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For 2012-17, Norway made five notifications to the WTO Committee on TBT (all regular notifications), two on fertilizers, two on tobacco products, and one on laser pointers. During this period, two specific trade concerns were raised about Norway's TBT measures, (...) the other an issue first raised in 2008 relating to a regulation on specific hazardous substances in consumer products. [149]

[149] WTO TBT Information Management System. Viewed at: http://tbtims.wto.org/.

The NFSA represents Norway in a number of committees and working groups under the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission, including the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF Committee) which is the principal regulatory body responsible for delivering opinions on draft implementing measures. The PAFF Committee is made up of 14 different sections, each responsible for different aspects related to SPS measures. [152] In addition, the NFSA represents Norway in five committees that are also responsible for specific SPS-related issues:
• Regulatory Committee under Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs);
• Regulatory Committee under Directive 2009/41/EC on the contained use of GMOs;
(...)
• Biocidal Products Committee.

[152] Genetically Modified Food and Feed and Environmental Risk; (...) Forest Reproductive Material; (...)

The Norwegian Regulations relating to alien organisms under the Act Relating to the Management of Biological, Geological and Landscape Diversity No. 100 of 2009 (the Nature Diversity Act) came into force on 1 January 2016. The purpose of the Regulations is to prevent the import, release and spread of alien organisms that have or may have adverse impacts on biological or landscape diversity. It includes a general requirement of a permit for the import of organisms, and for the release of alien organisms along with a number of exceptions. The Regulations also include a prohibition against the import, release and placing on the market of 31 alien organisms, mainly plants, but also live American Lobster (Homarus americanus). Norway has not implemented the EU Regulation 1143/2014 on invasive alien species.

The Gene Technology Act No. 6 of 1993 on living GMOs (including seeds) (last amended in 2015) sets out the process for approving the use and imports of GMOs. The purpose of the Act is to ensure that the use of GMOs and the production of cloned animals take place in an ethically and socially sound manner, in accordance with the principle of sustainable development and without health and environmental harm. No authorization is required in Norway for the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that have been authorized in another EEA State in accordance with the European Union's GMO Directive (2001/18/EC). However, under the Gene Technology Act, a domestic decision to prohibit GMOs can be made and the Norwegian authorities may prohibit or restrict the placing on the market of a GMO if it involves a risk to health or the environment, or if placing it on the market is otherwise in conflict with the purpose of the Gene Technology Act, provided that their decision is otherwise in accordance with the EEA Agreement. (...)

Table 3.21 State-owned enterprises, December 2016
Name of company Type of company Sector State share (%) Ministry responsible
(…)
Companies with commercial objectives and other specifically defined objectives
(...)
Statkraft SF Statutory enterprise Production, distribution and sale of energy from hydropower, gas, and wind 100 Trade, Industry and Fisheries
(...)
Companies with sectoral policy objectives
(...)
Bjørnøen AS State owned limited company Administering assets on Bear Island 100 Climate and Environment
(...)
Enova SF Statutory enterprise Promote environmentally friendly technologies 100 Petroleum and Energy
(...)
Kings Bay AS State owned limited company Infrastructure maintenance and development (Svalbard) 100 Climate and Environment

Table 3.24 Public procurement procedures according to Regulation on Public Procurement No. 974 of 2016
NKr 100,000 to national thresholds National to EEA thresholds Above EEA thresholds
(…)
Selection criteria
(…) Selection criteria must be set out in the procurement documents. Regulation states that: "The award criteria … may, for example, be price, quality, life cycle costs, environment, social considerations and innovation." (...)
(...)

The four basic objectives for Norway's agricultural and food policy, as set out in White Paper No. 9 (2011-12) and confirmed in White Paper No. 11 (2016-17), are: (…) sustainable agriculture with lower emissions of greenhouse gases. (...) Agriculture is part of a "green shift" in the Norwegian economy aiming at reducing the environmental footprint of human activity, including the fulfilment of national targets and international benchmarks and objectives that Norway has signed up to. (...)

(…) the Norwegian Agricultural Marketing Board (Omsetningsrådet) attempts to balance supply and demand for key Norwegian agricultural produce. Its guiding objectives are: (…) (iv) ensuring that farmers obtain the target prices established in the Basic Agricultural Agreement with the caveat that average observed market prices for the year should stay at, or slightly below, the agreed level. The Basic Agricultural Agreements set target prices for fresh milk, pork, grain, oilseeds, potatoes, and apples and various vegetables. [13] Revised target prices normally apply from 1 July in the marketing year. (...)

[13] Ecological produce may be granted an unspecified price supplement.

Spending on programmes notified under Annex 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture (Green Box) also increased steadily from 2006 (NKr 6.2 billion) to 2014 (NKr 7.9 billion) before falling slightly in 2015 (NKr 7.6 billion) and 2016 (NKr 7.7 billion). The main cause for the rise in the total was increased spending on environmental programmes which included both national and regional environmental programmes.

State owned Statskog SF is Norway's largest landowner. The ownership of the company is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Climate and the Environment and was initially provided a contribution from the State of NKr 1.34 billion. (...) It promotes sustainable management and has cooperation agreements with a number of organizations to work together on common policies in areas such as tourism, hunting, fishing, etc. (...)