procedures,'' in two places.
    1994--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 103-465, Sec. 351(d), inserted ``(A)'' 
after ``relating to'', substituted ``technical regulations, conformity 
assessment procedures,'' for ``certification systems'' and ``such 
standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures,'' 
for ``such standards, systems'', and inserted ``and'' and cl. (B) before 
semicolon at end.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103-465, Sec. 431(a), added subsec. (c).


                    Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

    Amendment by section 351(d) of Pub. L. 103-465 effective on the date 
on which the WTO Agreement enters into force with respect to the United 
States [Jan. 1, 1995], see section 352 of Pub. L. 103-465, set out as a 
note under section 2531 of this title.
    Amendment by section 431(a) of Pub. L. 103-465 effective on the date 
of entry into force of the WTO Agreement with respect to the United 
States [Jan. 1, 1995], except as otherwise provided, see section 451 of 
Pub. L. 103-465, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3601 of 
this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2575a, 2576a of this title.
