USING INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS: A WAKE-UP CALL TO REGULATORS?

The Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently was used for the first time to force a WTO member government to change a technical regulation in force in order to incorporate the provisions of a relevant international standard. Although the standard in question involved food products, the case offers a precedent for using WTO procedures to impose the use of international standards in national regulation in other industries as well. The case also confirms that the WTO has the power and processes to determine whether an international standard is an effective and appropriate means of achieving a regulatory objective. The case also affects questions concerning the effectiveness and appropriateness of a standard, the burden of proof, basis for regulation, retrospective effect of the requirement, and which international standards can be imposed. Key issues that still need to be addressed are also identified.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/11951092
• Corporate Authors:

  ASTM International

  100 Barr Harbor Drive
  West Conshohocken, PA  United States  19428-2959
• Authors:
  • Schonfeld, R
  • Dobinson, J
• Publication Date: 2004-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos; References;
• Pagination: p. 32-35
• Serial:
  • ASTM Standardization News
  • Volume: 32
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: ASTM International
  • ISSN: 1094-4656
  • Serial URL: http://www.astm.org/SNEWS/archive.html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Food industry; International law; International trade; Policy analysis; Regulations; Standards
• Identifier Terms: Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement; World Trade Organization
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00969689
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 11 2004 12:00AM