Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/144544 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
WTO Staff Working Paper No. ERSD-2016-09
Publisher: 
World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva
Abstract: 
Even if traders adapt to technical regulations and standards in an export market, they still must prove compliance by undergoing conformity assessment procedures (CAPs), such as testing, inspection, or certification. Duplication, delays or discrimination in CAPs can significantly increase trade costs, and this risk is reflected in the growing importance of CAPs in WTO discussions and bilateral and regional free trade agreements. This paper conducts an empirical study of the trade issues that WTO Members encounter with CAPs as described in specific trade concerns (STCs) raised in the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) during 2010-2014. We observe that CAPs raise proportionally more concern among WTO Members than technical regulations do, and that testing and certification are the procedures that most frequently give rise to trade problems. Within the framework of the TBT Agreement, we find that questions around transparency and whether CAPs create unnecessary barriers to trade are the two most prominent issues highlighted by Members.
Subjects: 
international trade
certification
testing
conformity assessment procedures
international standards
international cooperation
coherence
non-tariff barriers
technical barriers to trade
regulation
JEL: 
F13
F53
F55
K33
L15
L51
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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