Impact of Regulation and Conformity Assessment Procedures on Global Trade

Technical regulations (“TRs” are rules and standards established by governments or relevant authorities to ensure that products, services, and processes meet specific safety, quality, and performance requirements) and conformity assessment (“CA” which is a process to demonstrate that products, processes, services, persons, systems, or bodies meet specific requirements) are crucial activities that deeply influence cross-border trade. Even if the countries are using the same standard (or international standards), they may face several market access issues with their trading partner(s). It happens because of the difference in their conformity assessment procedures (“CAPs”). Where global trade is concerned, the data of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) shows that Special Trade Concerns (“STCs” which are raised by the members before the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade) keep on rising due to the different CAPs than due to the TR enacted by the trading countries and other factors. This chapter is an effort to visualize the scenario comprehensively. Initially, it throws light on basic terms like Standard, Standardization, TR, CAP, etc., and interlinks thereof; discusses trade barriers and their types; and subsequently, assesses their impacts on global trade.