Today’s strict food and agricultural standards have been set largely by developed countries. While these standards are there to protect consumers, sometimes the bars are set so high that they become non-tariff barriers. To gain greater access to export markets, developing countries can influence international standards, and use the rules of the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures to their advantage.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, market access barriers faced by developing country exporters are not decreasing for some of their most important export sectors. LDCs are especially at risk. Is market access simply ‘unfinished business’ or is it a deepening problem? ITC research suggests that we need to take a closer look.
Barriers to international commerce — particularly technical regulations and sanitary and phytosanitary measures — are a key concern of developing countries. A joint ITC/Commonwealth Secretariat study uncovers what’s on the minds of exporters, government and standards experts in six developing countries.
While liberalization has opened up world trade to freer competition, there have recently been more national measures blocking market access on the grounds of unfair pricing by exporters. Products such as steel, iron and chemicals from developing countries and transition economies have been increasingly subject to such measures — known as “trade remedy actions”. There is a system within WTO to stop governments from abusing these actions, but in any case the consequences are serious for an exporter or a country subjected to such measures. As this article points out, even being charged with dumping carries a heavy penalty in the effort required to set the record straight. So exporters should take care to avoid creating grounds for such actions.
