WTO Trade Barriers Overview

Study Notes

The WTO TBT Agreement aims to prevent deceptive practices that negatively impact consumers.
The agreement does not address overall product quality or local industry protection.
Some nations impose mandatory standards as disguised trade barriers, contravening WTO TBT rules and reducing local industry competitiveness over time.

Five principles underlie the WTO TBT Agreement, derived from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Most Favoured Nation Principle: Mandates equal treatment for all imported products from WTO members, prohibiting discrimination among foreign producers.
National Treatment Principle: Requires local and imported products to have equal inspection and certification standards; violations disadvantage local manufacturers.
Least-Restrictive-Means Principle: Ensures regulations are not more trade-restrictive than necessary, establishing that technical regulation development is a government role.
Compliance with standards is not mandatory under WTO TBT, but is contractually mandatory if included in purchasing contracts.

Three criteria established by WTO jurisprudence to define technical regulations:
- Requirements must apply to identifiable products or groups.
- Requirements must describe specific product characteristics.
- Compliance with product characteristics must be mandatory.

The WTO TBT Agreement established a Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, comprising WTO Members.
The Committee facilitates consultation on TBT agreement operations, focusing on standards, technical regulations, and implementation.
Provides a platform for discussing specific trade concerns (STCs) affecting trade, triggered by certain notifications.

Review specific measures related to trade.
Ensure technical regulations and standards do not create unnecessary trade barriers.
Encourages members to base food safety and health regulations on international standards.

Trade barriers are classified as tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers (NTBs).
NTBs are restrictions from laws, regulations, or specific market requirements that complicate import/export processes.
NTBs include technical measures (standards, regulations) and non-technical measures (quotas, price controls).
Technical NTBs are addressed by the WTO TBT Agreement to prevent trade hindered by unnecessary technical requirements, differentiating between legitimate purposes (e.g., health) and trade-limiting purposes.