The World Trade Organization (WTO) on 22nd February 2021 launched a new publication that provides an overview of the purpose and scope of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), the types of measures it covers, and its key principles. Prepared by the WTO Secretariat, this new edition in the “WTO Agreements” series aims at enhancing understanding of the TBT Agreement.
The handbook sets out the key principles of the TBT Agreement and discusses how these have been addressed in recent disputes brought under this Agreement. The publication looks into requirements on transparency; a cornerstone of the TBT Agreement, and describes the mandate, role, and work of the TBT Committee. It also considers how TBT-related matters have been tackled in negotiations at the WTO.
The handbook also contains the full text of the TBT Agreement, as well as a compilation of all decisions and recommendations adopted by the TBT Committee since its creation in 1995.
“Standards and regulations are among the most important types of trade-related measures used around the world. Crafting them carefully, in line with the disciplines of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, can help governments achieve important policy objectives, including safeguarding human health and safety, as well as protecting the environment — and this without unnecessarily disrupting trade. This Handbook is a must-read for anyone interested in these issues“
Deputy Director-General, Alan Wolff.
The new publication which is the 3rd edition, contains many substantive updates, changes, and additions as compared to previous editions. Printed copies can be purchased from the WTO’s Online Bookshop. Other publications in this series cover the Agreement on Agriculture and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
All WTO Multilateral Trade Agreements, including the TBT Agreement, are part of a coherent “single undertaking” administered under the umbrella of the WTO. This explains why the TBT Agreement and all other multilateral agreements share the same fundamental principles, including non-discrimination, promoting predictability of access to markets, and technical assistance (TA), and special and differential (S&D) treatment for developing members.
The TBT Agreement entered into force with the establishment of the WTO on January 1, 1995. It aims to ensure that product requirements in regulations and standards on safety, quality, health, etc, as well as procedures for assessing product compliance with such requirements (testing, inspection, accreditation, etc.), are not unjustifiably discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.
The Agreement also emphasizes the importance of transparency and strongly encourages the use of international standards as a basis for harmonizing regulations across WTO members.
The agreement on dispute settlement contains specific procedural disciplines on how to conduct WTO disputes, while the Trade Policy Review Mechanism aims to ensure that WTO members’ trade policies and practices are transparent.
The WTO’s agreement on intellectual property (IP) covers general IP disciplines, as well as disciplines covering specific IP areas, such as copyright, patents, trademarks, and geographical indications. Other details come from conventions and agreements outside the WTO.
READ ASLO: WTO launches online application portal for trade-related training activities
