Harmonization, Equivalence and Mutual Recognition of Standards in WTO Law

Harmonization, Equivalence and Mutual Recognition of Standards in WTO Law
Author: Humberto Zúñiga Schroder
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2011-07-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9041142754

Standards are a feature of virtually all areas of trade in products and services. Yet, although standards may achieve an efficient economic exchange, they have discriminatory consequences for trading partners when governments formulate or apply them in such a way as to cause obstacles to trade, thus enrolling standards among the increasingly significant ‘non-tariff barriers’ regulated by the WTO. This unique and original study analyses the functions that standards fulfil in the market, their effect on trade, and the legal regime based on harmonization, equivalence and mutual recognition developed by the WTO to deal with standards. The author investigates the way in which both the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures Agreements regulate these three tools, and discusses key topics including: The definition of the concept ‘International Standard’ in the TBT Agreement. Guidelines on equivalence issued by organizations such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the World Organization for Animal Health and the International Plant Protection Convention. Parallels between the EC mutual recognition regime and the WTO system. This is the first work on its subject. With its detailed and practical analysis of WTO law on standards, the book is a fundamental reference for practitioners, academics and policy makers in international trade law.

Regional Trade Agreements and the Multilateral Trading System

Regional Trade Agreements and the Multilateral Trading System
Author: Rohini Acharya
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 753
Release: 2016-09-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1107161649

This volume contains a collection of studies examining trade-related issues negotiated in regional trade agreements (RTAs) and how RTAs are related to the WTO's rules. While previous work has focused on subsets of RTAs, these studies are based on what is probably the largest dataset used to date, and highlight key issues that have been negotiated in all RTAs notified to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). New rules within RTAs are compared to rules agreed upon by WTO members. The extent of their divergences and the potential implications for parties to RTAs, as well as for WTO members that are not parties to RTAs, are examined. This volume makes an important contribution to the current debate on the role of the WTO in regulating international trade and how WTO rules relate to new rules being developed by RTAs.

Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law

Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law
Author: Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2025-08-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781800882317

This revised and expanded Encyclopedia is the new benchmark and flagship reference work for the study of international economic law. A comprehensive resource, its pages present the breadth of the field in a real-world context. Organized thematically rather than alphabetically, the Encyclopedia includes four significant thematic sections: the foundations, architecture and principles of international economic law; regulatory framework; regulatory areas; and regulatory challenges. Including updated and new entries, traditional international economic law topics are now supplemented by coverage of critical perspectives and a broader range of newly developing areas such as taxation, sustainability, and digitalization. Concepts and rules of trade, investment, finance, competition, and international tax law are found alongside entries examining how international economic law impacts on environmental protection, labor standards, development, and human rights. Embedded within its own legal context, each concise entry presents an accessible and condensed understanding of what it means and why it is significant. Contributors offer insight into how institutions interact with each other and other legal systems, in addition to providing individual overviews of their history, structure, principles and procedures. Entries are followed by selected references suggesting directions for further study. Completely new to this edition is an entire section of extended entries on specific jurisdictions focusing on how these contribute to and engage with international economic law. These longer pieces describe the national legal frameworks responsible for developing international policies on trade investment, financial regulation, and tax, offering insight into how international rules actually work at the national level. Key Features: Concise, structured entries from top experts and new voices in the field Organised thematically, covering newly developing areas of international economic law Selected references for further study

Designing and Implementing Trade Facilitation in Asia and the Pacific 2013 Update

Designing and Implementing Trade Facilitation in Asia and the Pacific 2013 Update
Author: Asian Development Bank
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2013-08-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 929254201X

This book guides the implementation of trade facilitation measures and reforms in Asia and the Pacific. It attempts to bridge the gaps among policy makers, practitioners, and economists by outlining operational guidance on how to assess the status of trade facilitation, what measures and reforms are necessary, and how to implement them at the national and regional levels. The reference book also provides international, regional, and national perspectives on trade facilitation.

Handbook on Product Standards and International Trade

Handbook on Product Standards and International Trade
Author: James J. Nedumpara
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2021-11-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9403534141

Global Trade Law Series, Volume 55 India, one of the world’s foremost trading nations, exhibits a particularly complex regulatory landscape with a variety of standard-setting bodies, regulators, accreditation and certification bodies, inspection agencies, as well as several state-level regulators. This is the first book to extensively describe the nature of standard-setting processes in India and the key agencies involved with this task, greatly clarifying the scope of market opportunities in the country. Lucid contributions from experienced practitioners and regulators with first-hand experience in formulating and advising on standards-related issues in international trade help disentangle the web of laws, regulations, operations, and functions of India’s standard setters in governmental, non-governmental, and industry contexts. The chapters describe how standards apply to such crucial trade aspects as the following: conformity assessment practice and procedure; environmental, ethical, social, and safety issues; import bans and import licensing; certification and labelling measures; mutual recognition agreements; food safety; and standardisation of the digital economy. The book is drafted throughout in an easy-to-read style, with numerous tables, flowcharts, and figures illustrating step-by-step compliance procedures. Informative annexes guide the reader to relevant agencies and identify their roles and responsibilities. This book provides a clear and concise guide to the operations, functions, and compliance and documentation requirements of India’s standard-setting and regulatory bodies across all sectors and products, and thus will serve as an unmatched guide for manufacturers, traders, and exporters operating in the Indian market or seeking to export to India. It will also serve as a useful Handbook to policymakers, academics, and researchers interested in understanding the role of standard-setting bodies in the field of international trade.

Trade Facilitation

Trade Facilitation
Author: Carol Cosgrove-Sacks
Publisher: United Nations Publications
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2003
Genre: Commercial policy
ISBN: 9789211168242

Trade facilitation measures seek to speed up the movement of goods and the flow of trade information across borders. This publication contains policy papers written by the UNECE Secretariat and edited papers presented at an international forum, held in Geneva in May 2002. This conference was organised by the UNECE in order to discuss the need for trade facilitation policies to address the widening gap between the position of developed economies compared to many developing and transition countries in a global trade environment.

The Regulation of Product Standards in World Trade Law

The Regulation of Product Standards in World Trade Law
Author: Ming Du
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2020-11-12
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1509931147

This monograph has two central purposes. The first is to provide a critical analysis of how governmental, private and hybrid product standards are regulated in the GATT/WTO legal framework. The second purpose is to explore – both positively and normatively – the impact that WTO disciplines may have on the composition, function and decision-making process of various standard-setting bodies through the lens of a series of selected case studies, including: the EU eco-labelling scheme; ISO standards; and private standards such as the FSC. The book analyses what role, if any, the WTO may play in making product standards applied in international trade embody not only technological superiority but also substantive and procedural fairness such as deliberation, representativeness, openness, transparency, due process and accountability. Whilst it has been long recognised that voluntary product standards drawn up by both governmental and non-governmental bodies can in practice create trade barriers as serious as mandatory governmental regulations, a rigorous and systematic inquiry into the boundary, relevance and impact of WTO disciplines on product standards is still lacking. Providing a lucid interpretation of the relevant WTO rules and cases on product standards, this book fills this significant gap in WTO law literature. Definitive and comprehensive, this is an essential reference work for scholars and practitioners alike.