Removing Technical Barriers to Trade: The Next Step Toward Freer Trade

Abstract

Technical standards for products can form technical barriers to trade. These standards have been at issue in many recent disputes brought before GATT. With the decrease in the level of tariffs worldwide, the issue of technical barriers to trade has moved to the forefront in international trade discussions. In 1994, the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement was created during the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations. The European Community has established a system of standardization to reduce technical barriers as nontariff barriers to trade. Other regional organizations have followed suit. This Comment analyses the international, regional, and national arrangements designed to reduce the effect of technical barriers to trade. It then analyzes several disputes that have come before dispute panels established by the WTO and other international agreements to understand the process through which the agreements to reduce technical barriers to trade achieve their goals.