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Standards and conformity assessment as nontariff barriers to trade

Author

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  • Stephenson, Sherry M.

Abstract

As traditional barriers to trade have fallen, standards, technical regulations, and procedures for assessing conformity have become increasingly important as nontariff barriers to trade. But relatively little is known about the extent and nature of those barriers and even less about their quantitative impact, especially in developing countries. To facilitate trade, regional initiatives on standards and conformity assessment appear to be more promising than a multilateral approach because of the greater trust and commonality of interest at the regional level -especially with regard to mutual recognition agreements. For reasons of both efficiency and cost, developing countries should adopt the standards of their major trading partners rather than develop their own national standards. Developing countries have not been heavily involved in developing international and regional standards; they have been on the sidelines in efforts to rationalize this process. To have greater influence on the development of standards, they should take a more proactive approach to these issues in the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrical Commission, and related regional and multilateral bodies.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephenson, Sherry M., 1997. "Standards and conformity assessment as nontariff barriers to trade," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1826, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1826
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Oliver Masakure & John Cranfield & Spencer Henson, 2009. "Factors affecting the incidence and intensity of standards certification evidence from exporting firms in Pakistan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(8), pages 901-915.
    2. Reardon, Thomas & Barrett, Christopher B., 2000. "Agroindustrialization, globalization, and international development: An overview of issues, patterns, and determinants," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 195-205, September.
    3. Paul Kalenga, 2000. "Regional Trade Integration in Southern Africa: Critical Policy Issues," Working Papers 00042, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    4. Choung, Jae-Yong & Ji, Illyong & Hameed, Tahir, 2011. "International Standardization Strategies of Latecomers: The Cases of Korean TPEG, T-DMB, and Binary CDMA," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 824-838, May.
    5. Reardon, Thomas & Barrett, Christopher B. & Berdegué, Julio A. & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Agrifood Industry Transformation and Small Farmers in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1717-1727, November.
    6. Maskus, Keith E. & Wilson, John S. & Tsunehiro Otsuki, 2000. "Quantifying the impact of technical barriers to trade : a framework for analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2512, The World Bank.
    7. Giovannucci, Daniele & Reardon, Thomas, 2000. "Understanding Grades and Standards: and how to apply them," MPRA Paper 13549, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Cuffaro, Nadia & Di Giacinto, Marina, 2015. "Credence goods, consumers’ trust in regulation and high quality exports," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 4(2), pages 1-19, August.

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