|
 Technical Regulations and Standards
Technical regulations and industrial standards are important, but they vary from country to country. Having too many different standards makes life difficult for producers and exporters. If the standards are set arbitrarily, they could be used as an excuse for protectionism. Standards can become obstacles to trade.
The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) tries to ensure that regulations, standards, testing and certification procedures do not create unnecessary obstacles. The WTO’s version is a modification of the code negotiated in the 1973-79 Tokyo Round.
The agreement recognizes countries’ rights to adopt the standards they consider appropriate — for example, for human, animal or plant life or health, for the protection of the environment or to meet other consumer interests. Moreover, members are not prevented from taking measures necessary to ensure their standards are met. In order to prevent too much diversity, the agreement encourages countries to use international standards where these are appropriate, but it does not require them to change their levels of protection as a result.
The agreement sets out a code of good practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards by central government bodies. It also includes provisions describing how local government and non-governmental bodies should apply their own regulations — normally they should use the same principles as apply to central governments.
The agreement says the procedures used to decide whether a product conforms with national standards have to be fair and equitable. It discourages any methods that would give domestically produced goods an unfair advantage. The agreement also encourages countries to recognize each other’s testing procedures. That way, a product can be assessed to see if it meets the importing country’s standards through testing in the country where it is made.
Manufacturers and exporters need to know what the latest standards are in their prospective markets. To help ensure that this information is made available conveniently, all WTO member governments are required to establish national enquiry points.
Role of the CD/WTO
- Coordinate with the Egyptian Organization for Standardization (EOS) to promote staff awareness of TBT issues and how EOS works on those issues through workshops/meetings.
- Build sustainable TBT compliance by developing and implementing a plan for coordination between concerned agencies regarding notifications and coordinate with EOS to make accessible to other concerned agencies information on all Egyptian TBT measures; report on meetings of the TBT Committee in Geneva; and hold meetings of the TBT/SPS Subcommittee of the High National Committee on Doha Negotiations.
- Increase Egyptian exporters' and importers' awareness of the commitments of Egypt within the TBT Agreement through establishing a mail group and website for the SPS and TBT sub-committee (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wto_sps_tbt/); develop a user-friendly guide for all Egyptian TBT measures; and hold seminars about the TBT Agreement and issues for all concerned agencies.
You can access more information about Technical Barriers to Trade through the links below:
|