Second Triennial Review of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) - Results and Scope

摘要

The WTO (World Trade Organization) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) - sometimes referred to as the Standards Code - aims to reduce impediments to trade resulting from differences between national regulations and standards. Standards may vary from country to country. Having too many different standards makes life difficult for producers and exporters. The need for them to comply with different standards often involves significant costs. If the standards are set arbitrarily, they could be used as an excuse for protectionism. Standards could then become obstacles to trade. In order to prevent too much diversity, the TBT Agreement encourages countries to use international standards where these are appropriate. It fully recognizes the important contribution that international standards and conformity assessment systems (ensuring that the requirements of standards are met by given products and services) can make to improving efficiency of production and facilitating international trade. The development of international standards does indeed reduce potential market access across barriers for imports on the home market of each WTO member country, and reduces the potential barriers to its exports to third country markets as well.