International Standardization And The Agreement On Technical Barriers To Trade

International Standardization and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade

This work examines the international standardization system generally, with a specific focus on some of the bodies within this system. It also questions the lack of definition regarding several features related to the system, notably an international standardizing body and international standards in the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

International Standardization and Trade Regulation

The open access publication of this book has been published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation. As tariffs have fallen dramatically over the past decades, behind-the-border measures—such as technical barriers to trade (TBT) and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures—have become increasingly important for international trade policy. To facilitate trade, governments sign trade agreements in which they agree to base such measures on international standards. But who actually develops these standards? This book takes a close look at the International Organization for Standardization and the Codex Alimentarius – two prominent standard-setting organizations in the area of TBT and SPS – to investigate how international standardization influences the design of international trade agreements, and vice versa.

Global Assessment of Standards Barriers to Trade in the Information Technology Industry