UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Press Releases 1999

[Index]      

Geneva, 21 May 1999

ECE/TRADE/99/9

STANDARDIZATION WILL REDUCE BARRIERS TO TRADE

Technical regulations determine the characteristics a product must have in order to be sold or to be imported into a country. Much of international trade is governed by these regulations or specification. Except within regional groupings, such as the European Union, any two countries will typically have similar but not identical technical regulations and standards for the same product. Although these differences may be of no great consequence, they often create barriers to trade.

The representatives of 35 countries, who attended the annual session of the Working Party on Technical Harmonization and Standardization Policies of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) on 17-19 May, decided that something had to be done about these barriers to trade. On the basis of recommendations emanating from an international conference on standardization for the 21st century, which was held in Berlin earlier this year, the Working Party proposed that an advisory group be established to develop recommendations for a global framework model for regulation which would be coupled with international standards.

The idea is that the technical content of regulations should be drafted in terms of broad objectives with references to international standards for any detailed technical information. This would allow all companies whose products conform to those international standards to compete in the marketplace on an equal basis. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the European Commission fully support this work, which is intended, inter alia, to serve as input to World Trade Organization deliberations on technical barriers to trade.

The Working Party also reviewed a draft international agreement on technical harmonization issues and will finalize the agreement by May 2000. This agreement is fully aligned with the obligations in the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade and helps to define some of the implementation aspects of the WTO agreement while also extending some of its benefits to non-WTO members.

The Working Party will soon issue a new edition of the UN/ECE standardization list, which is a list of product areas where UN/ECE=s Member Governments request that further standardization work be undertaken by international standardization organizations such as ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission and the International Telecommunication Union.

Further information on the UN/ECE's Working Party on Technical Harmonization and Standardization Policies may be obtained from:

Serguei Kouzmine
Trade Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Tel: + 41 22 917 2771
Fax: + 41 22 917 0037
E-mail: [email protected]