Trade Issues in East Asia, January 2008 : Overcoming Trade Barriers from Standards and Technical Regulations

This paper is about trade issues in East Asia. One of the most important non-tariff measures is regulations and standards aimed at securing the safety and or quality of products, labeling requirements and protection of the environment. Standards are now recognized as a trade issue since they determine market access. The use of standards by governments to meet public health and safety objectives and by the private sector to meet market-driven consumer and industrial objectives is important for economic development. Standards provide information on the quality and reliability of a product that may not be readily observable and thus reduce uncertainty and contribute to increased trade. Standards have become a key element in facilitating trade within and between countries since in order for a good to be traded it must comply with the agreed standard. This applies to both mandatory standards required by governments and voluntary standards set by industry associations and other non-state actors. Recognizing the potential of diverging national technical regulations to hinder trade flows, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has taken steps to eliminate such barriers in the sectors it considers important for economic integration. The sector that will be the first to have a fully harmonized regulatory regime across ASEAN countries will be cosmetics, starting in January 2008. The new regulation primarily involves broadly defined common safety requirements and a new approach to risk management, which does away with the requirement of pre-market approval for cosmetics products and introduces instead a system of post-market surveillance. In doing so, the new directive shifts to a great extent the responsibility of ensuring safety from the government to the private sector.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2008-01
Subjects:	ABBREVIATIONS, ACCESSION, ACCREDITATION, ACCREDITATIONS, ANNUAL REPORT, ARRANGEMENT, ARRANGEMENTS, ARTICLE, ARTICLES, ASSESSMENT RESULTS, AUDITING, BARRIERS TO IMPORTS, BILATERAL AGREEMENTS, BINDING, COMMON MARKET, COMMON STANDARDS, COMPETENT AUTHORITIES, COMPETENT AUTHORITY, COMPETITORS, COMPLAINT, COMPLAINTS, COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS, COMPUTERS, CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT, CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES, CONSULTATION, CONSULTATION PROCESS, CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE, CONSUMER GOODS, CONTENTS, CONTROL SYSTEMS, COST OF COMPLIANCE, CUSTOMS, DEVELOPING STANDARDS, DIRECTIVES, DISCRIMINATORY MEASURES, DISPUTE SETTLEMENT, DIVERGENT STANDARDS, DOCUMENTS, DOMESTIC FIRMS, DOMESTIC MARKET, DOMESTIC STANDARDS, ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, ECONOMIC COOPERATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC INTEGRATION, ECONOMIES OF SCALE, ENTRY, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, EXPORT MARKETS, EXPORTING COUNTRY, FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS, FOREIGN FIRMS, FOREIGN PRODUCERS, FOREIGN STANDARD, FOREIGN STANDARDS, FOREIGN SUPPLIERS, FORMAL RECOGNITION, FREE TRADE, FREE TRADE AGREEMENT, FREE TRADE AREA, GLOBAL PRODUCTION, GLOBAL PRODUCTION CHAINS, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION, HARMONIZATION, ICT, IMPORTED GOODS, IMPORTING COUNTRIES, IMPORTING COUNTRY, INCOME COUNTRIES, INFORMATION EXCHANGE, INTEGRATION EFFORTS, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, INTERNATIONAL NORMS, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ORGANIZATION, INTRA-ASEAN TRADE, INTRA-REGIONAL TRADE, LABOR STANDARDS, LEGAL IMPLICATIONS, LEGAL SYSTEM, LEGISLATION, LOCAL FIRMS, LOCAL PRODUCERS, MANDATORY STANDARDS, MARKET ACCESS, MEMBER COUNTRIES, MEMBER COUNTRY, MEMBER STATES, MINISTERS, MULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS, MULTILATERAL FRAMEWORK, MULTILATERAL LEVEL, MUTUAL RECOGNITION, MUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENT, MUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENTS, NATIONAL LEGISLATION, NATIONAL STANDARDS, NATIONAL STANDARDS BODIES, NATIONAL TREATMENT, NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES, NON-TARIFF BARRIERS, NON-TARIFF MEASURES, NONTARIFF BARRIERS, PACIFIC REGION, PERMITS, POLICY OBJECTIVES, POST-MARKET SURVEILLANCE, PRIVATE INVESTMENT, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRODUCT BASIS, PRODUCT CATEGORIES, PRODUCT CERTIFICATION, PRODUCT LIABILITY, PRODUCT SPECIFIC, PRODUCT STANDARDS, PRODUCTION PROCESS, PUBLIC GOOD, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC POLICY, PUBLIC SECTOR, PUBLISHING, QUALITY ASSURANCE, QUALITY MANAGEMENT, QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, QUALITY STANDARDS, REFERENCE MATERIALS, REGIONAL APPROACH, REGIONAL APPROACHES, REGIONAL BODIES, REGIONAL LEVEL, REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, REGIONAL STANDARDS, REGIONAL TRADE, REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS, REGISTRY, REGULATIONS POLICY, REGULATORS, REGULATORY AGENCIES, REGULATORY APPROVAL, REGULATORY AUTHORITIES, REGULATORY BURDEN, REGULATORY EFFORT, REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, REGULATORY OBJECTIVES, REGULATORY PRACTICE, REGULATORY REFORM, REGULATORY REGIME, REGULATORY REGIMES, REGULATORY SCHEME, RESEARCHER, RULES, SAFETY, SAFETY CONCERNS, SAFETY REQUIREMENTS, SAFETY STANDARDS, STANDARD SETTING, STANDARDIZATION, STANDARDS AGENCIES, STANDARDS REGIMES, STANDARDS SYSTEMS, TECHNICAL BARRIERS, TECHNICAL PROCEDURES, TECHNICAL REGULATION, TECHNICAL REGULATIONS, TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS, TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS, TECHNICAL STANDARDS, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, THIRD-COUNTRY IMPORTS, TRADE BARRIERS, TRADE FLOWS, TRADING PARTNERS, TRANSPARENCY, UNILATERAL ADOPTION, VAN, VENDORS, VOLUNTARY STANDARDS, WEBSITE, WORLD TRADE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/9041430/trade-issues-east-asia-overcoming-trade-barriers-standards-technical-regulations https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19526
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