Technical Barriers to Trade

Definition: Governments lay down mandatory technical regulations on products or formulate or encourage the formulation of non-mandatory standards for products for reasons of security, health, environment or easy utilization. However, these regulations and standards may sometimes operate as barriers to imports, and thereby distort international trade.

Objectives: national security, prevention of deceptive practices, protection of human, animal and plant life or health or safety and protection of environment

Technical regulations: a set of rules which lay down:

· the characteristics of a product

· related processes and production methods

· applicable administrative provisions

Standards: formulations approved by a recognized body, providing for rules and guidelines on characteristics of products and related processes and production methods.

Disciplines on technical regulations and standards:

· use of international standards for technical regulations: If there are international standards for regulations in a specific field, Members are obliged to use them as a basis for their own technical regulations. Exceptions are provided when the international standards will be ineffective or inappropriate.

· National treatment and MFN treatment must be applied

· The regulations must not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade

Procedure for formulation of regulations:

· send notice to the WTO Secretariat

· publish a notice indicating its proposal

· other Members make comments

There is, however, an exception for situations where urgent problems of safety, health, environment or national security might arise.

Obligations:

· A reasonable interval between the publication of the regulation and its actual entry into force must be allowed so that the producers in exporting countries will have time to adapt themselves to the new requirements.

· Regulation specifications should be based on product performance rather than design or descriptive characteristics.

· The technical regulations of other Members should be accepted as equivalent if they fulfill the desired objectives.

· Regulations of local government bodies and non-government bodies must be in conformity with the WTO disciplines.

· A Member must establish an enquiry point which is able to respond to enquiries from other Members and interested parties and provide relevant documents relating to central government bodies, local government bodies and non-government bodies.