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The verview and impact of technical barriers to trade
Technical Barriers to Trade based on national or regional technical regulations, protocols, standards and certification (conformity assessment procedures) and other forms, involving wide-ranging, covers science and technology, health, quarantine, security, environmental protection, product quality and certification, and many other technical indicators system, used in international trade, which, showing a flexible, numerous regulations. As such a large number of barriers to technology emerged, so often an appearance of legitimacy, become the most covert international trade, the most formidable non-tariff barriers.
With the rise of the tide of economic globalization and trade liberalization, together with the relevant WTO rules limit the types and forms of international trade barriers are constantly changing: Getting lower and lower tariff rates, the traditional non-tariff barriers are gradually reduced, the new, more flexible, more subtle barriers to trade - but in the continuous development of technical barriers to trade, species are on the rise. China has joined the World Trade Organization, so in international trade, we must follow the relevant WTO rules and international practice act. Faced with these new changes we should how to deal with, resulting in the protection of world trade and China's foreign trade interests in a more open environment to promote the health of China's economic and social development? I would like to propose appropriate measures necessary to clarify before the international trade protection as a means of intensifying the underlying causes of technical barriers to trade:1. Safeguard the interests of all its fundamental purpose of international relations. Although the order to advance economic globalization and trade liberalization, countries in the Uruguay Round commitments to further reduce tariffs and to maintain the status quo in the gradual elimination of all non-tariff barriers. But now, increasingly fierce international competition, countries in order to safeguard its trade interests in the WTO to phase out clearly contrary to the spirit of some of the traditional non-tariff barriers at the same time continue to introduce more subtle technical barriers to trade, and numerous, requiring increasingly more demanding. In developed countries, between developed and developing countries, there are technical barriers to trade among developing countries. Only because of the technical level, developing countries are far lower than developed countries, so a greater impact on developing countries of technical barriers to trade. 2. \
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Many of the exceptions and loopholes, but also for the implementation of technical barriers to provide a legal basis. Such as \Barriers to Trade Agreement\\the environment, as long as these measures do not think that the countries with the same conditions result in any unreasonable discrimination, or to become disguised restriction on international trade as a means Again, Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement, \or health of the sanitary and phytosanitary measures \scientific basis and the measures appropriate to the level of protection \be implemented or maintained higher than the international standards, guidelines and recommendations of the measures.\to trade has great legitimacy. 3. National and international environmental organizations are constantly improving the status; influence on government decision-making is growing. Therefore, governments have implemented such a policy; have to consider their voices, the parties to make concessions, increased trade barriers. As the global environment continues to deteriorate, causing the concern of the international community, since the since the 1970s, global environmental organizations have been established, more well-known, such as Greenpeace, international environmental film group, the World Wildlife Fund . In many countries have established sub-sector, with many members, a wide range of environmental information, and strongly oppose the governments of various environmental destruction, urged governments to implement sustainable development of economic and social policies. Once in the EU under pressure from environmental groups, many times to raise the environmental standards to reduce the production process and increasing environmental pollution on human health and life protection. 4.As mentioned earlier, the world's environmental problems have attracted national attention to the people and government, sustainable development is the public. Therefore, countries in international trade in order to obtain a more favorable position in the gradual elimination of some of the clear violation of the spirit of the WTO's non-tariff barriers at the same time, brings up the banner of sustainable development, are increasingly turning to the health and quarantine standards and the environment protection standards and people's health and sustainable development of non-trooped countries). Therefore, countries implement is nothing to fear, and standards are becoming increasingly demanding, more and more types. This is the main technical barriers to trade intensified.
Looking at the world (mainly developed countries) technical barriers to trade, the
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import of products of its limited technical measures are the following:
Strict complex technical regulations and technical standards.
In international trade, developed technical barriers to trade Countries are often international standard setters. Who by virtue of the dominance of world trade and technological advantages, the first rules of the game, forced to set up in accordance with the technical level of technical standards, the majority of economically backward countries, exporters catch. And these technical standards, technical regulations often change, and some local governments also have their own special requirements, manufacturers in developing countries are either unknown, loss, or pay a higher standard in order to meet its costs and weaken the competitiveness of products. Countries are often international standard setters. Who by virtue of the dominance of world trade and technological advantages, the first rules of the game, forced to set up in accordance with the technical level of technical standards, the majority of economically backward countries, exporters catch. And these technical standards, technical regulations often change, and some local governments also have their own special requirements, manufacturers in developing countries are either unknown, loss, or pay a higher standard in order to meet its costs and weaken the competitiveness of products.
