Technical barriers to trade

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TBT Agreement

• The full text of the TBT Agreement
• What are technical barriers to trade? A brief introduction
• WTO Agreement Series — Technical Barriers to Trade

An overview of the TBT Agreement, FAQs, the full legal text of the Agreement, and the decisions and recommendations adopted by the TBT Committee since 1 January 1995.

 

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TBT Committee

TBT Committee work involves two broad areas:

• review of specific measures
  WTO members/observers use the TBT Committee to discuss specific trade concerns (STCs) — specific laws, regulations or procedures that affect their trade, usually in response to notifications. Essentially, members raise STCs to find out more about the scope and implementation of each other's regulations in light of the core TBT obligations. The discussion is mostly about measures in the pipeline, but can also be about the implementation of existing measures. To date, more than 750 STCs have been raised which can be accessed through ePing, the SPS&TBT Platform,

• strengthening implementation of the TBT Agreement
  Members exchange experiences on the implementation of the Agreement with a view to making implementation more effective and efficient. This discussion revolves around generic, cross-cutting themes, including transparency, standards, conformity assessment and good regulatory practice.

Over the years, the Committee has developed a series of decisions and recommendations intended to facilitate implementation of the TBT Agreement. The latest decisions and recommendations adopted by the Committee can be found here.

Meetings of the TBT Committee

The Committee usually holds three formal meetings per year. These are sometimes preceded by workshops or thematic sessions. Meetings are open to all WTO members and observer governments. International intergovernmental organizations — several of them standardizing bodies — also participate as observers in the Committee. See also rules of procedure for meetings of the Committee and guidelines for observer status.

The current chair of the TBT Committee is .

Search here for TBT official documents using various criteria

 

Annual reviews

The Committee is mandated to conduct an annual review of activities relating to the implementation and operation of the TBT Agreement, including notifications, specific trade concerns, technical assistance activities, and TBT related disputes. The latest Annual Review report was circulated in March 2023.

All annual reviews 

 

Triennial reviews

Every three years, WTO members are mandated to review the work of the TBT Committee, taking into consideration changes and new challenges in the area of standards and regulations.  The Ninth Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the TBT Agreement was completed at the 10-12 November 2021 meeting of the TBT Committee.  Further details, including the adopted report, proposals, timeline and background information are here.

 

Members’ transparency toolkit

Transparency is a cornerstone of the TBT Agreement and consists of three core elements:

• notifications
• establishment of enquiry points
• publication requirements.

This toolkit contains information on the transparency obligations and procedures, and related work in the Committee, as well as other resources.

 

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Disputes

Disputes citing the TBT Agreement

Find jurisprudence concerning the TBT Agreement:

• Analytical Index — Guide to WTO Law and Practice
• WTO Appellate Body Repertory of Reports and Awards (5th edition: 1995-2013)
• WTO Dispute Settlement: One-Page Case Summaries (1995-2012)