TRADE TOPICS
Facilitating trade through regulatory cooperation
The case of the WTO’s TBT/SPS Agreements and Committees
The WTO plays an important role in supporting efforts to facilitate trade through regulatory cooperation. This publication highlights how the WTO’s Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the work of their Committees promote opportunities for regulatory cooperation among governments and ease trade frictions.
The publication demonstrates how WTO members’ notification of draft measures, harmonisation of measures with international standards, discussion of specific trade concerns and other practices help to facilitate global trade in goods. The study also makes recommendations on how to benefit further from the transparency and cooperation opportunities provided by the TBT and SPS Agreements.
The publication was prepared jointly by the WTO and OECD secretariats as part of a series of case studies on the functioning and international rule-making activities of international organizations. It aims to help authorities make greater use of existing cooperation tools within the WTO’s TBT and SPS Agreements.
For more information, please read the following news item.