Complex conformity assessment procedures:
Had become the trend of trade liberalization situation, quality certification and conformity assessment for the currently, the world's widely used quality standard ISO9000 series of standards identified. In addition, the United States, Japan, the European Union each has their technical standards.
Strict packaging, labeling rules
In order to prevent packaging waste and on the ecological environment, human and animal and plant security threat, many countries have promulgated a series of packaging and labeling laws and regulations to protect the interests of consumers and the environment. From the point of view of environmental protection and energy conservation, packaging system does have a positive effect, but it increases the cost of exporters, and the technical requirements of different countries, volatile, often changing packaging to force foreign exporters lose a lot of trade opportunities.
In today's international trade, technical barriers to trade not only inevitable, but will be a long time. Its impact on international trade will be increasing. Meanwhile, the community development will play a very important role. According to the State Intellectual Property Office statistics, 80% of current world trade barriers, technical barriers to trade
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from.
Negative impact on:
1. A growing number of technical barriers to trade (such as the national standards regulations, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, etc.) impeding the free development of international trade, the world's resources is not conducive to the free flow and optimized allocation and import trade with the world of economic globalization breakdown , Trade liberalization and social development runs counter to the trend. This is the technical barriers to trade liberalism against main basis. For example, most of the electronics, electrical products require compliance with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standards and other relevant agencies; U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires the protection of textile label marked with the ingredients and consumers safety Commission (CPSC) requirements of fire resistance of textiles to meet the standards; U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for imported food, drugs, health products, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, medical equipment management and monitoring of the purity and labeling of goods and so demanding, in the entry of goods will be sampling; U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also called pork, poultry must undergo strict disinfection procedures. These series of standards and testing measures will undoubtedly inconvenience of international trade, while increasing the cost of imported goods.
2. Environment or people's health and safety, but in fact, its greater purpose is to bring the domestic traders in international trade to get more benefits. According to statistics, in the life sciences and biotechnology, information technology, new materials and other key technology areas, the Western developed countries have a number of patents, accounting for 90% of total worldwide patent, while the developing countries including China, has only about 10%. Such a large technology gap, not very long in a short period of time, the distribution of benefits of international trade will be further inclined to developed countries. Under the current system of international standards, standard setters are basically developed countries; developing countries are mostly passive recipients of the standard. While the developed countries from their own interests and skill levels are starting to develop a standard difficult to achieve in many developing countries. Therefore, the technical standards set in developed countries often use technical barriers to trade or even launch a trade war to protect their interests in international trade, and thus continue to control international trade of developing countries and occupy the dominant position. Such as frozen chicken in China in August 1996 by the EU to not prohibited from entering the
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grounds through quarantine until May 2001, Shanghai and Shandong fishes 14 companies in several areas of lifting the ban, loss of hundred million dollars a year; from July 2001 month, the EU has made new regulations on the import of tea, some of the products of the highest pesticide residues allowed only the original standard 1/100-1/200 (in fact, produced by the original standard tea has no harm to human body), such as do not take effective measures, China's tea will be forced to withdraw from the EU market.. Now, developed countries often occur between the \standard trade war, they are nominally in order to protect China's foreign trade within the three major structural changes reduced. So, in a very long period of time, developing countries in international trade pattern will be more and more disadvantageous position.
A positive effect:
Environmental barriers and green standards for an objective to promote the implementation of sustainable development. Economic development and environmental protection is the development of any country will face a contradiction. But the immediate economic interests tend to make people choose to destroy the environment for economic development of the road. Deforestation and hunting, exploit the practice of the present Earth's environment deteriorated sharply. Even in China, although already the environmental protection as a basic national policy, but according to incomplete statistics, the 1998 National impact on the environment exports amounted to $ 8.6 billion, accounting for 6.2% of total exports; serious pollution in 2000 products (such as dyes, leather products, printing and dyeing products, pulp, etc.) exports $ 11 billion, accounting for 5.1% of exports. The implementation of green standards will force China's enterprises in the production process to reduce environmental pollution, the use of green production system to produce green products. This objective will be to promote China's sustainable development strategy. Similarly, in a certain extent, will promote the development of world economy and world environmental protection tend to co-ordination and balance, help in the development of world economy, while protecting the ecological environment of the entire planet.
Quarantine standards and continuously improve packaging design standards, prompting countries to continuously improve their product quality and health and safety performance, safety of human life and health have a positive effect. In particular, the epidemic is now the world flora and fauna (such as foot and mouth disease, mad cow disease, wheat dwarf smut, bacterial wilt of corn, etc.) when the outbreak, coupled with genetically modified (GMO) security is still not scientifically determined, so in